Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Variations on a Lion Lunch

My husband came up with this "lion in the jungle" lunch for the kids over the weekend. After they ate their lions, he added a "river" (not pictured) which was made out of homemade sweet mustard dressing so they could dip the jungle leaves into the river.



Here's what he used:

Face - wild caught Alaskan salmon mixed with Trader Joe's mayo
Eyes - grain sweetened chocolate chips
Snout - carrots
Ears - carrots
Whiskers - shredded Tillamook cheddar cheese
Jungle - organic spinach leaves
River - sweet mustard dressing

Today I served my own variation of the lion lunch for the boys. I like my husbands version better because it's a more balanced meal. Mine is way too carb heavy for my liking, but they enjoyed it (of course)! I used my husband's river tactic to help them eat their jungle leaves.


Here's what I used:

Face - brown rice bread
Mane - organic round tortilla chips (Trader Joe's) and shredded Tillamook pepperjack and cheddar
Eyebrows or Ears - Tillamook cheddar cheese
Snout - Tillamook cheddar cheese
Whiskers - shredded Tillamook cheddar cheese
Mouth - carrot
Eyes - whipped cream cheese
Pupils - grain sweetened chocolate chips
Jungle - organic spinach leaves
River - sweet mustard dressing

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Salmon and Spinach "Jellyfish" Lunch

My husband got in on the animal food creations when he made lunch for the kids on Saturday. Trying to think of a way to get them to willingly eat spinach, he came up with these little jellyfish, and yes, they gobbled them all up - tentacles included!


Here's what he used:

Body - boneless, skinless canned Alaskan salmon (wild caught) mixed with Trader Joe's mayonnaise
Eyes - wild blueberries
Tentacles - rolled up spinach leaves

Tiger Cheese "Sandwich"

A cheese sandwich is even more delicious when it looks like a tiger! It wasn't long after our elephant tuna sandwiches that my boys asked if they could have tigers for lunch.


Here's what I used:

Face, ears and snout - brown rice bread, cut into desired shapes
Stripes - Tillamook cheddar cheese
Eyes - cream cheese
Pupils - grain-sweetened chocolate chips
Whiskers - cucumbers
Tongue - spaghetti sauce

Elephant Tuna "Sandwich"

My kids love animals, so they are bound to eat any food that resembles an animal (as I so happily discovered during the Easter season when they ate bunny faces and egg bunnies). My 3-year-old asked me to make him an elephant. Tuna was on the menu for lunch that day, and I decided to use the tuna in my elephant creation. Would they eat it, I wondered? Sure enough, they devoured their Elephant Tuna Sandwiches. I even replaced the "eyes" a couple of times so they'd eat more veggies.


Here's what I used:

Face and trunk - brown rice bread
Ears - tongol tuna mixed with natural mayo
Eyes - cucumbers
Pupils - grain-sweetened chocolate chips
Mouth - apple slice