ILoveObento's Xanga

My Frittata...well, minus the cheese

Tue, 20 May 2008 16:24:54 GMT

Finally! I was finally able to pack our new Laptop Lunchbox for my husband. He is very attached to his usual low-fat lunch menu, and will not part with it easily.

Due to the gargantuan bag of spinach I bought a few days ago, and a huge box of mushrooms, we've been having lots of those two things. Last night was Frittata night.

Sheri's Low Fat Frittata

Olive or Canola Oil
1 Large White Onion, diced
3 Cups Sliced Mushrooms
1 Tablespoon Chopped Green Bell Pepper (gives my honey problems, or I'd use a whole one)
1 Fresh Tomato, diced
6 Cups Whole Spinach Leaves
1 Pint of Egg Substitute, or 8 eggs
1/2 Teaspoon Cajun Seasoning, you can sub a mixture of salt/pepper/red pepper
1/4 Teaspoon Garlic Powder or 1 Clove Fresh Garlic (miam miam!)

Add seasonings to egg substitute, and set aside.

Sauté the diced onion and sliced mushrooms for a minute or two, then add the bell pepper. Keep these things cooking, moving them every minute or two, for about 10 minutes on medium heat. When the onions are nice and dark brown, and the bottom of your pan is dark brown, add the diced tomato and spinach (with the rinse water still clinging to the leaves). The liquid from these will deglaze your pan bringing lots of flavor back into your veggie mixture.

Continue to cook, keeping the mixture moving, until the spinach is nice and wilted. Since I love one pan adventures (less cleaning!), I added my egg mixture to the pan and cooked it on low, covered. This did not take long, maybe 5 minutes?

When the bottom was pretty well set, I popped it under the broiler for a few minutes to firm up the top. All done!

Now, the times will vary, mostly depending on the size pan you use. My pan is giant, so the whole mixture was less than an inch thick when done. You could also transfer the mixture to a baking pan and bake it. I'll have to look up times for that if anyone is interested.

So, he ended up with Frittata, Sliced Avocado sprayed with Balsamic Breeze Low Fat Salad Dressing, Applesauce with Dried Cherries, Baby Carrots with Cream Cheese dip*.

*Low(er) Fat Cream Cheese Dip
8 ounces Cream Cheese, room temperature
1 cup Fat Free Sour Cream, room temperature
Dried Dill
Onion Powder
Garlic Powder
Salt

Blend these ingredients together, tasting as you go!! If I had to guess on the seasonings, I would guess...1/4 Teaspoon of each.

Enjoy!
Sheri

Wanna see my bento store? Click here. Or click here to go directly to the Laptop Lunchbox.

Scooper Nachos!

Sun, 04 May 2008 21:18:39 GMT

Many of you know, we try to be careful what fats we eat around our house. We love olive oil, canola oil, and flax seed oil (well...maybe not the taste, but the benefits of that one!). But other oils and fats we try to keep to a minimum. Like...no fried chips. For old people like me, it is easy to remember the days before tons of variety in low-fat foods. But now! So many fun and easy choices. We have really been enjoying baked Tostitos Scoops®. They only have 3g fat per ounce, thats about 14 chips! Since we love Mexican food, I thought I'd try these nachos for a bento. This is a great recipe for using leftovers, I know, because that's what I did!

Scoops® Nachos

Tostitos Baked Scoops
Pam Cooking Spray
Fat Free Refried Beans
Jalepeños, sliced...I didn't have any =(
Chopped tomatoes, drained
Queso Fresco
...Serve with
Avocado
Fat Free Sour Cream
Shredded Lettuce
Salsa
Spanish Rice

Pick out unbroken Scoops for your nachos, and place them on a baking pan. Spray lightly with Pam. This will help keep them a little crisper.

Heat the beans a little so they'll be easier to work with, the microwave is great for this. Place about a teaspoon of beans on each chip.

Top with a slice of jalapeño, and some chopped tomato. Try not to touch the chip with any liquid.

Using your fingers crumble some Queso Fresco on top of each nacho. This recipe only needed about 1 teaspoon of this wonderful cheese, about 1.75g fat. Place in 350º oven for about 20 minutes. Let cool before packing. These are great topped with shredded lettuce, chopped Avocado mixed with salsa, fat free sour cream, and served with Spanish Rice.

Oh! AND...today is my one year Xanga birthday, and also my real birthday!! I turned 47 today, yay! I want to say how much I have truly appreciated the friends I've made here. Thank you for your friendship.
Love,
Sheri

Wanna visit my bento store? Click here.

Sandwich Cutouts

Sat, 12 Apr 2008 13:49:09 GMT

We had fun with this one!

One day we were having plain ol' peanut butter and jam sandwiches,
so I tried cutting fun shapes right out of the middles.

Maybe our lives are just boring, but the kids got really excited. It was a little
surprising actually. On the big kid's sandwiches, I just used cookie cutters,

and on the baby's bread and butter, I used my new heart shaped sandwich cutter. FUN!

Blessings,
Sheri

Wanna see my bento store? Click here.

Spinach Balls

Sun, 06 Apr 2008 01:14:44 GMT

This recipe took me almost two years to make. Tres bad, non? Here in our little town we have a wonderful Raley's grocery store. The dietitian for Raley's, Earline, used to come and do little taste testing/healthy foods classes for kids. We get a thrill out of that kind of stuff! In one of the last classes, we tasted Veggie Patch Spinach Nuggets. I told Earline I'd try making them myself and I'd email her the recipe. So, it's a little late, but finally here is my own original recipe for Spinach Balls. And, yes, I am cooking for an army!

Sheri's Spinach Balls

1 medium sized carrot
2 green onions
1 tsp salt
4 cups + 2 cups 100% whole wheat bread crumbs
16 cups fresh spinach leaves
2 eggs or 4 egg whites

Chop carrot and green onion into 1" pieces, place in food processor or blender (I'm not sure about all blenders, but mine will handle it). Process until unrecognizable as food. Then add the salt, then spinach, 4 cups at a time, to the food processor. Just before removing from food processor, add the eggs. Amazingly, it all fit nicely in the food processor. Pour the veggie mix out onto 4 cups of bread crumbs, mix with a pastry blender, or by putting batches back in food processor (1/2 the recipe at a time). This mixture seems dry, but is really nice and moist. I rolled a few balls by hand, but the easiest way to deal with lots and lots and lots of spinach balls, was to use my wonderful 1.5" ice cream scoop. I just scooped one ball at a time right into the bread crumbs...no need to dip in egg, since it was moist and already contained egg. Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick spray, bake in preheated 350º oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until browned.

These tasted pretty similar to the ones we've bought, but I thought the bought ones were a little better. I did try freezing and reheating these...eh. They were much better fresh, but could have been redeemed by heating in a skillet with a little oil instead of re-heating in the oven. Remember, they are extremely low fat. I haven't found that I like extremely low fat foods that have been cooked, frozen and reheated.

If nothing else, these were simple. Here's the ingredient list for the Veggie Patch Spinach Nuggets (which I love, btw!):

INGREDIENTS: NUGGET: SPINACH, SOYBEAN OIL, ONIONS, SOY PROTEIN ISOLATE. CONTAINS LESS THAN 2% OF EGG WHITES, SEA SALT, MODIFIED VEGETABLE GUM, POTASSIUM CHLORIDE, CHICORY FIBER (INULIN), CORN STARCH, CALCIUM CARBONATE, MALTODEXTRIN, NATURAL FLAVOR, MODIFIED FOOD STARCH, GARLIC, EVAPORATED CANE JUICE, CULTURED SKIM MILK, YEAST EXTRACT, DEXTRIN, SPICES. BATTER AND BREADING: WHEAT FLOUR, WATER, YELLOW CORN FLOUR, SUGAR, MODIFIED CORN STARCH, SALT, SOYBEAN OIL, DEXTROSE, CANOLA OIL, YEAST, LEAVENING (SODIUM ACID PYROPHOSPHATE, SODIUM BICARBONATE), GUAR GUM, SPICES.

I hope you really enjoy this recipe...I worked on it long enough!

Blessings,
Sheri

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Invasion of the Vegetables

Sun, 30 Mar 2008 04:35:38 GMT

Well, my boys were making stop motion movies all week, so I wanted to make one. I've never done this before, but my husband has shown the boys how and they've made some pretty amazing cinema using playdough. I've watched and wished I had time to do it. So last night, while making pizza, I set up my stuff and went to it. It was wild!

Blessings,
Sheri

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Field of Flowers

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 02:04:37 GMT

Just before I made the pizza, I was working on a real bento. It's a mixture of old and new ideas really. We've made what we call Birds Nests or the family name 'Holey Toast', which is a piece of bread with a hole cut out and placed in an oiled skillet, with a whole egg broken into the hole and cooked.

Here we tried a slight variation. We made cutouts of flowers and cut holes from the centers. Then poured in scrambled egg to make a center. It worked reasonably well, some of the egg leaked out of the centers, but was easily broken off after it cooled. The taste was a great surprise! It was good! Baby Spinach made beautiful leaves, and even the baby ate some straight up, no dipping sauce, because I guess it's way more fun to eat flower leaves than to eat "spinach"?

Some apples cut in the same way, Annies whole wheat bunnies, and of course the obligatory dried cranberries that seem to be so popular here amongst the raisin haters. Here's a photo of all the flowers. Just so you know, it would take a lot of these flowers to fill up a bunch of boys...have fun!

And blessed Resurrection Day to everyone!
Sheri

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For Xanga ONLY!

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 06:39:18 GMT

We're open. We're kicking off here for our xanga friends. Check it out!

*Edit* Wow, I'm overwhelmed! Everyone's been so nice about my pizza. I'm almost sorry we ate it. Almost.

Happy Faces

Sun, 02 Mar 2008 04:02:42 GMT

I finally was able to use my new nori punch from my friend in Tokyo. I didn't make real onigiri, but made my own concoction of rice, mixed with home made creamed spinach (puree the spinach in a food processor first). I served it with my little cookie dough scoop, and put on the punched out nori faces! Then added a few olives in little paper cups.

Really! I am so excited, I finally found a perfect eggplant! Now after much research, I'm confused as to what I really found. But I just think of the story I first read when I found xanga. A lady told a wonderful story from her childhood, of visiting her grandmother.

When she and her family would visit, the grandmother would always make a certain dish with eggplant. So, the granddaughter was privileged to go with her from one fruit stand to another to another, looking for the "right" eggplant. As she would shop, she would look at the end of the fruit, shake her head, and pronounce, "The seed is in the male", and walk away. Not until she found these perfect eggplants would she buy them, take them home and make some wonderful dish.

Years later the granddaughter learned that she was looking for a round "scab", not an oblong one. The one with the oblong "scab" she called the male, it contained many more seeds than the one with the round "scab". I just loved the story! Thinking of the girl, and the cryptic message from the grandmother, whose second language was English. The years of wondering what in the world she meant. We probably all have these little mysteries to unravel! But, on to cooking!

This eggplant dish turned out really well. I did salt it, though, I probably didn't need to. Then dipped in beaten egg, then dredged in flour. Cooked them in a little bit of oil. I did not peel it. They were going to be burger patties, but I had no buns, oops. We loved them anyway, and now we must try them again with buns!

This zucchini was supposed to be for the bento, but it disappeared! It's a family favorite, and so easy. Just split it in two lengthwise, sprinkle with salt, pepper, and Parmesan cheese, stick it under the broiler for a few minutes. I broiled it a little more after this last pic, we like it a little darker. Enjoy!

I hope you each have a wonderful week!
Blessings,
Sheri

Wanna visit my bento store? Click here.

Salmon and Potatoes

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 01:12:47 GMT

These were leftovers...chipped salmon and mashed potatoes. The salmon is great plain and also with a little Italian dressing. I couldn't find a way to make mashed potatoes look nice! Starting to get frustrated, I finally tried the play-dough method. The potatoes are already seasoned, so a sprinkle of paprika and all done. There is also some thinly sliced celery, and three walnuts.

Just having fun with food...
Blessings,
Sheri

Here are some guidelines for eating fish, especially for children and pregnant mommies,

http://www.mindfully.org/Food/Tuna-Cut-Back.htm
http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/InNews/tunawarn2003.htm
http://www.mercola.com/2001/apr/25/mercury_fish.htm

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Do Your Kids Eat Enough Veggies?

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 14:57:42 GMT

It's hard to gauge really. So I found this nifty veggie-calculator at Kaboose.com. They had tons of fun ideas. Tips for veggie haters, sandwich ideas for kid's lunches...

Here are a few of their ideas...

Banana Dog in a Bun
by Stella Zedman

This is the coolest lunch ever, not to mention the easiest, and will be the envy of your kids' classmates. If peanut butter is off limits at your child's school, use cream cheese instead.

Ingredients

    * 1 hot dog bun (whole wheat, if possible)
    * 1 tbsp. (15 mL) peanut butter (or cream cheese)
    * 1 tbsp. (15 mL) strawberry or other jam (or honey, if preferred)
    * 1 whole banana
    * raisins, shredded coconut or chopped peanuts

Cooking Instructions
   1. Spread one inner surface of a split hot dog bun with peanut butter or cream cheese. Spread the other side with jam or honey. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in your child's lunch bag. Also, pack a whole banana (in the peel) and a small container of toppings, such as raisins, coconut, peanuts or whatever else you can think of.
   2. At lunchtime, your child can peel the banana and place it in the bun, sprinkle on the toppings and eat.
   3. Let the other kids drool. It's your lunch, kiddo, and you're the boss of it.

Grilled Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich
Originally submitted by Chasity and modified by Kaboose.com

Get your skillet sizzlin'! These tasty peanut butter and jelly sandwiches turn toasty on the grill for a gooey, melt-in-your-mouth filling that elevates plain-old PB&J to a whole new level.
Ingredients

    * 2 teaspoons butter
    * 2 slices white bread
    * 1 teaspoon peanut butter
    * 2 teaspoons any flavor fruit jelly

Cooking Instructions
   1. Heat griddle or skillet to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
   2. Spread butter on one side of each slice of bread. Spread peanut butter on unbuttered side of one slice of bread, and jelly on the other. Place one slice, buttered side down on the griddle. Top with other slice, so that peanut butter and jelly are in the middle. Cook for 4 minutes on each side, or until golden brown, and heated through.

Trail Mix Sandwiches
Originally submitted by MATHGOD and modified by Kaboose.com

These tasty sandwiches for the trail travel well in lunch bags and backpacks. Carrots, raisins and trail mix, blended into a creamy spread for multigrain bread, provide a boost of energy and a source of sustenance throughout your day.
Ingredients

    * 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, room temperature
    * 1 tablespoon lemon juice
    * 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
    * 1/2 cup raisins
    * 1 carrot, peeled and grated
    * 1/3 cup coarsely chopped trail mix
    * 8 slices whole wheat bread

Cooking Instructions
   1. Place cream cheese in a bowl. Add lemon juice and zest, raisins, shredded carrot, and chopped trail mix; stir until well blended and creamy. Spread between 2 slices of bread, and wrap up for the trail.

Here's one more eating adventure that is NOT for the squeamish...its a book by David George Gordon, called the "Eat a Bug Cookbook: 33 Ways to Cook Grasshoppers, Ants, Water Bugs, Spiders, Cenitpedes and their Kin".

I hope you have a wonderful week!
Blessings,
Sheri

Wanna visit my bento store? Click here.