2 Bento #221 - Angry Birds Gnocchi

This is my take on Angry Birds, a la bento.  First, we have our piggy antagonist.  He is amid some bell pepper debris, and he's seeing "stars". Okay...I don't think they actually see stars in the game, but they should, right?

Next, we have our protagonists.  The angry, angry birds.  The only fowl picks I have are ducks, so the hatching duck eggs must do.  They look pretty angry, no?  They are in some very delicious Trader Joe's gnocchi (frozen section) tossed with some extra parm.

Bento #221 - Gnocchi alla Sorrentina, red grapes, yellow bell pepper, dip and yogurt stars.  Snack - Banana muffin and garlic focaccia croutons.

P.S.  I'm very excited to have won a whole month of syndication at The Blog Entourage!

0 Bento #218 - PB&J Rolls & Bell Pepper

Enter the Bon Ami Giveaway!

The PB&J roll that I made in the post the other day made it into this yummy bento lunch.  

Bento #218 - PB&J roll, yellow bell pepper, dip, fresh raspberries & an octopus mozzarella stick. Snack - Apple carrot Crusher and banana muffin.

3 Bento #217 - Heart Ravioli & Grapes

These cheese heart raviolis were the very last of the ones I picked up a while ago in my deep freezer.  They are so adorable!  I put some herbed parmesan cheese in one of the cups, and in the other there is dip for the carrots.

Love these heart picks.

All packed up!  The muffin fits perfectly in that small Snapware container.

Bento #217 - Pasta Prima red & white heart cheese ravioli with herb cheese topping, organic baby carrots, red grapes and dip.  Snack - Homemade banana muffin and a banana apple Crusher.

0 Banana-Blueberry Muffins

Banana-Blueberry Muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup softened butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
5 brown bananas
1 egg (lightly beaten)
5 tbls milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
dash allspice
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
1 pint fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 F

Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a large bowl.

In another large bowl, cream together sugars and butter, then add bananas, egg, milk, vanilla, cinnamon and allspice and beat together until well combined.

Mix in sifted dry ingredients until just combined, and fold in walnuts and/or blueberries, if using.

Spread batter into one greased and floured 9x5 inch loaf pan, or muffin pan and sprinkle top with extra brown sugar.

Bake at 350 until top is brown and cracked along the top, and a toothpick inserted in the middle
comes out clean, about 1 hour, 15 mins. For muffins, bake for about 45-50 minutes.

2 Oatmeal-Banana Muffins

Today is our classroom snack day, and like I normally do, I bake something (lots of little, individual portions, doesn't take a lot of time.)  I decided to try my hand once more at actually baking with all these silicone cups I have.  The last time I made the attempt, I forgot to oil them, and the muffins stuck like crazy and were ruined.

This time, however, they came out perfectly.  Popped right out.  I thought the stars came out the best, but they are the smallest volume-wise.  I also really like the new pink flower cups, they are thicker and not as tall as the other flower cups.  The fluting came out really well on the square cups.

0 Bento #45 - Quesadilla, Veggies & Banana Bread

Yesterday we visited our favorite local taqueria after church.  E didn't eat her chicken and cheese quesadilla, so I packed it for her in today's bento.  Also, I picked up some new silicone cups - isn't it cute?  It's a fluted square, great size and shape.

Bento #45 - Chicken & cheese quesadilla, lime wedge, celery sticks, grape tomatoes, slice of homemade banana bread and fresh strawberries.

0 Oatmeal-Banana Bread

This morning E and I decided to do some baking.  I had two overripe bananas on my counter, and thought that banana bread was a good proposition, except that I normally use at least 4-5 bananas.  I happened to have bananas & cream oatmeal packets, and thought to up the banana-flavor ante by adding them.  I hunted up a recipe that used oatmeal, and voila! My shortening wasn't creaming with the sugar very smoothly, so I added two tbs softened butter to help it along, plus a tiny bit of cinnamon, and did not add nuts (I love them, others in the house don't.) Whenever I make banana bread, I sprinkle the top of the batter in the pan with brown sugar so it makes a hard caramelized crust. Turned out great! This is the delicious result: