Food for the kiddos

Food for the kiddos

Saturday 28 February 2015

Sandwiches for February 2015

Sandwiches for Feb 2015. Which one is your fav?
I have consolidated the sandwich creations for February 2015. It's a short month with lots of extra activities for Chinese New Year so there are only 8 sandwiches for February.

My favorite is the sheep sandwich while the kids voted for the heart-shaped Valentines sandwich because there were lots of candies on it. Which one is your favorite this month?

Chinese New Year is not over so I guess I will try to come up with more CNY related designs. 

Stay tuned. :)

Thursday 26 February 2015

Mother Hen and BB Chick

I made a Mother Hen and BB Chick sandwich today. The kids are having lunch in school today so I made more bread for them to bring along. I have instructed them to buy fruits in school as I didn't want to make their bags any heavier. 

Red VS Pink
How to make the sandwich : 


The sandwich is super easy to make. I filled it with peanut butter grape jam. I kept some corn niblets from last night dinner to make the beak. You can cut a triangle piece of cheese as the 'beak' if you do not have corn niblets. As usual, using my reliable mental ring to cut the bread, cut two small round bits of dried seaweed using scissors as the 'eyes', added abit of strawberry jam as blusher and it's done! 

I used some colored food picks I bought from Daiso Singapore to brighten up the sandwich. Food picks such as ribbons, bows or even a crown can be used to glam up your sandwich. 

Simple! Isn't it? :)

I also have eggs in a nest as a snack today. The nest is made up of some crispy noodle snacks. There are 3 quail eggs that I soaked slightly in dark soy sauce. The sauce colored the eggs and give taste to the eggs. I don't have to put a sauce container into the box (one less thing to wash! Yes!!!).

Happy Thursday!!!


Wednesday 25 February 2015

Monster Buns

Thanks to the kids I have a sumptuous breakfast today. Butter bun with cheese, shaved ham, egg mayo and lettuce. Yes! I added lettuce today for their sandwich. Long long long long time ago, I tried adding cucumber and it was a failure. The cucumber turned soft by recess time and the kids were not too happy about it. I hope they like the lettuce today. *fingers crossed*

There were 4 buns in a pack so just perfect for my family of four. The kids' daddy gets to bring one to work too!
This is the first time I am using a butter roll to make sandwich for the kids. I used burger buns before but never butter rolls so it's all new to me. I was not sure how it will turn out and frankly really didn't know what to do with it after I assembled all the ingredients. In the end, I decided to make use of some stickers and toothpicks to make it into 'eyes'. It was to keep the egg mayo from falling out of the sandwich.

It's a crab! No…It's a clam! No…It's a monster bun. That was what I have decided to call it since it didn't really resemble anything. Haha…


Most importantly, the verdict when they came back from school? The kids loved the buns and they wanted to bring it to school again. At least they are now willing to accept lettuce into the sandwich. *applause*

Tuesday 24 February 2015

Flowers of Spring

Flowers of Spring

Finally got my act together and made a sandwich today. Was feeling lazy after the long holidays. Since it is still Chinese New Year, I used my cutters to make flower sandwiches with butterflies for the kids using ham, cheese and strawberry jam. 

The brown wholemeal bread is more suitable for a teddy sandwich or animal character sandwich and white bread would make prettier flowers. But I saw the wholemeal bread with the healthy red triangle logo on the packing and bought the wholemeal bread instead. Healthier option after all the festive goodies I stuff myself over the holidays. Hee… *feeling guilty*




I did all the shape cutting the night before so that I can sleep for extra few precious minutes in the morning. I just spread the jam and place all the pieces together in the morning. The seaweed cutting of the word 'Spring' on the egg looks slightly distorted because of the curved egg surface. 

Well, still recognizable I think. I added cheese butterflies to brighten up the sandwiches box too!




Tuesday 17 February 2015

Child Labour

It is a super busy week for me and I am making the last batch of pineapple tarts for family and friends. My kids were disappointed that I didn't prepare any sandwich for them today because I was really too shagged. However, I let them bake their favorite cookie (we called it the 'Crumbly Butter Cookies') for their friend and teacher last night. It is a simple recipe, so simple the my kids can make it on their own. It is the first time they are using glazed cherries for the cookies. I thought some colors would be a nice touch. 

These cookies need to be kept in an air-tight container to maintain the freshness. After clearing up their mess and tucking them to bed, I packed the cookies into air-tight containers. Packing and decorating the box is my favorite activity. Call me superficial but I love pretty stuff. I LOVE adding plastic flowers to complement the box. Just makes it so pretty. Call me superficial but I love pretty stuff, hee….


Happy Chinese New Year!

Friday 13 February 2015

Step-By-Step Tutorial - How to make a Cinnamon Sandwich

Cinnamon the Dog
Today I shall share a tutorial on how to make a Sanrio Cinnamon sandwich -

Tools Required : 
1. Mental egg shaper ring
2. A pair of sharp scissors
3. A tweezer to pick up pieces of small seaweed
4. A round medicine bottle cover or any small circular shaped object

Ingredients :
1. 2 to 3 slices of white bread
2. Jam or any kind of fillings
3. Dried seaweed

STEPS :
Cut the bread with a mental ring
Step 1 : Put filling between 2 slices of bread. Bend the mental egg shaper into desired shape and cut the bread as shown in picture below.


Step 2: Use a circular object and cut out a semi-circle on the remaining bread. You can use a medicine bottle cap as well.



Step 3: Use a butter knife or scissor the cut out the shape of the ears. You can also use a pair of scissor to cut. You need to make 2 ears so it is up to you if you want to use a 3rd piece of bread to make another ear or you may just separate the 2 layers into 2 ears(in the picture below). If you are using single layer, it could be left plain or you may wish to apply some jam under it. 


Step 4: Slot the ears between the 2 slices of bread to make sure the size is correct (as shown in picture below). 

Step 5 : Use the scissors to cut out the shape of the mouth and the eyes. I used a seaweed puncher for the eyes since the size is right. If you do not have a seaweed puncher, just fold the seaweed into half and cut out the shape of the eyes. By folding the seaweed into 2, you will get a pair of symmetrical eyes. 


Step 6 : You can prepare Step 1 to 5 in advance. Normally, I will do the preparation work at night after tucking my kids to bed. Below is a picture of the 'mouths' and 'eyes'. I will usually make extra pieces(just in case I drop or accidentally destroy it) and store it in their sandwich box for use the following morning. You can skip this step if you are making it straight away.


Step 7 : Pick up the 'eyes' and 'mouth' using the tweezers. Dap some of jam or mayonnaise behind the seaweed and 'paste' it on the bread. 

Step 8 : Put the ears together and placed it in your sandwich box. It's done! Lastly, you may want to dap some strawberry jam on the cheeks as blusher. 


I hope you enjoyed the tutorial!

Thursday 12 February 2015

Cinnamon the Dog

I was contemplating if I should make a sandwich today but I managed to squeeze some time last night and did the preparation work in advance. I will share with you step-by-step on how to make the Cinnamon sandwich in another post. 

Cinnamon the Flying Dog
The kids saw pictures of Cinnamon on the Internet last night with all the 'Oooh…Uhh… and Aww…', and went gar gar over it So how can Mummy not make a sandwich to please them?  They thought Cinnamon is a rabbit. Fyi, it is a puppy with long ears that flies. Yap, it's a DOG!

I made ham and cream cheese sandwich and added their favorite almond cookies in the boxes. Cinnamon doesn't come with the bow on the head but I added the bows to secure the ears. The kids loved the small puny oranges in yesterday's sheep sandwich and requested for the same today.   
The kids were chanting 'Cinnamon, Cinnamon, Cinnamon, Cinnamon...' when they saw their sandwiches this morning. I have very happy and satisfied customers today. 

Which ribbon color do you prefer? Pink or Red?

Wednesday 11 February 2015

Happy Chinese New Year!!!*bleat*

Count down to Chinese New Year(CNY)!!! 8 days away!!! Gosh! I have so much to do!

I saw some really cute pictures of sheep on a tee and made a sketch in my book. Decided to make it into a sandwich for the kids today since CNY is coming. I made some changes to the picture as it looked quite empty on the bread. I added pork floss to the sheep to give some 'volume' to the sheep's fur.

My kids' reaction was "Yesterday was Valentines Day sandwich, today CNY sandwich. What are you going to make tomorrow har? Xmas?!" *sweat*

Well, well, well, tomorrow I may not be making sandwich because I will be busy making pineapple tarts. *sheepish smile*
Peanut butter sandwich with an egg and fruits for today
Anyway, today's sandwich is filled with peanut butter and I also used peanut butter on the forehead of the sheep to make the pork floss stick to bread. The face and horns are cheese and the cheeks are dotted with strawberry jam. I have some small small tiny puny oranges and I arranged it like a flower and added a grape in the middle. 

The Chinese character for Goat '羊' on the egg was a last minute inspiration from the CNY decorations on the wall. That explains the messy cutting of the seaweed. Almost didn't have time to take pictures because of it.


HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR!!! *bleat*

Tuesday 10 February 2015

Sharing My Sandwich Creations For My Super Picky Eaters: V Day Sandwich

Sharing My Sandwich Creations For My Super Picky Eaters: V Day Sandwich: Finally I am back to making sandwich today. They are spending their Valentines Day at Chingay Parade this Saturday so I am making V Day sand...

V Day Sandwich

Finally I am back to making sandwich today. They are spending their Valentines Day at Chingay Parade this Saturday so I am making V Day sandwiches for them in advance.

Lots of love from Mummy Me!

The kids squealed with delight when they saw their sandwiches today because I added candy to the bread. They are instructed not to devour all the sweet stuff but share with their friends. Today's sandwich is filled with peanut butter, top with strawberry jam surrounded by Jelly Tots forming a heart shape. There is a heart-shaped strawberry and some grapes along with their favorite cookies and a few chocolate buttons. Sugar rush during recess!

Monday 9 February 2015

Sandwich Bag Deco

Making last batch of tarts today and hopefully I can have the energy to make sandwiches for the kids tomorrow. I bought some buns for them to bring to school today.

I used a colored sandwich bag, added a sticker and a personalized message for the kids. I shared the idea with a friend and now she writes words of encouragement for her kids on the sandwich bags during exam period! :)


The sandwich bags come with stickers but I prefer to use my own for now. I have some chinese words written on the stickers. I really hope my kids can pick up some chinese words along the way.
Believe! You Can Do It!

Friday 6 February 2015

Pineapple Tarts - Year of Goat 2015

Busy Busy Busy....

No time to make sandwiches for the kids because I was busy making CNY pineapple tarts. Anyway, the kids didn't seem to mind because there was a CNY goodies sales going on in school during recess. They were more than happy to indulge in the extra goodies in school. 

This coming year is the Year of Goat so I made a special goat tart in the middle in each box accompanied by my usual pig tarts. The goats need a lot more work so I am sticking to my pigs. Hee.... 

Made the pineapple paste from scratch and it always reminds me of how my family made the tarts. I still remember how my grandma would grate the fresh pineapples to bits by hand and my grandpa would stand in front of the stove for hours, stirring the pineapple paste in the wok. At night, everyone in the family (my mum, aunties and uncles) would come together to help make the pineapple tarts. I don't recall helping much but I am very sure I helped to eat (especially the freshly baked ones, hot from the oven). Hahaha….


Well, now I am on my own. 

Tuesday 3 February 2015

Puzzle Sandwich with Order of Operations

Order of Operations
Made a puzzle sandwich today with the Order of Operations. I used Kaya jam for Addition (green), peanut butter jam for Subtraction (brown), strawberry jam for Division (red) and cheese (yellow) for Multiplication.  The kids are happy to have 4 different kind of spread in a sandwich today.

Math is getting tough nowadays. Some Chinese make their kids drink amulet water hoping that they excel in studies. Can my kids conquer Math by eating the Order of Operations?*wishful thinking* Hee…

Eat already can be super in Math?

Monday 2 February 2015

1st Sandwich for Feb 2015 - Hello Kitty

Monday…Monday…Monday….

Busy making pineapple paste over the weekend and more to come. Chinese New Year is coming but that doesn't mean my kids don't get their sandwich for school. Maybe less often for the coming weeks?Hee…

Made a Hello Kitty(HK) sandwich today. I wanted to make a more complicated sandwich but gave up after completing the drawings. I was too tired last night. Needed to watch the fire for the pineapple paste while designing the sandwich. A burnt paste will send my 4hours of effort down the drain. So I decided to use the HK mold and make my life easier. I used a HK mold to make the shape of the sandwich, added a small piece of cheese for the nose and dried seaweed for the eyes and whiskers, not forgetting HK's iconic red bow(made using a drinking straw). HK looks abit tan today because wholemeal bread was used instead of white bread. 

Hello Kitty sandwich
My 'customer' wasn't exactly very pleased when she saw the HK sandwich. Her first reaction was "Hello Kitty again!" Maybe I have been relying on this mold too often when I needed more time for other stuff. Hahaha…
The sandwiches for my 2 kids

January 2015

January 2015 has come to an end. I looked back and decided to consolidate my sandwich for the month into one picture. I hope I will be conscientious enough to make a picture collage each month. This will also enable me to monitor how often I repeat my sandwich creation. The bunny and the cat with camera are my kids' favorites for last month. Which one is your favourite? :)
Sandwiches for Jan 2015