itty bitty fish

As this was my week to do snacks for onefish’s preschool class, I decided to make my [itty bitty kitty] honey waffles. I also made some banana flowers. You know, just in case someone didn’t want waffles.

What I didn’t plan on was how long it would take me to make an entire class-worth of [itty bitty kitty] waffles. Prepping and mixing [which I did the night before] only took about 15 min, but the actual cooking of the waffles was about an hour in the morning. It takes 4+ minutes to cook each batch of 4 [itty bitty kitty] waffles, and then about a couple minutes to take them out and refill. And, I made over 30 waffles each day. Both days, the plate came back like this:

The first day the plate came back completely empty, I was worried I hadn’t made enough waffles for the kids, but the teachers exchanged a slightly impish, knowing glance and admitted they had finished what was left over. I also overheard some of the kids talking their parents about the waffles. So, yeah… totally worth the effort.

I love bluefish. He works hard day in, day out and never expects meals to be made for him. However, I do enjoy feeding him and making things he likes to eat. So, it’s been a pleasure to see him devour almost everything I’ve made since I started this blog. One thing he loves [but doesn't make for himself because of his work schedule] is fresh cut vegetables. So, today I gave him some veggie flowers:

They were not hard to make. I just peeled and cut some carrot sticks, cut up some avocado for the “grass”, used my flower veggie cutter for the blossoms [Xan enjoyed some carrot blossoms today, as well!] and I served it with a side of sweet honey Catalina dressing. And, don’t worry about the leftover carrot being wasted. I enjoyed those pieces while I was fixing the snack!

I made some fun french toast this morning using my two-hearts sandwich cutter. I had to shred them into smaller bits for twofish, but the lack of crust made it much easier for her to chew them. These made perfect hand-sized snacks for onefish later in the day. [Side note: handle the bread gently as it tears easily without the crusts once it's been soaked in the egg mixture.]

~ 6 large eggs
~ 3/4 cup whole milk
~ 3 tablespoons sugar
~ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
~ 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
~ dash of salt
~ About 12 hearts [six slices] of Trader Joe’s Texas Toast [but any bread will do]
~ Canola Harvest butter [I get those massive tubs - LOVE the stuff!] for the frying pan/griddle
~ Powdered sugar or cinnamon sugar to top [optional]

I cooked these just a touch over medium heat so they didn’t get burned. The bitty fish loved these with cinnamon sugar on top [shocker, huh?], and bluefish liked his with maple syrup. I really need to get some different shapes of crust cutters, as they leave very little waste. And, if you make a little bit more egg mix, you can soak the crusts and cook them up, as well.

I’ve been having so much fun with my vegetable cutters, I thought I’d try them on potatoes. They worked like a charm, so I also tried using some small bear and bunny cutters (a bit more challenging, as they were plastic). Then I preheated the oven to 450 degrees, sprayed a them (and the baking sheet) with some Pam, and then sprinkled the potatoes with the magic ingredient:

I cooked them for about 20 minutes, and then my fishees and I enjoyed fresh, hot, homemade spicy chip-fries:

Both of my kids snarfed them down. In fact, I had to give them to twofish one at a time or else she’d shove them all in at once! And, lest you think I was a tater-waster, bluefish and I enjoyed the “crusts”:

There are so many combinations you can make with these cutters. I have both “A” and “B” cutters so I can do big and little shapes of each (pictured below). The big cutters work on bananas like a charm – you hardly lose any banana in the shaping. I use Trader Joe’s dried fruit bars for the center flower (small flower cutter) and their honey roasted peanuts (half of one) for the very center. It’s like a peanut butter and banana and jelly sandwich! Without the bread, of course. If you (or your bitty one) is allergic to peanuts, you can use a candy button (or just about anything) for the center piece.

Leggo that Eggo and throw out your box mix. Below is a recipe for healthy waffles that your kids will gobble up. These are so good you don’t even need syrup on them.

[itty bitty] healthy honey waffles
* 1 cup white bread flour
* 1 cup whole wheat flour
* 1/4 cup multi-grain oats (regular oatmeal is fine, too)
* 1/4 cup flax seed meal
* 4 teaspoons baking powder
* 2 tablespoons sugar
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 2 large eggs (beaten)
* 1 and 3/4 cups milk
* 1/4 cup applesauce
* 1/4 cup canola (or canola blend) oil
* 2 tablespoons honey (omit if you’re feeding to babies under one year)
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs then add the rest of the wet ingredients. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until smooth, but don’t over mix. Coat preheated waffle maker with non-stick buttery spray and cook according to manufacturers instructions (though, I noticed that these waffles took about 30 seconds to a minute longer to cook than standard recipe waffles).

You can [of course] make big waffles with this recipe, as well.

Al Frankin, we [the Fishees] love you and now realize you are as talented as you are smart.

Onefish’s lunch for tomorrow:

It has come to my attention that onefish gets way too distracted by preschool to eat more than a couple bites of his lunch. So, I put his favorite carbs (pretzels) and protein (Kraft slices) in the top layer and fruit (which he always gobbles up) int he bottom. As you may be able to see, the leftover cheese bits are padding under the pretty cut-outs.

No, not the ones about the meaning of life (though, the answer to most of those would be: to drink, be merry and eat fun food!) – the ones about the hows and wheres of my bento. Some of my friends contacted me outside of this blog to ask the following questions:

* When do you make these; night before, nap time, or with itty bitty helpers?

All of the above. And, it’s not as time consuming as it might seem. I actually find cooking even semi-complex recipes more time consuming than creating fun bento lunches/meals.

* Where did you get the plane and train shaped cutters? Did you use mini size cutters or regular size cutters?

Most of my food cutters are mini aluminum cookie cutters made by Fox Run (which I buy through Amazon.com), but R & M makes some really cute mini cutters, as well.

* What do you do with the extra bits of turkey you have left after cutting out your shapes?

I (or bluefish) eat them. Yum.

* Where did you buy the bento boxes?

My favorite place to get bento boxes is Happy Japan. They’re in Nashville, TN (in case any of you are local to that area), have tons of cute bento accessories, very reasonable/fast shipping, and great customer service. They’re currently back-ordered on some products which they said should have in stock in the next couple of weeks.

* Is there an English website that sells the egg yolk shapers?

Yes! You can get them from Happy Japan (though I believe they’re out of stock right now) and JBox.

* Where did you get that camera?

Heh. I shoot with a Canon 5D mark II. If you’re looking to get a DSLR, I would get it from a reputable seller like B&H Photo.

* Would you come be Personal Chef for my kids and me?

I bet you can cook WAY better than I can! And, bento is fun and easy to learn. It’s especially fun to make it with your little ones!