One Lovely Blog & Very Inspiring Blogger Award

A couple of weeks ago, I received a nomination for the One Lovely Blog & Very Inspiring Blogger Award. While the nomination was a fantastic surprise for me, the honor is really in who sent it to me. Thank you so much Cristi. If you aren't familiar with her fantastic site, Bent On Better Lunches, you certainly should be. First of all, the ideas you'll find there are inspiring, yet attainable, fun and colorful, nutritious and balanced, and super creative! To be recognized by a peer you have the highest respect for is a great feeling. And, in homage to one of Cristi's areas of expertise, we did a peanut butter sandwich for lunch today on our fun Munchkin plate! Thank you!

Peanut butter sandwich, carrots, yellow bell peppers. 

And on the side, some Chobani Champions Vanilla Chocolate Chunk Greek yogurt, frozen into stars. Apparently, I couldn't take the picture fast enough! Yum!

And now, that award! Of course, there is some fine print in accepting it! The rules are that I must..
1. Thank and link back to the awesome person who nominated you.
2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Nominate 15 other bloggers and comment on their blogs to let them know.

So, what do you want to know about me? Hmmm..

1. I love rats.. well, all rodents, really! I've had fancy rats as pets since 1996. I've bred, rescued, shown, and now even run a pedigree registry that holds nearly 25,000 individual rats! They are fantastic pets!
2. I'm a night owl. If the world revolved around my schedule, it would be noon until 4am. As long as I can recall, I've had late nights and hate mornings!
3. I love to fish. Fly fishing, to be precise. There is no better sensation than being right in the middle of a river, fighting the current, hoping for that unmistakable tug on the line!
4. I am extremely type A and borderline OCD (self diagnosis). Yup, my cans are all turned a certain direction in my cupboards, dvds are in alphabetical order, and I have a panic attack over missing socks. Okay, it isn't all that bad .. most days, anyways! :)
5. I don't text. My phone is just a phone. It doesn't have a keypad. It can't access the Internet. There is no GPS. I can't listen to music on it. And I wouldn't have it any other way!
6. My favorite time of the year is fall. While, I loathe what comes after it, the cooling air, colors, and smells of fall just transform me. I love pumpkins and crisp leaves, cider and spices, and everything in between. Oh, and Halloween is my favorite holiday!
7. I have tattoos.. seven, in fact. Obviously, body art as a form of artistic expression is fine by me! My latest tattoo is my daughter's name in Greek, along with her zodiac symbol and birthstone.

Now, to the nominations. I'm suppose to pick 15, but this was incredibly difficult to narrow it down to just 15! There are so many fantastic people out there blogging, inspiring, creating, etc. I am always humbled by those around me! Thanks for all you ALL do!

Another Lunch
Bentobloggy
Bento For Kidlet
Bento-logy
Bentoriffic
Bento School Lunches
Biting The Hand That Feeds You
Bobbi's Bentos
Creative Food
Family Fresh Meals
Meet the Dubiens

Obento Momma
Sweetopia
The Better Baker
Wendolonia

I Heart You

Today, lunch was something simple and fast, and adding a couple hearts here and there seemed to do the trick. These little fork picks are so much fun!

Honeydew, watermelon, smoked turkey, cucumbers, carrots, grilled cheese on rye.
 

In this lunch...

Ladybug's Picnic!

I have to admit that I absolutely LOVE this little short about the ladybug's picnic. It gets stuck in my head for days at a time, but I can't help myself. I made a lunch inspired by the tune and hope you enjoy both it and the clip. We tried to incorporate everything we could from the song into the lunch and had a blast doing it!

Spaghetti 'jump ropes', sack of tomatoes and black olives, chow mien noodles, red pepper, and carrot 'fire', tuna sandwich w/ American & swiss cheese 'picnic blanket and plates' and the M&M ladybugs 12 at the ladybug picnic!

We were fortunate to be selected as Bento of the Week for this lunch over at Bento Blog Network for this one. Thank you to those that voted and Diana for hosting!
 

In this lunch...

Recipe Review - Anti-Crabby Cake

Okay, I'm sure there is an official name out there for this cake, but this is a recipe I grew up with and it was only ever called anti-crabby cake because no matter how you were feeling, this cake would cheer you up. It still does the trick for me! It is an incredibly unique textured cake being dense, moist, chewy, yet melts in your mouth. Using a rich cream homemade cheese frosting on it just puts it over the top! And it's super simple. The cake itself has only 5 ingredients, and no heavy stand mixer required. This is a hand mix, pour, and bake cake! Man, oh man, is it delicious too!

Anti-Crabby Cake 

Cake ingredients - 1 large can crushed pineapple in 100% juice (do not drain), 2 c flour, 1 1/2 c sugar, 2 eggs, and 2 tsp baking soda

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Toss all the cake ingredients in a bowl and mix by hand unless you desperately want to pull out your beaters! Pour into a 13x9 glass pan and bake for 30-40 minutes. You'll want to frost the cake while it's still warm, so make your frosting as the cake bakes.

Frosting ingredients - 8 oz. cream cheese (room temp), 1 stick unsalted butter (room temp), 2 c powdered sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, and 2 Tbsp milk.

Beat ingredients together until smooth. Frost cake while it's still warm. It's easiest to just frost and leave the cake right in the pan.. Let cool a bit, then refrigerate. Serve cold and enjoy! Maybe even save some for breakfast for an 'anti-crabby' start to your day! 

This recipe even got a Blue Ribbon at Just a Pinch! We're pretty proud of that, too!

We also linked up to ...