Oni Giri !!
(Japanese Rice Ball)

A quick simple snack or an easy side dish, my family loves Oni Giri! Just like a sandwich oni giri is a very versatile food. I use a mold as I'm no good at properly shaping it with my hands.

What you'll need:

• 
  
  5 cups cooked sticky rice (I use the California Rose brand, cooked in a rice cooker)


• 
  
  Oni giri mold or a small cup of water and a salt shaker


• 
  
  Sheets of Nori cut into 1" x 4" strips (seaweed sheets like used for sushi rolls)


• 
  
  1 can Tuna (or other filling like Refried beans, Salmon bits, or Azuki bean paste, ect.)


• 
  
  Cookie tray

While the rice is cooking you can prepare your filling. I used a simple Tuna with Mayonnaise mixture this time. (Adding other spices or hot sauce to the tuna would add some awesome flavor!) Cut nori into 1" x 4" strips

To use the mold:

• 
  
  While the rice is still fairly warm, scoop a small amount into your mold and press it down making sure there's an indentation in the center for your filling.


• 
  
  Place desired amount of filling into the center. (Be careful with how much filling you use as you don't want it to squish out to the sides of the ball to much)


• 
  
  Fill the mold the rest of the way up with another scoop of rice and press it hard. You want to make sure the rice sticks well together to keep the shape once it's out of the mold.


• 
  
  Push the ball out of the mold onto the cookie tray to cool


• 
  
  Repeat until rice is completely used up (makes about 16 balls)


• 
  
  Once the rice balls are room temperature wrap a nori strip around one of the sides and place on a plate to serve immediately. (Note: Do not put the nori onto the ball until you're ready to serve it, otherwise it will become mushy or sticky by the time it's eaten.) If your ball is to cool for the nori to stick, use a cloth damp with hot water, and pat the ball before trying to place the nori again.

To make without a mold:

• 
  
  Wait for the rice to be warm to the touch as you don't want to burn your hands!


• 
  
  Use water to moisten your hands then sprinkle a bit of salt over your palms.


• 
  
  Take enough rice in your hand to make the rice ball and roll it into a ball.


• 
  
  Press your thumb into the center to make it bowl like.


• 
  
  Fill with your filling of choice.


• 
  
  Form the rice back over the filling. (Use a little more rice to cover opening if needed) Carefully shape the ball into a triangle or you can keep it in the spherical shape. (If keeping the sphere shape wrap 1" wide nori strip completely around the ball like a belt.) Place on a cookie tray.


• 
  
  Wrap the nori right before serving.

What about the cute face?

You can buy special nori punches that have eyes, ect. Or if you're like me and can't afford all the fancy fun, a good ol' fashion pair of scissors and a steady hand will do you fine. Just cut the shapes you want out of the nori sheet and place them on the balls the same time and way as the nori strip.

**If you have extra, wrap them individually in plastic wrap and save in the fridge. Warm it up in the microwave for a few seconds, wrap with nori and it's ready to eat. (Store nori in a Ziploc bag at room temperature)

Snack Time!!

Here's a yummy little snack for the fun of it, it's also a great snack to share at parties.

Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart's w/Pina Colada Jam!!

Many people have asked me how we even find food to eat due to all the food allergies in our home. Well this is one way! Here's how we make this yummy treat...

Pull-Apart's:

• 
  
  One tube of biscuit dough, any brand will work. We like to use Buttermilk style


• 
  
  2-3 Tablespoons or so of melted butter in a dish


• 
  
  A dish with about 1/3 Cup Sugar and 1 Tablespoon Cinnamon mixed together. (My son is allergic to Cinnamon, so I always make a small pan of just sugar coated ones for him)


• A non stick pan works best, I like to use bunt or shaped pans for more fun.

First preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Now take the biscuit dough, (you can use them whole or pull them into small pieces and ball them) and dip it into the melted butter, make sure it's covered. Then dip the dough into the Cinn/Sug mix again making sure to cover it completely. Place in your chosen pan. Keep in mind that they do raise slightly, so don't pile it to the top of the pan, leave about a 1/4" or more between your dough and the top of the pan. Drizzle any remaining butter over the dough. (This is what helps the sugar caramelize just a bit to cause that yummy crunch on the outside and soft on the inside reaction) Place in oven for 15-20 minutes. Let it cool for a few minutes before turning it out of the pan. Great by it's self or with your favorite jams!

I found this recipe in "Simple & Delicious" magazine. Of course I was excited to try it because unlike most jam/jelly/preserves, it does not use pectin! Which is one of the food allergies in our home.

Pina Colada Jam:

• 6 Cups sugar


• 6 Cups shredded peeled zucchini


• 1 Can (8 oz.) crushed pineapple, undrained


• 1/4 Cup lime juice


• 2 Pkg. (3 oz. each) pineapple gelatin


• 1 tsp. rum extract

Combine sugar, zucchini, pineapple, and lime juice in a Dutch oven (I just used a large pot) . Bring to a boil. Boil for 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat; stir in gelatin and extract until gelatin is dissolved. Pour into jars or freezer containers, leaving 1/2" headspace. Cool completely before covering with lids. Refrigerate for up to 3 weeks or freeze for up to 1 year. This makes about 3.5 pints.

So now using almond butter as a substitute for peanut butter, and the Colada jam my boys can enjoy "pb&j" again! But the Colada jam is so yummy we enjoy it on more then sandwiches as you can see. Looks like I'll have to make more of it soon! :)

Happy 3rd Elias!

It's been 3 years since my youngest Elias came to us. I can't believe it's been that long already! He's so grown up, and I don't remember it happening.

This year he asked for a cowboy cake with sprinkles, so I put the message in a lasso and covered the rest of the cake in red and blue star sprinkles. Happy Birthday Son!

Happy Birthday!!

Another year, another birthday. I LOVE YOU HUNNY! For his birthday my husband received among other things a new fun bento box... So naturally I had to picture the first meal packed in it. :)

So I have here the bento pictured multiple times as I put it together. In #1 you can see all the parts layed out. Left to Right: Top bento piece soup bowl, Bento inner lid, Center bento piece holding a simple salad, Small container of ranch dressing with lid, Soup thermos filled with chunky mushroom soup with lid, Small container of soup crackers with lid, bottom bento piece holding colby/monteray jack cheese and dinner sausage slices.

Pictures #2 and #3 show how i put the pieces together. Picture #4 is the bento all stacked up to make an awesome Samurai Warrior!. Picture #5 is the meal all wrapped up and ready to go in the new furoshiki wrap I made to match the bento. My husband thought it was a really cool bento and was excited to take it to work and show it off. YAY! :)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

My boys and I had lots of fun this St. Patrick's day or "Green Day" as Orion calls it. Everything we ate today had green things, we colored with green crayons, played with our green toys, and well you get the idea. So here are pictures from the Green Day meals we had. Daddy had to miss dinner so his green day meal was packed in a bento!

Breakfast:

"Clover" oatmeal with gold nuggets (dried peaches), Green sugar sprinkles on wheat toast, and Gold juice (orange juice)

Lunch:

PB&J sandwiches with a clover (Drawn on with food dye), Gold coins (Sliced carrots), and Green Milk.

Dinner:

Ranch baked breaded chicken breast, egg noodles with a sour cream dill and onion sauce (with green dye), Red bell pepper strips, Gold coin carrots, Deviled eggs (with green dye in yoke mix and the egg white), The Clover on the children's plate and the "Lucky" on the adults plates are cut from nori , and a special little prize in the center of the plate... A miniature Lucky 8 ball!! This was a big hit of course. This was served with Green apple juice, and a simple dessert of Green lime jello with whipped topping. We had so much fun with this I'm planing on doing more color specific days with my boys.

Valentines love on a plate

Happy Valentines to all of you! I've made a yummy dish here for my family's special dinner.

In the pot we have egg noodles, then a simple salad with tomatoes, mushrooms, and carrots, with the main course..... Mustard White Wine Chicken. It's fairly simple to make and very tasty, this is the second time I've made it and it was just as popular as the first time.

Here's what it looked like when served. The only thing I'd add is a fresh sprig of parsley to finish the look, but alas I had non in the house.

Now on to Dessert, These are the chocolates I chose to make this year. They're bavarian cream flavored chocolate!

Thanksgiving relish plate BENTO!

For my Birthday this month my husband got me this beautiful 3 teir Bento box. It's HUGE! Definately awesome for picnics and such. Well we desided to break it in with Thanksgiving. We were in charge of bringing the relish plate for the meal, the following pictures are how it turned out, was lots of fun and the family really liked the fun little additions my husband and I put together.

In the top tray we have:
..White mushrooms sliced
..Black and green olives
..Red radishes cut to look like little mario mushrooms
..Cucumbers sliced with bits of red radish overtop ..Baby dill pickle sticks
..Baby carrots cut to look like bunnies on a bed of green onions

In the second tray we have:
..Cheddar cheese chunked
..More red radish Mario mushrooms
..Baby carrotts fancy cut

..Celery sticks with creamy peanutbutter

..Black and green olives
..White mushrooms sliced
..Tomatoes wedge cut

In the third tray we have:

..Black and green olives
..Pickled beets sliced
..Deviled eggs on a bed of green onion
..Cucumbers sliced

We had a great time visiting with the family who could make it to Thanksgiving dinner. I'm so thankful for the wonderful people that I have in my life and all that they've done to make things just that much better. I'm thankful for my boys who amaze me every day and give me opportunities to learn and grow for myself. And I'm thankful for my loving husband who works so diligently to provide for us, and the love that he gives me and our boys daily. I hope that everyone was able to enjoy their Thanksgivings surrounded by people who love them.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!The months of fun creative baking are upon us. Halloween starts us off, so I made these fun mini cupcakes to share with my Cub Scouts at pack meeting. They're carrot cake with a simple vanilla frosting and black, orange, and white sprinkles. They turned out so cute, and very yummy! I've definitely decided that I love using the duck eggs when I bake. They make the food more moist and flavorful, totally awesome. Here's to wishing everyone a fun and safe Halloween!

Yummy Moral Support

My husband wasn't looking forward to the extra long Sunday shift at work as they had two men on the crew absent. So not being able to fix that problem for him, I decided to help in the only way I could. Yummy food that makes you smile. I took the crew dinner, but this was the dessert I made them. It's a strawberry cake! Now one of my 3 little ducks has grown to maturity and started laying one egg a day. I've found that using duck eggs in baked goods causes them to be more flavorful, and moist. So not sure on allergies I warned the crew about the use of the duck eggs, not sure how they'd react. They all loved it! Barely any of the cake made it home, and only then because I'd requested they leave a piece or two for my boys. The lettering on the cake was done by cutting a corner off of a sandwich baggie, I did get a bit shaky though :( Just so you know, in case you can't tell, I've written "Do Your BEST!" and drew a hand holding up a "V" for "Victory" (it's a Japanese thing) as well as a few stars.

SHRIMP!!!

My husband brought home some of the Schwans Garlic and Herb Shrimp, so I thought since they've already got the flavor they'd make a nice stir fry. Making sure to cut in different shapes and colors of veggies I came up with a very colorful fun stir fry! There's carrots, red bell pepper, sweet onions, quartered mushrooms, and small pieces of broccoli florets.

Chicken-n-Rice
Simple meals happen more often the not. So here's another simple meal that we enjoy. This is Tori Misoyaki or Miso Chicken. The rice is a Thai Jasmine sticky rice, and we finally got ourselves the bamboo basket to cook it in! We generally make a hot dipping sauce for the rice with Thai chili peppers, green onions, cilantro and fish sauce. And will accompany this meal with what ever variety of fresh or steamed veggies we have in the house. The chicken marinates for about 30 minutes or more, so I usually make it up earlier in the day and put it in the fridge. This causes dinner to only take about 20 minutes to make.

Pierogie and Chicken Lasagna

Okay so for dinner my son wanted Chicken. *sigh* we've been eating so much chicken lately that I had to find a new way to prepare it. So I took the Pierogies and layered them with spaghetti sauce (sadly didn't have the time to make it, had to used canned *shrugs*) Cheddar and Mozzarella cheeses, and chicken breasts, I filleted and cut it into strips. Served it up with a simple lettuce with fresh tomato and dressing salad, peppered corn, and black olives. Was very delish!