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!!

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!!!!

Veggie wraps

Here I am one more time trying to incorporate vegetables on my kids school lunches. As they love wraps, I created a veggie one with ingredients that they like. I washed one zucchini and one yellow squash, cut them in half, removed the seeds and cut again in thin stripes. After I saute them with olive oil and salt for two minutes. While it was cooling down I shredded one carrot. When I was ready to assemble, I got one multi-grain wrap, arranged  two slices of Havarti cheese (can be any sliced cheese) close to the border and on top put a handful of the zucchini, yellow squash and the shredded carrots. Started by rolling the tortilla and cheese on top of the veggies, then tucked in both sides and finally rolled until the end. To glue I spread a bit of mayo, but I'm sure my kids would prefer hummus. Next time!!!

Mediterranean Pasta Salad

Super simple!! This is a little spin on a regular pasta salad that my kids love. I cooked half a package of penne and after it was room temperature, I put it into the fridge to cool down. Then I cut one small tomato in small dices, cut a handful of Kalamata olives in half (just to make sure they didn't have any pits left), and crumbled some Feta cheese. I tossed all the ingredients together, added a couple of basil leaves, drizzled olive oil and seasoned with salt. The kids loved it!!!!!

Raspberry Grilled Chicken Salad

It has been a long time since the last time I posted. It was a long and busy summer, and I was waiting for the kids to go back to school to restart working on my blog. During the last few months, I've been collecting ideas of interesting recipes to try for the kids lunches. Can't wait to make them all.

For today's salad, I did some prep work yesterday. I cut one chicken breast in 1/2 inch slices and marinated it (for about two hours) in tarragon, salt, Worcestershire sauce and Zesty Lemon Grapeseed Oil (you can always use other spices if you want). I bought the oil from a friend who sells Wildtree products. Grapeseed oil is an alternative for olive oil and it's known for it's moderate high smoke point, which means it takes longer to burn, making it great for sauteing among other things. Later, I grilled the chicken in a non greased pan until it was golden brown and cooked all through. Important: If you think that this is a lot of work, just season the chicken with salt and grill. It will taste good as well.

This morning, I washed two romaine hearts and cut them in small bites. Then I put a handful of the greens in a container and topped with the chicken cut in pieces, half slices of a cucumber and some raspberries. The dressing I decided to send on the side to prevent the greens from being mushy too soon. I mixed two parts of olive oil, one part of balsamic vinegar and salt. 

My daughter has been asking me to add to the blog that they love to bring to school the Stonyfield Organic Super Smoothie. I have to admit that I love it too!! The Smoothie comes in different flavors but our favorite is Strawberry Banana. By the way, I find it at Whole Foods Market.

Salad wrap with hummus

Today I did a simple salad wrap. I spread hummus (recipe is on a previous post) in a tortilla, put two slices of Havarti cheese, side by side, overlapping each other. Then I seasoned some greens and cherry tomatoes with olive oil and salt, and put them on top of the cheese. I rolled the edge of the tortilla, tuck in the sides and rolled the rest. The kids enjoyed it a lot. 

Meal in a quiche

Last Friday I did something that most people will find very unusual... Some time ago, my husband suggested a recipe in which I should put all the components of a meal in a quiche. It didn't sound good to me, but he thinks that food should be practical, and thought it could be a good idea. So, I finally decided to give it a try. In a bowl I mixed 2 grilled chicken tenderloins in small dices, 1/2 cup of cooked brown rice, 4 broccoli florets thinly sliced, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, 3 eggs, and salt (to taste). Then filled some greased muffin molds (3/4) and baked them around 20 min in a 350F preheated oven. My kids liked it and my husband, of course, loved it!!!!!!!!