Chicken Stock

Have you ever wondered what makes soups so delicious? Well, it's all in the broth baby

And that broth is comprised mainly of chicken stock. (Or vegetable or beef stock).

So what is chicken stock exactly? Chicken stock is a great way to make use of the whole chicken. When you go to the grocery and get bone in chicken or a whole chicken, don't toss the remaining portions once you've removed the meat! Instead, use up every little bit you can, and make stock for soups and stews.

 


You start with the ingredients for a good stock:

• Chicken leftovers (bones, fat, etc)
• 1 coarsely chopped carrot
• 1 rib of celery
• 1 coarsely chopped onion
• 1 bay leaf
• Fresh thyme
• Fresh parsley
• Salt to taste (I do not salt my stock. I in turn, salt the soup when making it).

 

The rest? Simple. You put it all in the crock pot, add water till its about an inch from the top and set your timer for 10 hours on low. The great part? It can be done overnight or all day long.

When it's done simply run it through a sieve, and freeze the stock. I use plastic freezer jars that hold 16 ounces of liquid. This way, I simply grab a couple when I'm making soup, and the rest stays frozen until next time. I am able to get about 10 pints of stock. That's several batches of homemade soup! And the best part is you can then preserve your soups by canning them if you wish.

 

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Day 35 Bento Days: Egg Salad with Pita Chips

Sorry you guys for the small picture! I normally use my macro setting on my camera and take close ups, but couldn’t find the camera this morning and we were running late. Well, the kids weren’t too keen on the egg salad today. My son doesn’t like mayo, and my daughter doesn’t like mustard. And egg salad has both. But! They actually tried it this time, so we’re making progress!
Most of the cook time on today menu is for the boiling of the eggs. You know, they have to boil for 10 min, and then sit for another 10 turned off, but still in the hot water. So that’s where that comes from. While you’re boiling the eggs, throw some brown sugar in a pot with apple slices and let them stew over low heat for about 10 minutes. I used a veggie cutter to cut the cheese into long flower shapes and then just used a small knife to make them small coin like shapes.
The pita chips, you simply take a pita pocket, cut it into 8ths, and toast under your broiler for a few minutes until it’s crispy and warm.
 Today's Menu:

• Egg salad
• cheese flowers
• pita chips
• stewed apples

 Cost per lunch:  67¢

Prep Time	Cook Time	Ready In
4 min	20 min	24 min

Servings	Calories	Fat	Carbs	Protein
1	377	13	55	14

Day 34 Bento Days: English Muffin Pizzas

Today, we get to have pizza! Something my kids love and I do what I can to try to find many ways to make, so it’s not boring. One English muffin becomes 2 small mini pizzas, perfect size for school lunch.
We added in carrot slices (or coins to make them fun!) and about a quarter cup of both blueberries and red seedless grapes. We’ve also started using soy milk in our house, hormone filled cows milk is out. The kids just love soy milk, they actually prefer it over the cows milk. I haven’t included (ever actually) the milk or any drink in with the lunch cost or nutritional content.
My only suggestion is that if you use soy milk, please, spend the extra few cents to get organic. Soybeans are one of the most heavily planted crops, and most people use heavy amounts of pesticides on them.



Today's Menu:

• English muffin Pizza with pepperonis
• grapes and blueberries
• carrot coins

Cost per lunch:  $1.14
Kid Rating:

Prep Time	Cook Time	Ready In
3 min	7 min	10 min

Servings	Calories	Fat	Carbs	Protein
1	334	11	41	22

Day 34 – Day 38 Bento Days Menu

Here’s your menu and shopping list for the week of Feb 19 – 25 for Bento Days:

 

Monday:

• English Muffin Pizza
• Cheddar Flowers
• Grapes and Blueberries (or whatever berries you can find on sale)

Tuesday:

• Egg Salad with Pita Chips
• Stewed apples
• Carrot coins

Wednesday:

• Vegetarian Lasagna
• tangerine or orange slices
• Homemade oatmeal and raisin cookies

Thursday:

• Grilled Panini (veggie)
• cantaloupe
• Yogurt

Friday:

• Falafel with pitas
• cucumber salad
• Homemade brownie

Shopping List:

This list assumes you will have most “pantry and fridge staples” on hand, like eggs, flour, sugar, butter, salt, cocoa, etc. Please be sure to check the corresponding recipes for spices and pantry items to double check you have everything you’ll need. Bon appétit!

Produce

• Cucumber
• cantaloupe
• eggplant (small one for the panini)
• small zucchini (for shredding into the lasagna)
• Tangerine or oranges
• Apples (soft ones like red delicious)
• Carrots
• Grapes
• Blueberries (or whatever berries you can find on sale).
• Crushed jarred garlic, or garlic cloves

Canned Goods and Boxed Goods

• Can of chickpeas (garbanzo beans, 1 can makes four falafels).
• Pasta sauce
• Pizza sauce
• lasagna noodles (preferably whole wheat).
• Raisins
• Whole grain quick oats

Breads

• small loaf of Italian bread (found in your bakery)
• 1 pack of Pita Pockets (whole wheat).
• Whole wheat English Muffins

Meats and Fish

• 1 small package of nitrite and nitrate free turkey pepperoni

Dairy

• eggs for egg salad
• cheddar cheese (block, not sliced)
• swiss cheese (block not sliced)
• shredded or block mozzarella

Eggplant and Mozzarella Panini

Ingredients

• 4 (1/2 inch thick) slices eggplant, peeled
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 8 slices Italian bread
• 4 thin slices Swiss cheese

 

Directions

• Brush the outside of the sliced Italian bread with olive oil
• Fill with 1 slice each mozzarella (one half slice on each side) and eggplant.
• Using a Panini or sandwich press, press and cook until golden.

 

If you don’t have a sandwich press, you can simply do it the old fashioned way by using a griddle or skillet and placing a small but heavy plate (or a plate with a heavy cup on top!) on the sandwich. then remove, flip and press again until golden.)

English Muffin Pizzas

Ingredients

• 4 English muffins, split
• 1/2 cup canned pizza sauce
• 1 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 16 slices pepperoni sausage

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. Place the English muffin halves cut side up onto a baking sheet. Spoon some of the pizza sauce onto each one. Top with mozzarella cheese and pepperoni slices.
3. Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the cheese is melted and browned on the edges.

Amount Per Serving

• Calories: 257
• Total Fat: 8.5g
• Total Carbs: 30.2g
• Protein: 15.5g

Simple Egg Salad

Ingredients

• 8 eggs
• 4 tablespoon mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoons prepared Dijon-style mustard
• 1 teaspoon dried dill weed
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 red onion, minced
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Place eggs in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring water to a boil; cover, remove from heat, and let eggs stand in hot water for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from hot water, cool, peel and chop.
2. In a large bowl, combine the egg, mayonnaise, mustard, dill, paprika, onion and salt and pepper. Mash well with a fork or wooden spoon.
3. Serve on bread as a sandwich or over crisp lettuce as a salad.

Servings Per Recipe: 4

Amount Per Serving

• Calories: 183
• Total Fat: 12.8g
• Total Carbs: 4.2g
• Protein: 12.9g

Vegetarian Lasagna

• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 2 (10 ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach
• 1 small zucchini peeled and shredded
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 (32 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 16 oz container of part skim ricotta cheese
• 1 (4 ounce) package part skim mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 egg
• 8 ounces lasagna noodles

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large pot over medium heat sauté spinach, onion, oregano, basil and garlic, and zucchini in the olive oil. Pour in spaghetti sauce and water; simmer 20 minutes. In a large bowl mix ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, parsley, salt, pepper and egg.
3. Place a small amount of sauce in the bottom of a lasagna pan. Place 3 uncooked noodles on top of sauce and top with layer of sauce and veggies. Add 3 more noodles and layer with 1/2 sauce and 1/2 cheese mixture, noodles and repeat until all is layered, finishing with sauce.
4. Add a layer of shredded mozzarella cheese on top.
5. Cover with foil and bake in a preheated oven for 45 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 15 minutes. Let sit 10 minutes before serving.

Servings Per Recipe: 12

Amount Per Serving

• Calories: 241
• Total Fat: 7.8g
• Total Carbs: 27.7g
• Protein: 15.6g
  

Baked Falafel

Ingredients – Falafel Pockets

• Whole-wheat or high-fiber pitas
• One 15-oz. can chickpeas, well drained
• 1 onion, very finely chopped (I used red onion because I like the color/flavor better)
• 1/4 cup whole-wheat flour
• 3 tbsp. finely chopped fresh parsley
• 1 1/2 tbsp. chopped garlic
• 1 tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/2 tbsp. ground cumin
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. lemon juice
• 1/8 tsp. paprika, or more to taste
• black pepper, to taste
• Two 2-second sprays olive oil nonstick spray
• Baby spinach
• Diced tomatoes

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Place all ingredients for falafel (except for the pitas, baking powder, and nonstick spray) in a food processor, and give them a good chop. Transfer into a bowl, add the baking powder and stir together. Using a potato masher, mash any big chunks that remain – Mixture should remain slightly chunky, not smooth.
3. Spray a baking sheet thoroughly with a 2-second spray of olive oil nonstick spray.
4. One at a time, take spoonfuls of mixture in your hands and form 15 balls, each about the size of a ping pong ball, and gently place them on the baking sheet. Spray the top of each ball with olive oil nonstick spray, for a total of about a 2-second spray.
5. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, combine 2 parts hummus to 1 part water, and stir until blended (add more water to taste depending on how watery you like your sauce). Season to taste with salt / black pepper and refrigerate until ready to serve.
6. Remove baking sheet from the oven, and carefully turn each ball over, gently reshaping if the bottoms have flattened. Return to the oven and bake for an additional 10 – 15 minutes, until golden brown and slightly crispy. Allow to cool and set for at least 5 minutes.
7. Cut the whole pitas into halves, toast or warm all pita halves slightly, fill with spinach, 3 falafel balls, diced tomato, and top with spinach and sauce. Enjoy!

Nutritional Information

• Serving size: 1 pita half with 3 falafel balls and 1-3 tbsp dip
• Calories: 200
• Fat: 2.25g
• Fiber: 8.5g
• Protein: 10g

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 cups quick cooking oats

Yield: 48 cookies

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, cream together butter, white sugar, and brown sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; stir into the creamed mixture. Mix in oats. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour.
2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets. Roll the dough into walnut sized balls, and place 2 inches apart on cookie sheets. Flatten each cookie with a large fork dipped in sugar.
3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Servings Per Recipe: 24

Amount Per Serving in 2 cookies

• Calories: 218
• Total Fat: 8.8g
• Cholesterol: 38mg
• Sodium: 213mg
• Total Carbs: 32.3g
• Dietary Fiber: 1.4g
• Protein: 3g

Menu and Shopping List for Jan 23-27

Well, onto another week! This week we’re going to have the following menus:

1. Pasta with pesto, orange slices and broccoli
2. Bean and rice burrito, salad with dressing, tortilla chips with salsa, mango
3. PBJ on an english muffin, banana half, broccoli and baby carrots with ranch dip, dessert of your choice
4. Hamburger on bun (or veggie burger!), fried rice, tomatoes and cheese, yogurt
5. Bagel chips with cheese and meat slices, sugar snap peas, grapes and ranch dip

Shopping List:

Breads

• Tortilla
• english muffin
• hamburger buns
• bagel chips

Dairy and Meat

• yogurt
• cheese of your choice
• lunch meat
• Ground turkey or beef for burgers (or beans for veggie burgers)
• sour cream (for ranch dip)

Produce

• oranges (we use cuties that are easy to peel and have no seeds)
• broccoli crown
• salad items
• mango
• bananas
• baby carrots
• tomatoes
• sugar snap peas
• grapes

Boxed and canned goods

• Pesto
• Pinto beans, canned (don’t forget to drain and rinse them before using!)
• rice
• tortilla chips
• ranch seasoning for dip (in the salad dressing aisle)

Day 33: Bento Days

Well this is where you’ll use your wonton wraps. I noticed my store was out of them, so I got egg roll wraps and cut them in fourths. Worked perfectly. What we do is just prepare our filling (ricotta cheese with whatever else you want, meat, mushrooms, spinach, etc) and then just place one tbsp of filling on one wrap, wet the other wrap on one side, and just place it over top, and press the edges to seal. Put it on a baking sheet, and bake at 350º for 10 minutes  and viola!  Homemade ravioli!

I also had to use Cuties today because our store was out of plums! Well, thats part of life right? Eating in season? Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

Today's Menu:

• Homemade Ravioli 
• orange slices
• spinach salad with ranch dressing

Cost per lunch:  $1.19

Kid Rating:

Prep Time	Cook Time	Ready In
10 min	10 min	20 min

Servings	Calories	Fat	Carbs	Protein
1	438	18	53	16

Day 32: Bento Days

Todays lunch is a little expensive, just over a full dollar. I blame this on the price of eggs going up. :) But eggs are a healthy protien alternative, and really, a dollar for lunch is cheaper than getting school lunch ($2 per) and healthier!

Today's Menu:

• 2 hard boiled egggs
• 3 slices of melba toast
• strawberries and blackberries
• 1 oz of colby cheese

 

Cost per lunch:  $1.07

Kid Rating:

Prep Time	Cook Time	Ready In
5 min	10 min	15 min

Servings	Calories	Fat	Carbs	Protein
1	323	17	13	21

Day 31 Bento Days

Well, here’s a perfect example of living in the real world. I had Chili on Sunday night. I made enough to have left overs for the kids on Monday.. However, I was not betting on my husband literally polishing it off last night. So! I already put up the menu, the info, etc. However, I won’t have a picture because we didn’t have chili today. Thanks hubby! :)

Today's lunch is going to be very fun though, and I can’t wait till tomorrow morning to get a picture! Basically, you make mac and cheese. Now I’m going to use wide egg noodles (whole wheat of course) because I want to give my lion a curly mane, but use whatever you have or want! So. Fill your bento container with mac and cheese and then out of either cheese or lunchmeat, make a lions head with ears. I use nori paper to fill in the ears and then make the eyes, nose and mouth.

 

 

 

Today's Menu:

• Mac and cheese, lion style
• orange slices
• celery sticks
• peanut butter

 

Cost per lunch:  56¢

Kid Rating:

Prep Time	Cook Time	Ready In
5 min	10 min	15 min

Servings	Calories	Fat	Carbs	Protein
1	511	18	71	20

Shopping List and Menu for Jan 16-20

If you can find egg shapers or veggie cutters, those will help this week by making the presentation all the more fun!

Menu

1. Vegetarian Chili, parsnips and carrots, ranch dip, wheat crackers kiwi
2. Cheesy Lion with pasta, celery with peanut butter, orange slices
3. Homemade ravioli with pasta sauce, berries, salad with dressing, dessert of your choice
4. Hard boiled eggs, carrot stars, plum slices, melba toast
5. Grilled veggie panini, cantaloupe, yogurt

Shopping List:

Breads

• Melba toast
• Bread for your panini

Dairy

• eggs
• yogurt
• fat free sour cream
• cheddar cheese (either blocks or slices)

Produce

• parsnips
• carrots
• celery
• oranges or clementines or tangerines
• berries
• plums
• Veggies for your Panini (I use cucumbers, tomatoes, zucchini slices, mushrooms and mozzarella
• kiwi
• cantaloupe
• Not really produce, but look for it in the produce section, with the vegan items. It’s won ton wraps and you can use these to make ravioli.

Boxed and canned goods

• wheat crackers
• Mostaccioli (pasta that is like penne, but not cut on the diagonal or ridged).

Day 30 Bento Days

 

So as we get back to it, I’ve got five new Bento recipes for you!

Most of them are easy peasy, not too much time involved, yet they’re healthy and balanced and nutritional. Which is what we need right? Good foods that are not only good for you, but good for your pocketbook and good for your time, which we all know is precious. This is a great Monday morning recipe, because if you’re like me, during the winter, on the weekends, chili is a staple. We make ours vegetarian because we don’t do much in the way of meat, but if you want, add some soy crumbles, or tofu, or even meat if you’re a meat fan.

Also, I paired carrots with parsnips for this lunch. Parsnips are a mild winter veggie that resemble carrots quite a bit. They’re very good and tend to take on the taste of things around them, in this case, the ranch dip which is made from ranch seasoning and fat free sour cream.

Also, you can use a little food cutter (they resemble mini cookie cutters) to slice up your kiwi in different shapes.

For the wheat crackers, feel free to use any whole grain, low in salt crackers, or throw a hunk of whole wheat artisan bread in there!

Today's Menu:

• Vegetarian Chili
• Wheat crackers or whole wheat bread
• Kiwi flowers
• sliced parsnips and carrots with ranch dip

 

Cost per lunch:  62¢

Kid Rating:

Prep Time	Cook Time	Ready In
5 min	0 min	5 min

Servings	Calories	Fat	Carbs	Protein
1	396	9	63	16

Shopping List for Jan 3 – 6

Here’s a shopping list of what you’ll need for this weeks Bento Days! Enjoy!

 

Meats

• Shredded chicken breast
• Hillshire Farms Turkey Lil Smokies or Turkey bacon
• Peanut Butter

Breads and Grains

• Whole wheat tortillas
• Pretzel Sticks
• pancake mix (or use your own recipe)
• Whole wheat bread

Fruits and Veggies

• kiwi
• corn
• black beans
• small Clementine or tangerines.
• baby carrots
• edamame
• apples
• misc veggies for your chicken wrap, whatever you choose. We use lettuce, chopped tomatoes, and bell peppers.

Canned Goods

• strawberry jam, sugar free

Dairy

• Cheddar cheese (shredded, for both mac and cheese and chicken wrap)

Treats

• Oatmeal cookies (your own, or  a brand with not too much sugar and fat)

Day 29 – Bento Days

Today's Menu:

• Chicken and vegetable wrap
• sliced kiwi
• pretzel sticks with PB
• corn and black beans

What kid doesn’t love a wrap? It’s complete finger food and has all their favorites inside. In this wrap, I use shredded chicken. I grill a chicken breast and then just toss it in my food processor and pulse for about 1 min, till it’s completely shredded. I mix that with a tad bit of light mayo and spoon a bit on to a wrap. Remember, you don’t want your wrap too thick. Then I add on veggies and wrap it up and slice it in half and stick both half in the box.

Also, shredded chicken keeps in the fridge for up to a week, you can use it at home as well, for salads. I usually have some on hand, so the times here aren’t including cooking chicken. Also, remember to rinse both your corn and beans (if you’re using canned) as most of the sodium will wash right off.

Cost per lunch:  62¢

Kid Rating:   

 

Prep Time	Cook Time	Ready In
5 min	0 min	5 min

Servings	Calories	Fat	Carbs	Protein
1	507	16	71	16

Day 27 – Bento Days

Today's Menu:

• Whole Wheat mini pancakes
• Turkey Little Smokies or turkey bacon
• 2 large scrambled egg
• Orange wedges

What kid doesn’t love breakfast when its not breakfast time? I think even us grown up like to have breakfast for dinner and lunch. So in this menu, you can use either turkey little smokies sausages or turkey bacon. I like to use the little smokies sliced longways. They’re precooked so I just simply boil them in a bit of water on the stove, which plumps them up and also removes some of the fat from them. I make pancakes, and just use 2 tbsp of batter for each mini cake. I put a bit of sugar free syrup in the dip container. Add in a yogurt of your choice and an easy peel or already peeled orange and you’re off and running!

And don’t forget, pancakes are one of those things you can make ahead and freeze in little baggies to pull out just what you need when you need them. I simply thaw them overnight and then toast the next day on a low setting on the toaster, as we don’t have a microwave. But a microwave will work too, just make sure you don’t put them in too long, they’ll get rubbery.

Cost per lunch:  65¢

Kid Rating:   

 

Prep Time	Cook Time	Ready In
10 min	10 min	20 min

Servings	Calories	Fat	Carbs	Protein
1	501	26	56	21

Day 26 – Bento Days

So as I promised, here are the next days menu. I know many of your children start back on Wednesday, however, our start back tomorrow, so there will be 4 days this week with lunches. I’ve tried to pick recipes that many of you will have most of what you need on hand, and perhaps not have to make a grocery trip at all to prepare these dishes. So lets dive in shall we? 

Today's Menu:

• Peanut butter and strawberry jelly sandwich (Rabbit style).
• Baby carrots and edamame with ranch dip (I use a toothpick to stab a few edamame so they can just dip and eat the beans).
• sliced apples
• Oatmeal-chocolate chip cookies

The fun part of this lunch is going to be making your rabbit sandwich. You’ll need 1 sandwich plus 1 slice of extra bread. Make your sandwich, I like to put PB thinly on both sides so the jelly doesn’t soak the bread and make it soggy. I also use sugar free jams only. They’re a tad bit more expensive in the store, but if you make your own, and canning jams is probably the easiest canning, then it becomes cheaper because of the lack of sugar. And it’s better for you!

So make your sandwich, and use a drinking glass upside down, a biscuit cutter or a round cookie cutter to cut a circle from the sandwich. You want it to take up most of the sandwich and simply leave the corners and crusts off. Then you’ll want to take another slice of bread, cut off the crusts and slice it into strips. I cut mine into four, because I have two children going to school. Cut yours how you wish. Put a very thin strip of PB down the bread and then put strawberry jelly on the bread and fold it longways. This becomes your ears. Simply place in the box next to the round face where the jelly is showing in the middle with bread on both sides. Do this with a second strip and you now have bunny ears! Use nori paper or carrots to make a face, and use very thin strips of celery for whiskers.

Cost per lunch:  86¢

Kid Rating:   

 

Prep Time	Cook Time	Ready In
10 min	0 min	10 min

Servings	Calories	Fat	Carbs	Protein
1	547	23	72	17