itty bitty fish

This was our dinner last night:

I wanted to make something that everyone could eat that was fun, fresh and appetizing. Onefish, bluefish and I love almost everything you see there (the turkey rolls have avocado and mozzarella inside them). Twofish, who is only 14 months old, can’t get enough of hummus and fresh fruit so she was covered with this spread. Also, that fresh garlic bread was amazing. I’m embarrassed to say it wasn’t from scratch (or even from my bread maker), but the fresh garlic butter-sauce was all mine. It was quite a hit with everyone, and everything but a couple baby carrots were gone when I carried the tray back into the kitchen.

Onefish is going to flip when he opens his new bento box tomorrow. Like so many three-year-old boys, there is nothing he loves more than trains. Planes land in third place, but only because “Harry Potter’s flying car” is firmly in the number two spot. In any case, I think he’s going to enjoy these turkey breast shapes (three layers on cheesy rice crackers, with nori accents and a pepperoni tower/station, riding on top of string cheese clouds/cobblestones) a great deal:

Though, after running around with his little friends all morning, he may be more excited about actually eating the second layer (halved grapes and orange slices) of his bento box:

And here’s his new Kamio Dreamy Friends frog bento box all ready to go:

I think I’m experiencing kawaii overload with these little boxes!

Ingredients: sushi rice, mozzarella string cheese (in sixths), roast turkey breast (sliced in strips), avocado, baby carrots, nori sheet (thin strip with faces made by nori cutters ).

(Those hard-boiled eggs are from my first try with the Dream Land Egg Shaper. It’s quite a labor intensive gadget, but how much fun are hard boiled eggs with star, heart, flower and diamond shaped yolks? I think I’m going to try a bit of non-stick spray next time in the hopes of making the process a bit less, well… sticky.)

(Toast painted with a mix of butter, sugar, cinnamon, ginger and red food coloring.)