23 Bento #267 - Egg Salad Stuffed Heart Sandwich and Giveaway!

Yum, yum!  We have crossed over the boiled egg mountain and now Miss E just loves them!  She'll eat an entire boiled egg plain now. I made several yesterday afternoon and whipped them up into a simple, kid-friendly egg salad.  Just eggs, mayo, deli mustard and some minced celery.  I made a stuffed sandwich with my new heart-shaped sandwich press.  So cute!  I also have a collection of new picks, one of which is a sweets collection.

We also have some super delicious and addictive Willamette Valley granola chips!  They sent me a sample kit to try out and the whole family gobbled them down in record time.  In fact, we ate them so fast that they had to send me a few more packs so that I could actually blog with them!  Here we have a mixture of the Berry flavor and the Honey Nut.

Check out the snack-sized bags!  Butter Pecan...my personal fave.  That flavor doesn't last long at all in this place!  Not only is it great-tasting and totally satisfying, but it's filled with fiber such as oats, barley, amaranth and quinoa.  They also use no GMOs in their ingredients (call me impressed!)

Best of all, Willamette Valley Granola is giving a nice big sample kit away to one of my readers! One person will receive a kit with Butter Pecan, Wild Berry, Honey Nut and Vanilla Bean.  I'm trying out Rafflecopter this go-round, so let me know if it works (or not) for you.  

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I received Granola Chips from Willamette Valley Granola Company. I was not compensated for this review, and all opinions expressed are exclusively mine.  Winner will be notified via email, and has 48 hours to claim their prize.  Contest ends at midnight EST on 10/13/12.

0 Bento #243 - Chow Mein & Grapes

We have a reprisal of the chow mein from the other day, another vegetarian lunch.  E just adores these noodles, her bento box is always empty when she comes home.

Cute grapes!  Letter picks spell...GRAPE.  SHOCKING!  And Trader Joes yogurt stars.

Snack is dried apricots and granola.

All packed up.

Bento #243 - Chow mein with steamed vegetables, grapes and yogurt stars.  Snack - Dried apricots and granola.

2 Bento #238 - Cucumber-Bacon Sandwiches & Cherries

This idea was WAY cuter in my head!  I had envisioned thin slices of cucumber with a strip of bacon and topped with spinach artichoke cream cheese and rolled up and secured with a pick.  Unfortunately, my hand-slicing wasn't quite thin enough.  I really needed to bust out my mandolin.  In any case, we have cucumber sandwiches instead of rolls.

Fresh cherries, and a side of almond-raisin granola and Goldfish crackers.

Bento #238 - Cucumber, bacon and spinach-artichoke cream cheese sandwiches, cherries, granola and Goldfish crackers.  Snack - Clementine and roasted peanuts.

4 Bento #200! First Day of Kindergarten Flower PB&J

Aaaand 200!  I asked Miss E what she wanted for her first day of Kindergarten lunch, and she was very specific.  She wanted PB&J, carrots, broccoli (which I don't have, so she settled for celery), dip, and an Aussie apple. This year parents are sending snacks every day, rather than depending on a class snack.  It works for me because I can control exactly what goes in her belly and make sure it's healthy.  She asked for a granola bite and a slushy applesauce (frozen applesauce which is slushy by the time lunch rolls around.)  Your wish is my command!

Bento #200 - Organic peanut butter and organic strawberry jam on 15 grain bread, organic carrots and organic celery, ranch dip, homemade granola bite, frozen apple sauce and an Aussie apple (not shown.)

So, what are you guys planning for your kiddos for the first day of school?

5 Granola Bars

Ladies and gentlemen, these might be not only the best granola bars you've ever had, but also the easiest!  Bonus, they are pretty darn healthy as granola bars go.  They are miraculously both crispy and chewy at the same time.

You'll need:

1.5 cups rolled oats
1.5 cups Special K Berry cereal (or something like it, even Rice Krispies, or just use all oats)
3/4 cup sunflower seeds
2/3 cup slivered almonds (or other nut)
2 tbls whole flaxseed (opt)
1 cup chopped dried mango and craisins (or whatever dried fruit you like!)
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup peanut butter (I always use no-added sugar, so if you use PB with added sugar, you might want to cut back on the brown sugar a bit.)
1/2 cup honey
4 tbls butter
1 tbls vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Roughly chop the dried fruit

On a lipped dry cookie sheet combine all the oats, seeds, and nuts (except cereal.)

Toast for about 12 minutes, stirring every 3 minutes.  Keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn.

Meanwhile, prep a small square or rectangle dish, about 11x13 or 9x9 for thicker bars.  Line it with wax or parchment paper, and lightly spray with cooking oil.

After about 12 minutes it'll be toasty brown, but make sure you don't take it too far because it will continue to brown on the sheet pan once you take it out of the oven, so give it a stir once or twice after you take it out too.

At this point you can put everything into a large mixing bowl with the dry cereal and fruit, and toss gently together.

In a non-stick saucepan combine the sugar, butter, vanilla, honey, salt and peanut butter until it just comes to a simmer.

Take it off the heat, and pour the sauce over the dry mixture.

Mix everything really well until everything is coated - if it's not, it will fall apart later.

Now, turn the bowl over into the square dish and distribute the mixture as evenly as you can with the spatula. Then, take another sheet of parchment paper and press down very hard all over (like Rice Krispie treats) so it is very compact.  Make sure the edges are as even and straight as possible.

Now here's the hard part...you have to wait at least 3-4 hours for it to cool completely.  It may even take longer.  But, if you don't wait, it will not have had enough time to "glue" together, and it will fall apart, and you don't want that!  Also, do not even think about putting this in the fridge to help it along.  I did that once.  It tasted amazing, but it fell completely apart.  Let it cool at room temp.

Are they cool yet?  Good!  Gently turn the granola out onto a large cutting surface.

Gently peel back the paper

Nice!

Take your longest, sharpest knife and cut carefully, but firmly straight down (don't saw.)

Now you can either cut them in half for long bars, or in thirds for small bars, or even in one-bite sized pieces.  I went the small bar route.

I wrapped all the remaining bars in individual parchment wrappers.  They'll last about 2 weeks or longer I'd guess at room temp, or you could certainly freeze the extra and take them out when needed.

Seriously folks, these are so good!

0 Bento #25 - Whole Wheat Pizza

Another late night, and I had half the pizza bagel I made for E from lunchtime left over, so I decided to toss that in.

Bento #25 - Whole wheat pizza bagel, celery sticks, grapes and a granola bar