Very Cute Cupcakes

I spent last week at one of the "happiest places on earth" Walt Disney World. I must admit they did have very cute food. For breakfast we had Mickey shaped waffles and throughout the day we were confronted by delectable treats like these from the bakery. In 95 degree heat even more tempting were the Mickey shaped ice cream bars and  the triple scoops of Edy's ice cream. I must admit we were very weak, consumed great amounts of junk food and shared good times. Good thing that most of the time we eat very healthy.

Two Silly Snails

Last week we set off on a family road trip to Walt Disney World.   The trip was wonderful and booked solid. We saw four parks in four days and walked, walked, walked. Walt Disney World is my husband's most favorite place on earth. The kids keep teasing him that soon when we get a few out of college he could quit his day job and just be with the mouse full time. Although I also like the parks this is why the man needs to travel and see the world. The other world, the real one with all of the real landmarks. I digress. My bento was created for the road trip. The container is a cheap one from the dollar store that wouldn't upset me if it got lost. If you look closely you will see two snails tucked in the corner. They are made out of pickles and tortilla with cheese and turkey slices in a roll. In addition there is some pickled carrot, plum, black cherries and fruit salad. 

Three Little Pigs Breakfast Pancakes

I found this single serving pan for making pancakes at one of my favorite closeout stores for $3.99. The pancakes imprint this cute little guy. He is supposed to be a pig. I'm thinking gorilla, or hippo or something. As you can see I had some difficulty getting the cook time down so I ended up with three different shades of pig. I made about five of these little guys and then made regular pancakes with the rest of the batter. I ate four. I left one little guy in the middle of a stack of pancakes on the kitchen counter for my late rising teenagers, with the pig peeking out of the stack. Not one comment from the jaded bunch. Oh well.

Sweet Surprise

I was wandering through one of my favorite closeout stores yesterday and I came upon these cuties. They are lollipops from the Netherlands. Cherry shaped, cherry flavored lollipops. Zing! very Kawaii and destined for my bento box if I can keep them away from the minions. Wish me luck.

The Daytrippers and Me

On my 50th birthday last month I promised myself that this decade I will travel overseas with my husband. We have been married for 22 years and are in the process of raising 4 wonderful children. The last three decades have been all about the children as you can imagine. They are now in high school and college. It's our turn to have some fun. First step in the plan was to procure passports. I traveled several times before getting married but my passport had expired. My dear husband has never left the U.S. except for one brief day in Mexico on our honeymoon. He has never applied for a passport. The first step in our journey has begun, we have applied for passports and they have arrived. Now the planning begins.

When I first saw this collection at Borders the little girls reminded me of that promise. If money were no object I would have bought the whole collection which included carry on style bags but... did I mention we have four kids. Instead I bought this cute bundle of lunch accessories. I will try to be good and save them for a "Back to School" reward in August since I am a teacher. Only time will tell if I can hold out that long.

Lots of Leftovers Bento

My husband's bento lunch is filled with leftovers from the weekend. The right side is baked cabbage roll casserole. Basically it is deconstructed cabbage rolls that are layered and baked. The meat is extra lean ground turkey and the cheese is rice cheese sprinkled on top. The combination is comfort food Slovac style and much easier to prepare than traditional cabbage rolls. Although cabbage rolls are cuter. I opted for easy. The left side has garden vegetable pasta salad with fat-free Italian dressing. The box is my new 1000ml lock and lock box from Winn Dixie. It is huge. I think it will be very useful for my husband's lunches and not so dear if he leaves it at work once and while.
It took my family just over 24 hours to devour the double recipe star cake my daughter made for the 4th. Half of the cake was consumed before leaving the party. The other half mysteriously disappeared as it sat out on the kitchen counter. In a way that is one of the things I love about my kitchen.
We don't worry about nutrition since we eat healthy every day therefore an occasional overindulgence is well deserved.

Happy 4th of July

Wishing all of you a very happy and safe 4th of July. My youngest daughter spent over 6 hours working on this cake for our family celebration. I think it came out beautifully. It's sort of like food art. She even centered the stars in the middle. She volunteered to make desert so she could practice her cake decorating skills. Next week she starts the gum-paste and fondant class. Maybe next year we can have little minute-men carrying the flag. Just imagine the possiblities!