Review of Raspberry, Feta, Pumpkin Seed Salad

You know how I promised a review of the Raspberry, Feta, Pumpkin Seed Salad on Thursday? Well, first of all, I forgot that was Christmas Day, but no worries, I was gonna post anyway, as we have a very laid-back Christmas Day in our household.

However, the real problem was that my ENTIRE family fell prey to some kind of sickness. SuperBoy had an icky cough. Just before Christmas, LoveBug had a 48-hr flu, which turned into an icky cough, for which we are going to the doctor this afternoon. My hubby got sick on Tuesday; he went to Urgent Care on Friday and was diagnosed with the flu  and put on meds; he is weak but recovering slowly. And me, hacking cough on Tuesday night turned into full-blown sinusitis and drippy drainage, which landed me in Urgent Care as well, because I couldn't attempt a breath without coughing! I'm on safe-for-pregnancy meds now, but it's a slow recovery process in this household. Ugh.

So THAT is why there was no post on Thursday; I was completely wiped out. Still am a bit. :(

So now, back to my review of the above-pictured salad. Tasty! The greens stayed fresh and crisp. The Craisins added a hint of sweetness, while the feta cheese chunks provided some tang.

In the future, I would have replaced the pumpkin seeds with chopped pecans. For me personally, I think that I prefer pecans or walnuts to pumpkin seeds. But at least, I gave it a shot, right?

What types of ingredients could you combine to create your own mason jar salad? In fact, what would you want to see me try? I'll gladly be your Mason Jar Salad guinea pig.

Lastly, this will be my next post until next year - don't worry; it's just around the corner. See you all next Monday.

Raspberry, Feta, Pumpkin Seed in a Mason Jar

This week's lunch is a Mason Jar Salad. Remember how I made the Healthier Cobb Salad and the Kale Slaw Salad. The beauty of a mason jar salad is two-fold: you can make an entire week's worth of lunches at one time, AND they stay fresh and yummy throughout the week. Plus, the combinations are practically endless.

This time, I made what I call a "Seasonal Salad". "Seasonal" because it incorporates toasted pumpkin seeds (the Autumn and Thanksgiving times of year) with the green and red colors of the Christmas season. Mason jar salads are pretty easy to make; here's how I created this one.

In the bottom of a quart mason jar (or clean pasta sauce jar), I placed about 2 Tbs. of a lite Raspberry dressing.

Next, I dumped in a handful of diced celery. This hearty vegetable prevents the dressing from soggifying (yes, I made up that word) the salad greens. Because who wants soggified salad later on in the week, right?

Next, I topped the diced celery with a large handful or two of salad greens. You can use any lettuces that you'd like. This week, I found a $5 tub of kale and spinach-type salad greens, so that is what I used.

A small cheery handful of Craisins adorn the salad greens, promoting the holiday feel of this particular salad.

Next, my favorite cheese with which to top a salad - feta! I crumbled up a bit, placing it atop the Craisins.

Lastly, a nod to the seasons passed (Autumn and Thanksgiving) - toasted, cinnamon-sugar pumpkin seeds provide a crunchy finish.

So there it is - a Raspberry, Feta, Pumpkin Seed Salad in a Mason Jar. On Thursday, I will give you my review. Hope it tastes as good as it looks!

"It's A Wonderful Life" Bento

On Monday, I posted a picture of one of my all-time favorite Christmas movie, and I challenged you to name that movie.

One guess was "A Christmas Story"; nope, but good guess.

Others guessed "It's A Wonderful Life" - if you were one of those people, you were right!

I tried to use several components to portray the "George Lassoes the Moon" scene.

(1) First, there's the Babybel cheese that I used to depict the moon.

(2) The "person" is made from buffalo chicken bites, and is using a Twizzler Pull-n-Peel rope to lasso the moon. The "person" represents George Bailey, while the buffalo chicken bites are a nod to the song that George and Mary sang in this scene - "Buffalo gals, won't you come out tonight? And dance by the light of the moon."

(3) The broccoli florets are placed to illustrate the bushes that Mary hid in once she accidentally lost her robe.

(4) The mini bell pepper is cut into a bell shape, to represent Zuzu's phrase "Every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings."

(5) The angel-shaped angel food cake represents Clarence, George Bailey's guardian angel, who eventually gets his wings in the end.

Hope you enjoyed my culinary nod to "It's A Wonderful Life". If you have not seen this movie, rent it or borrow it from a friend; it's a heart-warming Christmas classic. If you already love this film, watch it again. I know I will be watching it again soon!

Name That Christmas Movie

Today, let's play a little game. I've made a bento lunch of one of my all-time favorite Christmas movies.

See if you can name that Christmas movie, and some of the hidden components. (Hint: there are at least four.)

I'll reveal the answers on Thursday. Have fun!

Reviews of TJ's December Fearless Flyer items

On Monday's post, I promised our family's reviews of the Trader Joe's products that we tried. All of which were found in the December Fearless Flyer - I wonder why they call it that. Hmm.

For snack at school, I packed Cinnamon Apple Sticks. They are crunchy, with a hint of apple flavor. LoveBug LOVED them, but SuperBoy didn't like them. Oh well, more for LoveBug.

The Multigrain Pita Bite Crackers were a hit with everyone. Personally, I wouldn't say that they reminded me much of pitas, but they were tasty as a cracker nonetheless.

Unexpected Cheddar - Trader Joe's describes it as such: "The smooth creaminess of the Cheddar gives way to a tangy flavor and slightly crumbly texture, a subtle hint of salt crystallization is discovered, and it begins to taste like an aged Parmesan." That description seemed to hold true for our family. A definite "keeper".

The Spinach & Kale Bites were a bit of a gamble. I mean it's practically pure veggies that I was putting in a kid-friendly lunch. LoveBug said they weren't her favorite, and SuperBoy declared them "okay"; however, he wasn't feeling the greatest that day, so I don't know if his opinion counts. :) Hubby and I LOVED these veggie bites. They are definitely better hot out of the oven or warmed in the microwave, but still pretty tasty when they are cold. And I will tell you that they could use a sprinkling of salt. But yum, yum, yummy!

Southwestern Style Chicken Poppers - When I first read about these in the Fearless Flyer, I figured that they were boneless chicken wings with a southwest kick. Nope, I was wrong. Here's how Trader Joe's describes them: We took "the black bean-corn combo made delicious in our Cowboy Caviar Salsa ... added diced white meat chicken, jack cheese, spinach, and southwestern style seasonings, then rolled it all up in a crunchy and colorful tortilla chip crust." It is delicious. LoveBug, Hubby and I could have these poppers in our lunches almost everyday. Good hot or cold. LoveBug said that these poppers were the best part of her lunch, apart from the Candy Cane Joe-Joe of course. :)

The most-anticipated part of the packed lunch ... the Candy Cane Joe-Joe. What is that, you might ask? It's like an Oreo, with a creamy, peppermint-flavored filling, studded with candy cane pieces. And these are only in stock at Trader Joe's in December.
Also, highly anticipated in our household are the Chocolate-Covered Candy Cane Joe-Joe's - oh pure deliciousness!

That's the end of our reviews for the December Fearless Flyer. I hope you got inspired to try a few new things. And if you live anywhere near a Trader Joe's, you most definitely have to try the Candy Cane Joe-Joes.

Lunch is served, courtesy of Trader Joe's December Fearless Flyer

Today's lunch is brought to you by Trader Joe's December Fearless Flyer. Oftentimes, we tend to get into a rut, in this case, a "same-ole, same-ole lunch rut". That is why I enjoy when Trader Joe's Fearless Flyer shows up in my mailbox. I peruse it for some "Out-of-the-Lunchbox" inspiration!

Here is what my family chose to try from December's Flyer.
* Southwest-Style Chicken Poppers
* Unexpected Cheddar Cheese
* Spinach and Kale Bites
* Multrigrain Pita Bites
* Cinnamon Apple Sticks
* Candy Cane Joe-Joe's

On Thursday, I will give you my family's reviews on these products. Until then, see what kind of lunch you could put together from December's Fearless Flyer. I'd welcome your comments and suggestions!

Hard-Boiled Egg Shapes

The other day, my son randomly asked for "eggs that are hard, and in a shape. You know?"
I finally deciphered his code, and the translation was this, "Mom, can you make hard-boiled egg shapes?"

I can't remember if I've shared about egg molds before, but I know I haven't shown you HOW to make hard-boiled egg shapes. At least, I'm pretty sure that I haven't. Gotta love my forgetful preggie brain.

You can purchase these cute, little objects at All Things for Sale, at an international store, or even at Amazon. (Goodness gracious, I love Amazon!)

First, how do you hard-boil an egg? This might seem logical to you, and there are several recipes out there for hard-boiled eggs. Now, I'm a pretty good cook; just ask my husband and kids. But for the life of me, I could NOT successfully hard-boil eggs every single time; sometimes yes, and sometimes no. It could have been the high elevation where we were living at that time, but nevertheless, it was terribly frustrating!

For a while, I would call my mom for instructions, since her "recipe" was tried-and-true. Then I decided to write it down. Not because I didn't want to call my mom, but because with a 3-hour time difference, she just might not want me to be calling late at night, just for hard-boiled egg instructions.

So, here I will share it with you.

"Place eggs in a pot, with enough water, to cover. Put lid on the pot. Heat on high, until eggs begin to rattle. Turn heat down to low, with the lid on, for 5 minutes. Turn off heat, though burner is still hot, for 1 hour or overnight.

Drain water. Place eggs in a bowl in the refrigerator." Or eat immediately.

Here are two tips that I would add:

(1) Place a splash of vinegar in the water before boiling. This enables the shell to peel off easily.

(2) When using egg molds, carefully peel the hot! eggs after the hour is up. You need to have warm eggs in order to put them into the molds.

Carefully peel the still-very-warm eggs. Place one egg into each egg mold. Close the lid, and snap shut. Put in the refrigerator for a few hours or overnight.

When the eggs have cooled in the molds, carefully undo each mold, and pop out the shaped, hard-boiled egg! I say "carefully" because there will be a bit of water in each mold, probably from the condensation of the previously hot egg. So just be aware.

One more tip: I used medium/large eggs this time, they didn't seem to fill out the mold completely. Large to extra large eggs should fill out the mold better. But either way, you end up with cute egg shapes.

Now, go and enjoy your delightfully-shaped eggs!