Category: lunch box

Posted in breakfast, Brunch, Food, Kids in the Kitchen, lunch box, slow cooking

Slow Cooker Breakfast Granola

Posted on by lmc

20130730-175600.jpg
My kids seem to be addicted to granola. If I had to buy it pre-packaged every week, I’d be bankrupt. Thankfully, I have several recipes for this crunchy, delicious and versatile treat. We use it to top yogurt or ice cream, add milk (cold or hot) to eat it as a breakfast cereal, and mix it with sweet and salty treats to make a trail mix. What I like about this recipe is that you can set it in the crockpot and let it cook for a few hours without heating up the house with the conventional oven during the summer months. The key is to slightly prop the crockpot open with a wooden skewer. This tiny opening lets the moisture out but keeps the heat inside the liner. Stirring the mixture every 30-35 minutes is also the key to success.

Slow Cooker Breakfast Granola

4 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup maple syrup
3 1/2 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)
1/2 cup dried cranberries or raisins (optional)

Spray the liner of the slow cooker with cooking spray. In a separate bowl, mix oats, vanilla, honey, syrup, and canola oil. Pour into prepared slow cooker.
Cook the granola on low for 2 1/2-3 hours, venting the lid slightly. ( I use a wooden skewer.) Stir mixture well every 30-35 minutes. Cook until golden brown and quite dry.
Pour the finished granola onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and allow to cool completely. Add pecans, cranberries, or raisins if desired. Store in an airtight container.

20130930-065925.jpg

Posted in Baked goods, Desserts, Food, Kids in the Kitchen, lunch box

Easy Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Snack Cake

Posted on by lmc

20130704-204825.jpg
Growing up, I remember a boxed mix that my mom used to buy to make something called a snack cake. The favorite in our household was the spice mix flavor. Mom used to quickly bake it in a square pan and slice it into 9 squares. Once our family had grown to a count of 10 people, she was out of luck and needed to find a larger cake mix recipe…the traditional, full-sized cake mix that could be baked in a 9×13 pan.
What I like best about the snack cake is the ease of it all…only a few ingredients and no frosting needed.
This recipe is certainly a favorite. I pack quite a few lunches on a daily basis and this cake is really quite easy to slice, wrap and pack. As my oldest child will be heading to college in August, this will be a great cake to bake and send in a care package as I am sure she will be missing our traditional home-baked goodies. (And we will be missing her!)

Easy Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Snack Cake

1 box yellow cake mix
1/2 cup peanut butter
3 eggs
1/3 cup canola oil
1 1/4 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 13×9″ baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except chocolate chips; mix until well combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
Pour batter into prepared baking dish; bake 35-40 minutes.

Posted in Baked goods, Desserts, Food, Kids in the Kitchen, lunch box

Chocolate Chip Cake Mix Cookies

Posted on by lmc

20130625-075927.jpg

This past weekend, we celebrated my daughter’s graduation from high school. I knew the temperature was predicted to reach 90 degrees so I got all of my baking out of the way during the week, while the temperatures were mild and breezy. A couple of weeks ago, I saw that the local market was having a sale on cake mix. I had cake mix coupons to stack onto the sale price so the final price came out to 75 cents per box! I bought 5 boxes and remembered that I had a great recipe for Chocolate Chip Cake Mix Cookies. I thought that this would be a great addition to the dessert table at the graduation party. These cookies are crunchy on the outside and chewy in the middle. They have great flavor and the guests really enjoyed them. Store in an air-tight container (if they last that long).

Chocolate Chip Cake Mix Cookies

1 box yellow cake mix
2 cups old fashioned oatmeal, uncooked
3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup canola oil
2 eggs
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup semisweet chocolate morsels

Combine cake mix, oatmeal, and sugar in large bowl; mix well. In a medium bowl, combine oil, eggs and extract; mix thoroughly. Next, add wet mixture to dry ingredients, stir well. Stir in pecans and chocolate chips.
Use a small ice cream scoop to drop on ungreased cookie sheets about 2″ apart. Bake at 325 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes then remove to a wire rack to continue cooling.

Posted in Baked goods, Food, Kids in the Kitchen, lunch box

Perfect Peanut Butter Cookies

Posted on by lmc

20130619-071820.jpg
When I was a young girl, I would be asked to load up our Red Flyer wagon with a few of my younger brothers and sisters and spend the afternoon with them at the park. You see, I was the oldest girl in a family of 8 children. My mom would wash clothes, make meals, and tidy up the house, while I took care of the younger children in the family. It wasn’t unusual for me to have 5 little ones with me as I kept them occupied at the neighborhood park for a good portion of the day.
On one of my trips down the block, Mrs. Nolan, an elderly woman that lived in the corner house, opened her door and asked if we would like one of her freshly baked peanut butter cookies. Mrs. Nolan was a friend of the family so accepting a cookie would be no problem. After a few cookies and a glass of cold milk, we were on our way again.
On our next trip to the park, one of the children jumped out of the wagon at Mrs Nolan’s house and asked if we could go to see, “the cookie lady”. From then on, Mrs. Nolan was known as “the cookie lady” and we stopped nearly every day to visit her. She even had her husband assemble a small picnic table for us to sit at in her beautiful backyard, while she brought out cookies and milk.
As I think about my happy, innocent childhood, I remember a lovely women that spent her later years making 6 young children very happy as she fed us and talked with us under the shade of the oak trees in her welcoming backyard on Center Street.

Perfect Peanut Butter Cookies

2 cups peanut butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
Extra sugar for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray cookie sheets with non-stick spray. In a medium bowl, stir peanut butter and sugar together until smooth. Beat in the eggs. Stir in the baking soda, salt, and vanilla. Roll dough into 1 inch balls (or scoop out dough with a small ice cream scoop) and place 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets. Press a cross into the cookie tops using the tines of a fork. Lightly sprinkle with extra sugar.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Allow cookies to cool for 5-10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Posted in Baked goods, breakfast, Food, Kids in the Kitchen, lunch box

Chewy Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

Posted on by lmc

20130612-162123.jpg
Yesterday, while searching through the WordPress blogs, a recipe for healthy snack bars caught my eye. Late last night, after tidying up the kitchen, I couldn’t go to sleep without pulling out my stash of healthy ingredients to make these moist and flavorful treats. When my children woke (at the unearthly hour of 5am) to head out the door for swim practice, I had a few of these packaged and waiting for them.
I used an 11×7 baking pan for this recipe and they really couldn’t be any easier to make.
The original recipe can be found here.
Thanks, Anne, for a great recipe!
Below you will find my version of Anne’s recipe…

Chewy Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
½ cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cups sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. salt
11/2 cups milk
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. almond extract
1/2 cups chopped pecans
1/2 cups chocolate chips (or dried fruit)

Preheat oven to 375.

In a medium bowl, mix dry ingredients. in a separate bowl, mix wet ingredients. Pour wet into dry, mixing until combined. Pour batter into a 11×7″cooking-sprayed baking dish. Sprinkle a few raw oats on top.

Bake 30 minutes. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

Posted in Baked goods, breakfast, Brunch, Food, lunch box

Bountiful Blueberry-Banana Loaf

Posted on by lmc

20130612-063201.jpg
I have been complaining for weeks about the price of blueberries. This week, I was thrilled to see that the price has dropped to $1.49 a pint. Wow, that’s a great price!
Naturally, I bought 6 pints with the hopes of going back to the store again today to stock up on several more. I was going to stick with basic blueberry muffins until I realized that I had a few overly-ripe bananas on the counter. This recipe for Bountiful Blueberry-Banana Loaf is moist and delicious. I’m glad I was able to snap a picture of the bread after slicing it because it didn’t last very long. The addition of wheat germ really adds flavor, texture, and a nutritious boost to the recipe.

Bountiful Blueberry-Banana Loaf

1 cup flour
½ cup whole oats
2 tablespoons wheat germ
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ cup margarine or butter, melted
½ cup sugar
2 large eggs
1½ cup very ripe bananas, mashed
1 cup fresh blueberries
½ cup chopped pecans
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9″ loaf pan.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, oats, wheat germ, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.
In a large bowl mix the sugar, margarine or butter, and vanilla. Add the eggs, one at a time, and mix in the bananas. Pour dry mixture into the wet mixture and combine. Do not over mix. Fold in blueberries and nuts.
Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.
Cool for 10 minutes. Remove from loaf pan and continue cooling on wire rack.

Posted in Baked goods, breakfast, Brunch, Food, Homemade Mixes, lunch box

Best Basic Muffin Mix

Posted on by lmc

20130611-073614.jpg
This morning, I whipped up several batches of muffins for my family. The girls love basic blueberry muffins, while the boys crave muffins with chocolate chips. In order to save time, I double my basic muffin mix recipe, split the batter in half, and mix in additional ingredients to personalize the muffins. So, for the girls, I used the basic muffin mix recipe and added almond extract and fresh blueberries. For the boys, I added chocolate chips and vanilla extract. What a time-saver! More importantly, everyone is happy! This is my “go-to” basic muffin recipe mix.

Best Basic Muffin Mix

2 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup milk or buttermilk
1/4 cup canola oil

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare muffin pans by adding paper or silicone liners. In a large bowl, combine together dry ingredients; mix well. In a separate bowl, mix egg, milk, and oil; just until moistened. Do not over mix. Pour batter into individual muffin cups. (I use an ice cream scoop to distribute evenly.)

From here, you can fold in additional desired ingredients.

1 cup blueberries and 1/2 tsp almond extract
1 cup chocolate chips and 1 tsp vanilla
1 cup chopped apples and 1 tsp cinnamon

Posted in Baked goods, Desserts, Food, lunch box

Jumbo Oatmeal Cowboy Cookies

Posted on by lmc

20130605-081013.jpg
Jumbo Oatmeal Cowboy Cookies

Crunchy on the outside, chewy in the middle…that’s how I would describe these awesome oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.
Years ago, when I was a Daisy Girl Scout Leader, one of the Daisy parents gave me a sweet gift in a jar. She had stacked all of the dry ingredients for this cowboy cookie in a Mason jar and attached the recipe so that I could add a few ingredients to bake up a batch of these tasty delightful treats. I have tweaked the recipe a bit so that the cookie comes out flat with a crispy exterior and a chewy interior. This week, as the school year draws to a close, I made a huge double batch of these cookies to stuff into decorative gift bags and send off as teacher gifts to be passed out to all of our favorite teachers. I’ve attached a small gift card from Starbuck’s to complete the gift pack.
Nuts are delicious in this recipe but I often leave them out when I’m not sure about the food allergies of those that will be consuming the cookies. I, myself, especially love them with chopped pecans. Give them a try, you won’t be disappointed!

Jumbo Oatmeal Cowboy Cookies

2 cups flour
2 cups quick cooking oats
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup oil
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cups chopped pecans

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a medium bowl, cream the margarine, oil, sugar, and brown sugar. Beat in the eggs until well blended. Stir in chocolate chips and pecans. Drop by heaping tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheets. ( I use an ice cream scoop for evenly shaped cookies.) Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown around the edges. Transfer to wire rack after just a few minutes of cooling.

Posted in Food, lunch box, Main Dish, salads

Crazy Mixed-Up Caesar Salad

Posted on by lmc

20130530-133020.jpg
We are not a family that often eats out. I’d much rather make “copy-cat” restaurant favorites at home. Then, I can tailor the recipe to please the whole family ( for far less money). However, there are times when we are out and about and find ourselves in need of a meal.
A couple of years ago, we went to a new restaurant for a birthday celebration. My daughter ordered a salad that looked quite interesting. She was attracted to the notion that the salad included a few of her favorite foods…noodles, romaine lettuce, and Parmesan cheese. She was quite pleased with her choice and was not disappointed with her meal. As I looked at the salad, I realized that we were paying $9 or so for a Caesar salad with noodles in it. Shortly thereafter, I duplicated the salad in my kitchen and it has since become the only way I prepare Caesar salad for my family. Adding grilled chicken makes this tasty main-dish salad a hearty meal.

Crazy Mixed-Up Caesar Salad

3 small heads of romaine lettuce, chopped into bite-sized pieces
3/4 cup bottled Caesar salad dressing (I use Marzetti’s brand)
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded (I use Kraft or Sargento Brand)
1/4 cup water
1 16 oz box of noodles, fully cooked and cooled ( I use Ronzoni Smart Taste Brand)
Croutons
Pepper to taste

In a large serving bowl, mix romaine lettuce with fully cooked and cooled noodles. In a smaller bowl, mix 1 cup of dressing with 1/2 cup water to dilute the dressing, mix to combine. Pour dressing mixture over the lettuce and noodles. Toss to coat all of the ingredients. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over the salad and gently toss. Add croutons and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

Posted in appetizers/snacks, Baked goods, Food, lunch box, side dishes

Garden Fresh Veggie Pizza

Posted on by lmc

20130529-070848.jpg
This is surely one of my family’s favorite snacks. As we planted vegetables and herbs this weekend, it made me think of this colorful, nutrition-packed pizza. Most of you have probably seen a variation of this recipe in cookbooks or online… this is the way I have been making it for years. When everyone pitches in to mix the topping and chop the vegetables, this one is a snap to put together. I often cut a few leftover slices to fit into lunchbox containers for the girls. What a great way to get a variety of fresh vegetables on the plate!

20130529-071029.jpg

Garden Fresh Veggie Pizza

2 (8 ounce) packages refrigerated crescent rolls
1 cup lite mayonnaise
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 (1 ounce) package ranch dressing mix
2 green onions, finely chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped (any color)
1 1/2 cups fresh broccoli, chopped
1 medium tomato, diced
1/2 cup cucumber, diced
1 carrot, thinly sliced

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a jellyroll pan with non-stick cooking spray. Pat crescent roll sheet into a jellyroll pan, pinching seams to close any holes. Bake for 10 minutes, let cool.
In a mixing bowl, combine mayonnaise, cream cheese, ranch dip mix. Spread this mixture on top of the cooled crust. Arrange all of the prepared fresh vegetables on top of the creamed mixture. Cover and refrigerate until well chilled. Cut into squares and serve.