So, I bought my first Princess Lunchbox last week. (Well, not mine, but my daughter’s off to preschool, she needs lunch and snack, so a Princess Lunchbox it is.) The very next day, she was so excited to use the lunchbox that we packed her lunch along with her brothers’ and took it with us on our day of errands and such. She proceeded to eat the cheese stick, the Oreos, the juice box, and the grapes. The sandwich (which she had selected) was still sitting pretty with Cinderella, Snow White, and Belle when we returned home.

So, how can you be sure your kids aren’t throwing their lunches in the trash? You can’t go sit with them and make sure they eat. You can’t be a fly on the wall, though we all wish we could!

So, what’s the next best alternative? Give them they like! Make it fun! Sounds logical, right? But it may be easier said than done without sending Lunchables everyday.

First, let’s hope we’ve helped them develop some reasonable healthy eating habits. Of course, they won’t eat every healthy thing you ask of them, but maybe the kid who turns his nose up at a traditional sandwich will embrace a sandwich deconstructed (some cheese, a slice of turkey or two rolled up (maybe around a pickle), and some crackers or cocktail bread), or some mixed nuts and yogurt or cheese sticks and cut-up veggies (check out the produce section for baby carrots and dip individually packaged for convenience). Now my daughter’s in a nut-free school, and alot of schools have gone that route, so that’ll be my last mention of nuts or peanut butter in a lunchbox. But if it's OK at your school and PB is your child’s first love, substitute peanut butter where I suggest cream cheese or other cheese spreads.

For snacks, I love a couple of real retro ideas from my own school days, for example, Ants on a Log — celery with cream cheese or Wispride, also topped with raisins or granola.

Remember to think outside the box — or the bread — when it comes to offering your kids lunches they will love. That can mean replacing sliced bread with pita, wraps or bagels, or even adding crackers or pita chips or tortilla chips into your childs’ lunchbox. You can also skip the sandwiches all together by sending in leftovers: a few chicken nuggets or some sliced grilled chicken breast with a little yogurt or ranch dressing as a dip, perhaps. Two of my favorite finds this Fall have been Chicken Summer Rolls and Cheddar-Carrot Spread (not that I'll be sending Chicken Summer Rolls to school with my kids (note that they have peanut butter) — I’ll reserve them for my husband and myself.

Chicken Summer Rolls
These crunchy Vietnamese-style rolls are healthy and light, and the addition of rice makes them filling. They're gluten-free, but anyone — even adults — will love them.

1/4 c rice vinegar, plus 1 to 2 tablespoons
1 T sugar, divided
2 c shredded, cooked chicken (from a rotisserie or other leftover chicken)
1 medium-large carrot, shredded (about 1 cup)
12 (8 1/2-inch) rice paper wrappers (sold in Asian food aisle in supermarkets or Asian markets)
1/3 English cucumber or 1 kirby cucumber, peeled, julienned, about 1 cup
4 scallions (white and green parts) finely chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1/2 c fresh mint leaves, basil or cilantro
About 12 Boston lettuce leaves
1/2 c cooked brown or white rice
1/2 c chunky peanut butter
2 T soy sauce
3 T water

Whisk 1/4 cup rice vinegar with 2 teaspoons sugar in a medium bowl until sugar dissolves. Add chicken and carrot, season with salt to taste, set aside.

Fill a large bowl with warm water. Working with 2 sheets of rice paper at a time (keep others covered with a barely damp cloth to prevent curling), immerse papers in the warm water until slightly softened (about 15 seconds). Remove and spread out on a clean surface or cutting board. Pat dry with a towel to remove excess water. Lay 2 pieces of lettuce over the bottom third of the rice paper, leaving about 1/2-inch clear on edges. Place about 1/3 cup chicken and carrot mixture on the lettuce, top with 4 to 5 pieces cucumber, scallion, several mint leaves and about 1 heaping tablespoon of rice. Roll up the paper halfway into a cylinder. Fold both edges in to tuck while continuing to roll the paper to seal. Place the rolls on a plate covered with a damp towel so they stay moist as you prepare the remaining rolls. Cut rolls in half and wrap in plastic wrap or place in an air-tight container.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the peanut butter with the remaining 1 to 2 tablespoon rice vinegar, 2 teaspoons sugar, 2 tablespoons soy sauce and water until smooth. Put sauce in sealed containers.

Tuck rolls and sauce into a lunch sack with a cold pack and send off to school.

Time Saving Tip: Use leftover rice to make these quicker. Make them the night before or prep all ingredients including chicken and carrot mixture so in the morning you just need to roll.

Copyright (c) 2008 Television Food Network, G.P., All Rights Reserved

Cheddar-Carrot Butterfly Sandwiches

4 ozs cold cream cheese
2 ozs yellow cheddar cheese, finely grated (about 1 cup loosely packed)
1 carrot, finely grated (about 1/2 cup)
Pepperidge Farm butterfly crackers

In a medium bowl, with a wooden spoon, combine cream cheese, cheddar cheese, and carrot. With moistened hands, gently form 12 balls, each equal to 1 level tablespoon of mixture. Serve or refrigerate, covered with plastic wrap, up to 2 days.

Spread cheddar-carrot mixture on butterfly crackers and top to create sandwiches.

Based on a recipe from Everyday Food

September 8 was proclaimed the International Literacy Day by UNESCO in November 17, 1965. On International Literacy Day each year, UNESCO reminds the international community of the status of literacy and adult learning globally.

Despite many and varied efforts, literacy remains an elusive target: some 776 million adults lack minimum literacy skills which means that one in five adults is still not literate; 75 million children are out-of-school and many more attend irregularly or drop out.

This year, International Literacy Day will put the spotlight on the empowering role of literacy and its importance for participation, citizenship and social development. Literacy and Empowerment is the theme for the 2009-2010 biennium of the United Nations Literacy Decade.

How can you help promote literacy? Many public schools look for “guest readers” in classrooms and in the library, in fact, many employers will let employees take time off from work to ready to students in classrooms. Look into it.

And today, in honor of International Literacy Day, Go Read a Book!

Ecclectic Meal

Getting every last bit out of summer vacation!

I asked my family the other day to give me a few final summer meals, things they haven't had enough of, or are at their peak this time of year. My son asked for Grammy's clam chowder (see January 27, 2009 post), my daughter piped in with no corn chowder. Those are similar enough that they can both be on the menu tonight. I had pizza dough in the fridge and frozen caramelized onions, so I tossed those on a pizza with bacon and brie. (I'll report on that creation after we eat.)

A whole family favorite is grilled portabella mushrooms on chiabetta bread with roasted red peppers and mozzarella drizzled with balsamic vinegar. So tomorrow night everyone will be happy with dinner.

Later this week we'll be having grilled sausage and peppers. For the weekend I'm already planning on a BBQ with friends featuring Ribs and steaks. Hopefully we'll get some good summer tomatoes, because with all the rain, they haven't been that great yet. The yellow and white corn has been yummy though:) I also may have to make one more Peach Crisp before it's apple season! Of course, we'll end the BBQ with S'Mores over the chimenea! Enjoy the end of summer!


Corn Chowder (from 365 Quick & Easy Microwave Recipes)
I also just add everything and simmer it on the stove at times.
1/2 pound bacon, diced
3 medium baking potatoes, peeled and cut into 1" chunks
1 medium onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups milk (can use some half and half to make it creamier)
17 ounce can cream-style corn
7 ounce can corn kernels, drained (or 2-3 ears cut off)
1/2 teaspoon pepper
Hot pepper sauce and salt to taste

1. Place bacon in a 4 cup glass measure. Cover with paper towel. Cook on HIGH 5-6 minutes, until crisp. Remove bacon with slotted spoon and set aside. Save 1 T bacon drippings.

2. Place potatoes, onion and I T bacon drippings in a 2 quart casserole. Cover and cook on HIGH 7 minutes, stirring once.

3. stir in milk, cream style corn and corn. Cover and cook on HIGH 10-12 minutes, until potatoes are tender. Add pepper and season with hot sauce and salt to taste.

Serves 4-6

chocolate cupcakes

Like Regina we have lots of summer birthday. I also bake what my kids want, within reason. But I'm not the best baker, my cupcakes are always dry. I tried a new recipe this year for Molly's puppy cupcakes and was pleased with the results.

Moist cake recipe

Chocolate-Peanut Butter!

Somehow, years ago, our family started a tradition that whatever a child wanted for their birthday cake, I would try to make. I'm really not sure how this started. I think my oldest wanted something one year and I did it, so she decided this was our family's birthday tradition. Every summer (1 June, 1 July, 2 August babies) I kick myself for allowing this, but then seeing how much my kids enjoy, I really am happy that we do this, mostly. My son, Brendan, the last birthday of the summer in our family turned 7 last week. For his birthday, he wanted to be surprised. You would think this would be easier, but really what it means is that his sisters choose what they think he'll like, and that is not always easier.

My son, also loves Chocolate and could, I believe, actually live on peanut butter alone. (The rest of us all love the C-PB combo, with it being my particular fave!), so when the girls decided that the Sorting Hat from Harry Potter was going to be the cake, I decided Choc-PB was the perfect combo for it. It was delish! I used a box of Better Crocker Chocolate cake mix, but made the peanut butter filling and chocolate ganache recipes from this Food & Wine recipe. I did the filling in between our layers and around the outside before pouring the ganache on top. It was to-die-for! Now, I have to try these cupcakes, too -- I think they would be the perfect combination of chocolate cake, peanut butter filling and ganache. YUM!

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/double-dark-chocolate-cupcakes-with-peanut-butter-filling

Chargrilled Vegetable Terrine

After wanting to make this recipe for years, I finaly did and it was easier than I originally thought. We enjoyed this last week and Regina asked for the recipe, so I thought I'd share it with all.

Chargrilled Vegetable Terrine
11 oz ricotta cheese
2 cloves garlic, crushed
8 large slices chargrilled eggplant, drained
10 slices chargrilled red pepper, drained
8 slices chargrilled zucchini, drained
1 1/2 rocket leaves ( I used Boston lettuce, fresh Basil would also be delicious)
3 marinated artichokes, drained and sliced
3 oz semi dried tomatoes (I used sun dried), drained and chopped
3 1/2 oz marinated mushrooms, drained and halved

1. Beat together ricotta and garlic until smooth. Season well and set aside. Line a 9 X 5 X 2 1/2 inch loaf pan with plastic wrap, leaving a generous amount hanging over the sides.

2. Line the base of the pan with half of the eggplant, cutting and fitting to cover the base. Top with a layer of half the red pepper, then all of the zucchini. Spread evenly with the ricotta mixture and press down firmly. Place the Lettuce leaves on top of the ricotta. Arrange the artichoke, tomato and mushrooms in three rows lengthwise on top of ricota.

3. Top with the remaining red peppers and finish with eggplant. Cover securely with the overhanging plastic wrap. Put a piece of cardboard on top and weigh it down with weights or small food cans. Refigerate overnight.

4. To serve, peel back the plastic wrap and turn the terrine onto a plate. Remove the plastic wrap and cut into thick slices and serve.

Rice recipes

Anyone have some good summer rice recipes?  I accidentally brought 10 pound bags of rice on two recent grocery shopping trips:) Share if you have any!  Thanks, Bridget