Cute Car and Palm Trees Snack

Sometimes, your child, or the child in you, is a very picky eater. Try a change in presentation. I got this idea from bento boxes, a Japanese method of turning lunch into art. It doesn't take long to make and you can use whatever you have available. The most difficult part is coming up with a concept. I made this up as I went.

To start, I picked out a car mold that I had available and molded the bread, then I made them into peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. At first, I made the PB&J sandwich, then tried to mold it after I decided I wanted cars, and it was very messy. So, lesson learned: mold the bread first.

After washing the grapes, I cut them in half and laid them out to make the grass (and dirt). Then I placed the cars above them.

The plate still looked a little empty, so I checked the fridge and found some strawberries and bananas that I had for smoothies. I cut the bananas in half (so that I had two short halves), then peeled it from the center of each half. They peel into thirds, and I used these as the trunks of my palm trees. The strawberries are just cut in half almost all the way, then fanned out. I used two strawberries per tree.

For the sun, I grabbed a Ritz cracker and a slice of cheese. I had a tiny flower cookie cutter for Easter, but you can use anything to cut the cheese to fit your cracker.

This took me about 15 minutes to make, a chunk of time was due to the sandwich mishap. It's pretty and delicious and healthy, so try it out next time you'd like a snack.

Trader Joe's Breakfast

Here's a simple, quick, and healthy breakfast option. I recently discovered what many Americans already know as Trader Joe's, a healthy but wallet-friendly grocery store chain with a market vibe to it.

The main part of this dish is the chocolate croissant. I bought it at Trader Joe's in a pack of four for $3.99 + tax. You have to let it proof, or sit out and expand, overnight, so the night before, just lay them out on some wax paper on a pan and sit in a cool oven. In the morning, take them out and they'll be big and fluffy. Then just preheat the oven as directed while you whip up an egg in a cup and dust the croissants with the egg.

Since the oven will probably still be heating up at this point, I spread out the bacon on their own oven rack, so that when the oven is ready, I can put in the croissants and the bacon. I like my bacon soft, so this works for me, but if you like it crispier, you may want to have the bacon in the oven before you dust your croissants with eggs.

When there's about 5 minutes left on the oven timer, I make the eggs. Adding a small amount of milk will make your eggs fluffy. Too much will make it watery and possibly smell like socks, so err on the safe side and only add a little bit. You'll figure out what works with how many eggs you have eventually. A bit of salt and pepper for flavor. Sometimes I add cheese or chives, but this morning, it's just salt-and-pepper eggs. Just remember to use medium heat and start out by rubbing butter on the pan so the eggs don't stick to the pan or burn.

The strawberries are just washed well and eaten as they are. When everything is ready, add it to the plate with the strawberries. Pour yourself a glass of orange juice, and now you have a picture perfect breakfast! Enjoy the rest of your day!

Tres Leches Cake

This is my recipe for a "tres leches cake". Granted, it's always worth it to get the real one from a Mexican bakery. I still like theirs better, but from what I've gathered in my research, this is the recipe I've come up with.

I used fresh strawberries, canned mandarin oranges, fresh kiwi, fresh blackberries, and fresh mango to decorate.

To make the cake:

1.5 cups of flour
1.0 tsp baking powder
0.5 tsp baking soda
0.5 cup white sugar
5 eggs
0.5 tsp vanilla extract

NOTE: The purpose of the baking soda is to get a better rise in the cake.
NOTE: Try pure vanilla extract instead of imitation vanilla extract.

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F for darker pans and 350 degrees F for lighter-colored pans.
2. Grease, then flour the baking pans.
3. Sift flour, baking power and baking soda together.
4. Whip butter, then add sugar bit by bit until the sugar is all added and the texture is fluffy.
5. Separate egg whites and egg yolks.
6. Beat egg yolks into butter-sugar mixture.
7. Meringue (beat until fluffy) egg whites, then add vanilla.
8. Fold meringue mixture into butter-sugar mixture.
9. Gently fold flour mixture in too. Don't beat or over mix, otherwise, the cake will be flat.
10. Pour batter into pans and bake until a toothpick can be inserted into the middle of the cake and come out clean. This will probably be about 20-25 minutes, more or less.


To make the filling:

0.5 cup milk
1.0 cup heavy cream
1 14oz can of sweetened condensed milk
1 12oz can of evaporated milk

1. Combine all four ingredients.
2. When cake is ready and still hot from the oven, poke lots of holes about 1/2 inch apart.
3. Pour milk mixture on top of cake.
4. Cover cake pan and let the milk mixture soak into cake in the refrigerator for several hours.


To make the topping:

1.5 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup white sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
fruit of your choice

NOTE: To save time, you can replace the first three ingredients with storebought whipped cream, preferably in a tub, rather than a can.

1. Whip the whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla together until thick.
2. Spread whipped cream over cake.
3. Decorate with fruit.

NOTE: After the cake is finished, keep it refrigerated.

Cute Bunny and Turtle Snack

Using some of those Easter cookie cutters, I made this healthy, cute snack for when the picky-eater in us takes over.

This snack didn't take but a few minutes to scramble together. I bought a few cookie cutters and thought I'd try them out. The sandwich was just a Nutella hazelnut spread sandwich, then I cut it in the shape of a bunny. It's easiest to get out if you cut it and then wiggle the cookie cutter a little bit to separate the bread. I added a dab of Nutella to make the nose. You can always do more if the mood strikes you.

For the turtles, I used Ritz crackers as the base, then used the small flower cookie cutter to cut slices of cheese for the shell. The arms and legs are grape halves, but I used whole grapes for the heads. I cut off a slanted piece from the turtle heads so that they wouldn't roll around.

Done! Very quick and easy, and still a healthy and pretty snack for you or your loved one. Enjoy!

What's the Point of Life?

I was wondering what's the point of life, as I'm sure everyone does at one point or another in their lives. It's just a draft response right now, but maybe it's just to enjoy as much of the world as possible.

Exhibit A:

God created the world for all living things. The purpose of the world is for the living things and the living things were created for the world. Circular logic at its best. Nothing wants to be lonely. That's why everything looks for a mate. That's why jelly was made for peanut butter.

Exhibit B:

If God made something incredible (i.e., the world) and had no one to share it with, what fun would it be? So he made us. Like any game, there should be some rules on how to win, thus, the Bible. When my siblings and I play poker, the loser would have to do jumping jacks or push-ups, when we lose God's game, the stakes are a little bit higher (for example, an eternity in Hell or whatnot). But even when we lost at poker, my siblings and I still love each other, so I don't think God would love us less if we lost at Life.

Thank you, Milton Bradley, for making Life relateable for children.