Friday, October 25, 2013

Chicken Salad

This is a salad that my mom used to make. It's great for a summer weekend's lunch and also to send in the kids lunch boxes. Very simple and quick to prepare, which makes it a winner!!! Start boiling a chicken breast with the spices that your kids enjoy. I just add salt, pepper, dried thyme and a splash of Worcestershire sauce. When it's done, let the chicken cool down. While you wait, shred two or three carrots in a bowl,  add one cup of corn and half a cup of pitted olives. They can be black or green. I usually cut them in half  just to make sure there are no pits left. When the chicken is cold, I shred it or cut in small pieces and add to the bowl. Now we just have to season with salt, olive oil and a splash of Worcestershire sauce. You can add other spices that your kids enjoy to make them happier. Toss everything together and serve it with shoestring fries (you can find them at grocery stores like Meijer or Kroger). That's how we traditionally eat this salad, but you can omit the fries to make it healthier. 


Shoestring potatoes


The chicken salad


This one was bought at a local grocery store

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Empanadas

This  is a recipe that will take some time to get ready even though is super easy to make. So my suggestion is to make it on a Sunday, and send to school Monday and Tuesday. My kids love the empanadas so much that they wouldn't mind bringing them for lunch a couple of days in a row.



The ingredients that yield about 22 empanadas:
1/2 cup of creamy swiss cheese like The Laughing Cow or Polenghi (about 6 wedges)
1/2 cup of butter
1/2 cup of flour
1/2 cup of corn starch
salt to taste

Mix the cheese and butter. Add the rest of the ingredients and combine until together. Make a ball, cover with plastic and leave in the fridge for one hour. To fill the empanadas, I usually cut turkey breast, mozzarella cheese and diced tomatoes. But you can use anything that you like. Open the dough with a rolling pin, use a cup to cut circles and put a table spoon of the filling in the middle. Close the dough circle using a little water as glue. Put the empanadas on a tray previously covered with parchment paper. Brush the empanadas with the mixture made with a egg yolk and a splash of water. Bake them in the oven at 350F for about 25 minutes or until golden brown. Enjoy!!

Friday, October 4, 2013

Small potato salad

Last week I was at the grocery store with my kids. We were buying vegetables when my daughter saw a package of baby potatoes. She asked if I could make a salad with the potatoes for her school lunch. Sure!!

Baby Potatoes and Arugula
Baby potatoes

For this simple salad, I cooked the potatoes with their skin on for about 20 minutes or until tender. Let them cool down and added arugula leaves, cherry tomatoes and one hard boiled egg. The seasoning was just salt and olive oil. They totally cleaned their lunch bowls!!!!