KookyCulinary

Before summer began, I thought that this summer would be a summer of lounging around and doing nothing. Boy, was I wrong!! This is turning out to be the busiest summer that we’ve ever had so far. We’ve been camping almost every weekend since Memorial day. Every week, before I can even finish unpacking from one camping trip and doing the laundry (tons of smoke-filled clothes!), I have to pack up for the next camping trip. Squeeze in a couple of playdates in between and it has just been crazy. Even though it has been so busy, I think Lil’ C is having the time of her life and that’s the most important thing.

The busy schedule also means that I have not been cooking much. But I still have some unpublished photos that I took just as summer was starting. Here’s one of those bento.

Since I bought a Panini Pressrecently, Lil’ C has been asking for Panini all the time. Her favorite is Egg Panini with cheese and that’s what is in this bento. Ham rolls, Oreo cookies and cantaloupe makes up the rest of the bento.

Today’s bento contains heart-shaped peanut butter & jelly sandwiches. I use a smaller heart cookie cutter to cut out a little heart just for fun. It makes it prettier, doesn’t it? Other food includes cheese sticks, honey cornflakes cup and checkered apple.

These mice have stars in their eyes. Maybe they just met Mickey Mouse and were starstruck?? Anyway, these are the whole wheat chicken nuggets from Costco. Just a couple of seaweed cutouts does make it different, doesn’t it? Other food in the bento consists of orange, cheese sticks and Princess cookies.

When all else fails, Nutella always comes to the rescue. Lil’ C will eat anything with Nutella and frankly, so will I!! ,This bento contains Nutella sandwich roll, strawberries, mini marshmallow and scrambled eggs.

You know it’s summer when all sorts of berries start popping out everywhere. I just saw the first batch of Rainier cherries at the grocery store yesterday but they are still very expensive right now. Will wait till the price drop later this month. However raspberries are pretty cheap nowadays and Lil’ C just love all sorts of berries, thus a bento loaded with raspberries.

A simple bento of macaroni and cheese topped with broccoli and a raspberry, popcorn, a Hersheys Kiss and more raspberries

This bento contains PB & J sandwiches cut into triangles and decorated with sprinkles, a couple of Hershey’s Kisses, turkey on a pick, broccoli and string cheese flowers.

Meanwhile over the next couple of days, I will be indulging in this  . . . . .

S’mores!! : ) Yes, it’s the start of camping season!! Woohoo!! We’re off to our first camping trip this year. Will be heading out to the lake to enjoy this long weekend. Have a great Memorial Day weekend!!

Chicks or Ducks? They are supposed to be duck-shaped french toast but Lil’ C thinks they look more like chicks, so chicks they are. So today’s bento consists of little chicks french toast with strawberry jam for dipping, marshmallow & dried cranberries. At the back are some Mickey Mouse chicken nuggets and some peas & corn topped with a fruit leather star.

I had this long post written about the happenings of this past week and just when I was ready to save it, it went *poof* and I lost it all!! Aaargh! Maybe the laptop is trying to tell me to write less!! Anyway, will try again on the next post.

Here’s some cupcake pops that I made a couple of weeks ago. I have been wanting to make this ever since I saw it on Bakerella’s blog. They are just the cutest thing ever. So when a friend had a birthday party recently, I decided to make some. That way, I can share the “calories”!! hehe…

The cupcake pops were relatively easy to make but it’s a little time-consuming due to different steps required and all the refrigeration/freezing time needed. For this first attempt, I used the boxed cake mix and canned frosting just to try it out.

I had a little trouble with the molding of the cake because I didn’t have the right size cutter. So it was a little hard to get it into the shape that i wanted. But I think they still turned out pretty cute for a first attempt.

Guess who was very excited to make these pops?? My little princess! I think it’s something to do with the pink frosting and sprinkles galore, you agree?? Throughout my baking process, I was bombarded with ” Mommy, can I put the sprinkles now??” “now, mommy?” ” how many more minutes??” Can you feel the enthusiasm? Next time I am making it all the prep work after her bedtime!!

Check out Bakerella’s post for detail recipe and step-by-step guide for these cupcakes. Even if you are not interested in making these, you should check out all the cool cupcake pops HERE. They are just too cute!!

Yes, this is suppose to look like Hello Kitty but she’s a little tardy today, so she’s not looking like herself today. Somehow she forgot her hair ribbon and wasn’t too happy about it! Anyway, we were running a little late today. Had to forgo the ribbon. It still kinda looks like a cat, doesn’t it? It’s ham sandwiches today with apple sauce topped with granola bits, chocolate-covered raisins & edamame.

Wow, it’s been a week since I last posted!! How did time pass so fast? To all my awesome readers, thanks for always dropping by even with the lack of posting. You’re the best!!!  I think I am going through a little blog burnout now. Is it me or does anyone else ever feel that way? Maybe it’s just spring fever! The gorgeous spring weather & blue skies, the beautiful cherry blossoms, daffodils and tulips are making it really hard to stay indoors and stare at the laptop.  I promise I will try to get my act together soon.

Meanwhile here’s another bento for my little cutie pie. An octo-dog flanked by flower-shaped cheese sandwiches & Nutella sandwiches. Rounding up the bento are carrot sticks, celery sticks with peanut butter & candy corn.