What was packed: clementine, carrot, Dove dark chocolate candy, Bugels, cheese quesadilla, money for milk

What was left: nothing!

She bought white milk… phew! 

What was packed: Bugles, carrot, clementine, Pork stir fry with broccoli, carrots, and sliced almonds, money for milk

What was left: Nothing!

She bought chocolate milk 

What was packed: Local 1% milk, PB&Raspberry Jelly, clementine, dried cranberries, carrot, Au-gratin potato chips, Dove dark chocolate candy

What was left: Nothing –I think I am finally starting to get the hang of this

While reading internet news and such this morning I discovered it was National Chocolate Cake day… who knew? Seriously though, who comes up with these “national” food days. While the recipe I am sharing today isn’t a chocolate cake, you could use this frosting to decorate your favorite chocolate cake and celebrate this holiday.

Blood oranges really don’t differ in flavor than your traditional navel orange, but they do have a beautiful bloody red inside. When making the frosting try to use the juice from oranges that have the reddest insides in order to get that pretty pale pink color. These would be perfect for Valentine’s Day, a bridal shower, or baby shower for a little girl. You get a delicate pink colored frosting without the need for red food coloring. Plus the frosting tastes delicious!

BLOOD ORANGE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

8 tablespoons (1 stick) of butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons blood orange zest (zest from 2 oranges)
5 tablespoons blood orange juice (juice from 1 1/2 oranges)

In a stand mixer beat butter and cream cheese on high for about 5 minutes until complete combined and fluffy. Turn mixer down to low and slowly add in the powdered sugar, being careful to make sure the sugar doesn’t fling out of the bowl.

As the sugar becomes more incorporated turn the speed up to medium high. Add in the vanilla extract, zest, and blood orange juice. Beat on high until fluffy. If the frosting isn’t stiff enough for your liking add more powdered sugar. But make sure to turn your mixer down to low otherwise you will be wearing powdered sugar.

Pipe onto your favorite cake or cupcakes. I used a 1M tip and generously swirled the frosting onto gluten free chocolate cupcakes.

What is your favorite frosting? I think my favorite frosting I made was a dulce de leche buttercream for a friend’s birthday cake. Yum! 

What was packed: PB&Nutella, clementine, string cheese, red grapes, pickles, money for milk

not shown: I made her a white chocolate macadamia nut cookie. It was the 100th day of school! 

What was left: NOTHING!!

She bought chocolate milk 

What was packed: Local 1% milk, red grapes, Ritz crackers, carrot, clementine, mozzarella, salami, and pickles

What was left: NOTHING! She really likes eating meat/cheese and crackers for lunch

What was packed: Local 1% milk, unsweetened apple sauce, blueberries, tortellini with broccoli & carrots and a light homemade Alfredo sauce

What was left: NOTHING!

The white puppy chow made a perfect backdrop for some of the red, white, and pink Valentine’s Day M&M’s, so I *had* to add some to the mix Whip up a quick batch for the love of your life!

WHITE CHOCOLATE PUPPY CHOW
9 cups Corn Chex cereal
1 cup white chocolate chips
2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
3 cups powdered sugar
1 package Valentine’s Day themed M&M’s (optional)

In a microwave safe bowl put white chocolate chips and peanut butter together. Microwave on high for 1 minute. Stir to combine. If mixture isn’t creamy microwave in 30 second intervals until everything is smooth.

Measure the 9 cups of cereal in a large mixing bowl. Pour the white chocolate and peanut butter mixture over the cereal. Carefully stir to coat all the cereal evenly.

In a large ziplock bag pour in the cereal mixture. Dump in the 3 cups of powdered sugar. Zip the bag closed and give it a shake to coat all the cereal with the powdered sugar. Pour into a large serving bowl and gently stir in the M&M’s.

What was packed: PB& Raspberry Jelly, carrot, All-Bran Multigrain crackers, string cheese, clementine, and money for milk

What was left: nothing

She bought strawberry milk *shudder*

Week 2 cooking challenge was Chinese food and I made chicken spring rolls to go along with a chicken stir-fry. If you don’t have a lot of time to make dinner, stir fries are the perfect solution because they cook up so fast. I used pancit canton noodles that I found at Asian Market, and they cooked up in about four minutes.

We enjoyed our stir fry and spring rolls with a Luckybuddha Beer. For a beer bottle, I think this guy takes top prize for being the cutest beer bottle I’ve seen. It was a light crisp beer, very drinkable.

Today many people across Asia (or with Asian roots) are celebrating Year of the Dragon. If you didn’t know today is the Chinese (lunar) New Year. One thing I love about other cuisines is the tradition and/or superstitions attached to certain foods. For example, don’t break up your noodles when you cook this dish because long noodles symbolize longevity, a long life. I can’t think of any symbolism attached to foods typically eaten on the standard American diet (correct me if I’m wrong).

CHICKEN STIR-FRY WITH GREEN BEANS

2 Tablespoons canned black beans
oil, for cooking
1 lb chicken breasts, cut into thin strips
3 garlic cloves, sliced thinly
4 spring onions (scallions), chopped
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 large red pepper, sliced thinly
4 ounces fresh green beans, cut into short pieces
2 Tablespoons water
1 package pancit canton noodles (found at the Asian Market)
2 Tablespoons oyster sauce
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
1 1/2 c chicken stock

Rinse black beans. Drain and roughly chop.

Heat wok until very hot, add 2 T oil, swirl around to coat sides. Stir-Fry the chicken in batches, until brown. Remove from wok and set aside.

Reheat wok until very hot, add 1 T oil and stir fry peppers and green beans for 1 minute. Add garlic, onions, black beans, and sugar cook for 1 min. Sprinkle with 2 T water, cover and steam for 2 minutes.

Gently separate the noodles and add to the wok with the chicken, oyster sauce, soy sauce, and chicken stock toss to combine everything. Cook, covered for about 3-4 minutes until the noodles soften. Stir.

Do you have a dish you eat on a special occasion that holds symbolism? 

What was packed: Local 1 % milk, low fat cottage cheese, mozzarella cheese, carrot, Ritz crackers, Pink Lady apple

What was left: A little cottage cheese

I am a sucker for egg rolls, you can buy those thick doughy egg roll wrappers at your local supermarket, usually found in the produce section, to wrap your own at home. I’m not knocking them because I’ve used them tons of times to make some delicious egg rolls. BUT if you want to make the real deal egg rolls (or spring rolls) you need to use a thin wrapper. These are found in the freezer section of your local Asian Market.

If you live in, around, or near Omaha you MUST go check out Asian Market (on N 76 ST between Dodge and Cass). Most of the ethnic groceries stores in town are small and crammed with lots of food with labels you can’t read. Well Asian Market is your small ethnic grocery store on STEROIDS. It is HUGE! Here is a link to Omaha World Herald article written about the store.

We visited the store on Sunday and boy were they busy. It was slightly overwhelming and over stimulating. There was so much stuff I’ve never seen. Such brightly colored labels and words I couldn’t read. I honestly didn’t know where to look. I’m excited to go back and give it another look-see. They have a full service meat counter, a giant lobster tank, a nice size produce section with fruits and vegetables you don’t typically find at regular grocery stores, and the longest wall of noodles I have ever seen. Who know there were so many different types of noodles? I didn’t check prices, but if you’re looking to buy rice in bulk you have many options at this store.

I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw this spiny fruit in the produce section. I thought I would have to leave the country or at least Nebraska to see this spiny monster. Do you know what it is? It is a durian fruit. It is just about the only thing that I’ve seen Andrew Zimmerman (from Bizarre Foods) get squeamish about. I’m actually very curious how it tastes. Any Omaha people want to try a durian?

The recipe I basically used for the egg rolls was from Steamy Kitchen (a former Nebraska girl!) These are her mother’s FAMOUS egg rolls. With a name like that how can you pass them up? I used thinly sliced chicken in my egg rolls and halved the recipe, I didn’t need 50 egg rolls laying around. Don’t be intimidated by the length of the directions. These really aren’t impossible to make.

Chicken Spring Rolls
ever so slightly adapted from Steamy Kitchen’s Mother’s Famous Chinese Egg Rolls

Tips for successful egg rolls: Keep the egg roll wrappers under a damp cloth when you aren’t using them. Also make sure you drain the liquid from the filling. Soggy egg rolls are not good! Don’t over stuff these bad boys! You only need a tablespoon or so of filling. Make sure you tuck in the sides and roll them tightly. 

50 Spring/Egg Roll Wrappers (about 2 packages), defrosted unopened at room temperature for 45 minutes or in the refrigerator overnight
1 tablespoon cornstarch (or flour) mixed with ¼ cup of cool water
Oil, for frying
FOR THE GROUND PORK (I used thinly sliced chicken breasts)
1 pound ground pork (2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced thinly)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon sugar
freshly ground black pepper
FOR THE VEGETABLES
2 to 3 cloves garlic, very finely minced
½ head of cabbage (about 11 ounces) (I used Nappa cabbage)
3 carrots, shredded
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
10 fresh shiitake mushrooms (or dried black mushrooms soaked overnight), stems discarded (left out the mushrooms since I’m allergic)
3 scallions, sliced 
1 tablespoon cooking oil (canola, vegetable, peanut)
1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sesame oil
Freshly ground black pepper

The easiest way to thinly slice the chicken breasts is to run them through your food processor with the slicing blade while they are still semi frozen. If you don’t have a food processor do your best with a super sharp knife while they are still semi frozen to slice them thinly.

Combine all your ingredients together for the pork or chicken and let marinate for 10 minutes. While the meat is doing its thing, thinly slice your cabbage with a knife or your food processor.

Heat your wok over high heat, swirl around your cooking oil to coat the pan. Stir fry your meat (in batches if necessary) until no longer pink for 3-4 minutes. Turn heat down to medium-high and either remove the meat or push to the side. Add a tiny bit more cooking oil, add garlic, cabbage, carrots, ginger, mushrooms, and scallions. Stir fry for 1-2 minutes or until the veggies are soft. Add the rice wine, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar and black pepper. Remember to add in the meat if you took it out. Tossing to coat everything, stir fry for another minute.

Remove filling to a jelly roll pan, spreading out the filling so it can quickly cool. Elevate one end of the jelly roll pan so the liquid can drain from the filling. Cool for 15 minutes.

Dab off any excess juices or oil from the mixture and get ready to wrap.

Spread a heaping 1 tablespoon of filling near the bottom corner of the wrapper.

Lift the corner up over the filling and begin to roll. KEEP IT TIGHT!

Fold in the sides and keep rolling to the point. Remembering to KEEP IT TIGHT! Once you reach the top, dip your fingers in the cornstarch/water slurry and “glue” the corner down to seal the egg roll.

At this point you may place the egg rolls in a single layer on a jelly roll pan and freeze for later. Or you can fry them up right away (my vote!).

To fry, fill your wok with about 2 inches of frying oil. Using a thermometer heat the oil to 350 degrees F. Fry in batches, turning occasionally, frying until golden brown 1 1/2 – 2 minutes. Drain of wire rack and allow to cool slightly before sinking your teeth in.

You may fry from frozen, frying for about 4 minutes, or until golden brown. Make sure you allow the oil to come back up to 350 degree F before adding more egg rolls.

What do you order from your favorite Chinese restaurant? I usually order Lo-Mein, but I pretty much like it all  

What was packed: dried apricots, carrot, string cheese, rice & black beans, money for milk

What was left: nothing!

she bought herself a chocolate milk

I told Sasha she could pack her own lunch. This is what she packed: local 1% milk, apple, clementine, Goldfish crackers, carrot, cheese string, Kashi oat flakes & blueberry clusters cereal

What was left: NOTHING Sometimes you just feel like cereal for lunch!

What was packed: local 1% milk, BIG carrot, cheese string, gold fish crackers, romaine salad with blueberries and feta

What was left: nothing!

What was packed: local 1% milk, clementine, cheese string, carrot chips, pita chips, PB&Nutella on oat bread

What was left: milk & carrot chips -she prefers her carrots in giant form

What was packed: local 1% milk, cheese string, carrot chips, clementine, PB&J on multigrain bread

What was left: the carrot chips

What was packed: local 1% milk, baby carrots, dried cranberries, clementine, pita chips, cheese string

What was left: the cranberries – she ran out of time

These brownies are special. They are special because they have a very unique ingredient in them. I’m pretty sure in a blind taste test most people wouldn’t be able to tell you what that unique ingredient is. Is the anticipation killing you? Drumroll please………………… black beans! Yup, that’s right, there is a whole can of black beans in these delicious, chocolately, fudgey, brownies.

Picky eaters do not turn up your noses! These brownies taste just like regular ole brownies. No bean flavor what-so-ever! Generally speaking most of us who enjoy the standard American diet could use extra fiber in our day -why not get it in a brownie . An added bonus is that these bad boys are gluten free. There is NO flour, wheat, rice or otherwise in these brownies. Sometimes gluten free goodies can be a little sandy from the rice flours but this is not the case here. Have I convinced you to try them yet? Please do! They are so good!

While we were enjoying these as a family after dinner the other night, Penelope (age 4) said “Do you know what the secret ingredient is? BLACK BEANS!” If she hadn’t said anything no one would have known. 

BLACK BEAN BROWNIES
from Meal Make Over Mom’s
One 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed very well
3 large eggs
3 tablespoons canola oil
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch salt
1/2 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used bittersweet chocolate chips)

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly oil or coat an 8 x 8-inch baking pan or dish with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.

Place the black beans in the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth and creamy.  Add the eggs, oil, sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla extract, baking powder, and salt and process until smooth.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top with a rubber spatula, and sprinkle with the chocolate chips.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes, or until the edges start to pull away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan before slicing into 2-inch squares.

Are there any desserts you enjoy that have nontypical ingredients? 

sorry for such a blurry picture!

What was packed: local 1% milk, cheese string, clementine, black bean brownie, pita chips, turkey meatball and noodle soup

What was left: all the soup

She was very irritable when she got home from school today. I wonder if not eating enough for lunch contributed to that.

What was packed: local 1% milk, carrot, cheese string, clementine, PB&J on multigrain bread

What was left: nothing!

Cuties (aka clementines are on sale so expect to see them in every lunch

I knew I wanted to make an egg recipe I’ve never tried before, go beyond scrambled eggs. I saw someone else in the challenge post a photo of Scotch eggs and I knew immediately this would be the perfect opportunity to try this odd egg. Are you familiar with scotch eggs? They are a (peeled) hard boiled egg covered in sausage then breaded and fried. They sounded delicious. A perfect breakfast food served hot with a steamy cup of coffee on a lazy weekend morning. Don’t you think?

Welllllll, apparently this is not the traditional way to eat these beauties. They are typically eaten cold (shudder) with a salad. Cold hard boiled eggs I can do, but cold sausage is another story. The best part of making these at home is that you can eat them hot with a steamy cup of coffee for breakfast, if you’d like (and I do like).

Since pork sausage is a little on the greasy side I opted to bake these instead of frying to save a few calories. If frying is your thing by all means fry away! I also was concerned about my hard boiled egg being too dry after baking it, so I did a soft boiled egg instead. It worked beautifully!

SCOTCH EGG
4 hard boiled for 10 minutes (or soft boiled for 6 minutes), peeled
1 lb. ground sausage (I used pork but you could use turkey if you’d like)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Divide sausage into four equal patties. Flatten patties and place egg in the center.

Wrap meat around the egg. Pressing to seal. Place sausage balls into a jumbo muffin tin.

Bake for 25 minutes. And enjoy hot or cold!

Fried version: Once the sausage is wrapped around the egg, roll the sausage ball in a beaten egg, then roll in breadcrumbs. Deep fry in hot oil for for 8-10 minutes, turning frequently.

What are your favorite egg recipes? I am a huge fan of frittatas! I usually make one frittata every weekend. 

What was packed: local 1% milk, banana, low fat cheese string, carrot, pita chips, 2 hard boiled eggs

What was left: nothing!

Do you make hard boiled eggs for lunch? Sasha loves them!

What was packed: local 1% milk, orzo with sautéed mushrooms, string cheese, carrot, blueberries

What was left: some orzo. She said she ran out of time

What was packed: unsweetened apple sauce, Ritz crackers, salami, provolone cheese, baby dill pickles, carrot, clementine, money to buy her milk

What was left: nothing!

She said she bought white milk not the sugar kind