YValentines in Chocolate Z

This year we're celebrating Valentines a bit differently. Go ahead and roll your eyes lol, because we're doing it as the Japanese do. Girls give guys the chocolates on Valentines, and one month later Guys give gifts or chocolates to the Girls on White Day. So here are the hand made molded chocolates I made for the men in my life.

Done in both White and Milk Chocolate I painted red chocolate into "Love" impression, and then Wrote the name of the person receiving the chocolate on the back.
Here's a simple variation, I painted their name into the mold, again with red chocolate. The ones done this way were given to my husbands family, he requested the more simple looking heart.
This is how I wrapped them up. I used the non-zip sandwich baggies tied off with Red and Pink ribbons.
Again packaged the same way.
This is the heart I made for my husband. I was a little sad at the scratch that appeared in the chocolate during the cooling process, but it still looks great and I'm sure he'll love it. I had a lot of fun painting the flowers with Red chocolate, the leaves and stems with Green chocolate, and the "Love" with White chocolate. This chocolate ended up being a lot larger then I thought it would be, but that's okay my husband has his "time of the month" when he craves chocolate like non other, so I'm sure this will satisfy that craving. *smiles* We'll be sending out more chocolates to all our Women friends for White Day next month. I'm hoping to have some new molds by then, so look forward to seeing more chocolate next month!

CHOCOLATE!

In the spirit of Valentines I decided to try my hand at making my own chocolate! I didn't have the funds to buy all that was needed to make milk chocolate, so I made Dark Chocolate. I didn't have the ability to roast my own Cacao beans so I started with the Nibs, which are the beans already roasted, lightly crushed, and winnowed (shells removed). Again not having a food or coffee grinder I used my husband's mortar and pestle.

8 parts Cacao Nibs with two parts Sugar were placed into the mortar. Then Grind! Grind! Grind! Once the nibs were a powder I placed the mortar in the microwave to warm it up a bit. Warming the Mortar made it a little easier to grind the nibs to a more liquid type state. Just as it was starting to look liquid I added a dash of Cinnamon and Cardamon for flavor. 2 hours and some very sore arms later the chocolate was about as smooth as I was going to get it. There's no way to get it as smooth as the chocolate bars from the store unless you buy the machine for that kind of finishing.

At this point you can ether serve up the chocolate or... you can put it in a mold. I chose to mold it. I filled a 2"x 2" Tupperware with all of the chocolate made... it was about a quarter of an inch thick. It was then placed in the freezer for about 5 minutes till hardened. I broke it up into pieces which makes it easier to see how it's more grainy then store chocolate. A lot of work, but it was yummy. Next time I think I'll grind the sugar a little finer beforehand, and add a little more of the chosen flavoring. My arms would also thank me greatly if I get a food/coffee grinder to do the initial grinding lol.

Grin and Bare it!

My husband has been pulling some not so fun hours at work lately. So having gotten the boys to sleep fairly early I decided to take advantage and make something to get my hubby smiling at work.

Top: Chubby smiling Cajun Meat pie surrounded by it's toppings... Cheese face, Green onion pieces, Black olive slices, Salsa, and Sour cream.

Bottom: Fun cut baby carrot sticks, Mashed sweet potatoes with red painted butter hearts (he's good at melting the heart. tehe), Red radish shooting star, Laughing Mushroom man giving a Peace sign (close up picture below, face drawn on with blue food dye), Green olive slices with pimentos, Deviled egg.

"Love Love" Curry & Rice

Tried my hand at a new dish. CURRY! Mmm it was sooo very yummy. Definitely a repeat meal. So!

Top: Kiwi slices, Tangelo sections, and two home baked Chocolate chip cookies. With "Love" sticker accent of course.

Bottom: Rice with Love hearts, and Curry! I used the Medium/Hot Golden Curry, the flavor was wonderful, but I think I'll go a little hotter next time. I added beef chunks, carrots, potatoes, and yellow onions to the curry. You get filled up fast, but it was so good you just want to keep eating! *licks lips*

Family Sit down Bento Dinner

Daddy's Dinner... Left: Green/Black olives, Beets, Red radishes, Peppercini, Butternut Squash, Pickle sticks, Tomatoes, and Apple bites.

Right: Green sticky rice topped with sesame seeds, Dinner sausage, and saute Red onions.

Mommy's Dinner... Left: Red radish, Green/Black olives, Apple bites, Beets, Butternut squash, Tomatoes, and Pickle sticks.
Right: Green sticky rice topped with sesame seeds, Dinner sausage and saute Red onions.

Orion's Dinner... Left: Saute red onions, Dinner sausage, Green sticky rice topped with sesame seeds.

Right: Orange slices, Beets, Green/Black olives, Red radish, Pickle sticks, Tomatoes, Apple bites, and Butternut Squash.

Elias' Dinner... Left: Dinner sausages, Saute Red onion, Green sticky rice topped with sesame seeds.

Right: Orange slices, Beets, Green/Black olives, Red radish, Pickle sticks, Tomatoes, Apple bites, and Butternut Squash.

Chicken & Shrimp

On the top we have: Fried spiced potato's with carrots and green onions, Breaded chicken pieces, and yummy Shrimp!

For the bottom: Extra mushrooms (as the co-workers seem to like to snitch those out of my husbands bento lol), Red radishes, Sweet pickled ginger and Peppercini, Red onions, Green and black olives, Mandarin oranges, and a small cup of Cocktail sauce for the Shrimp.

Mario Mushrooms!

Okay so my husband put most of this one together, but I added some fun to it with the Mario Mushrooms.

Top: Beets, Green apples, Black olives, Green onions, Mario Mushrooms made out of small red radishes (yes they have the stem on the bottom too), Tomato slices, Cheddar cheese bits, Asparagus, Sweet pickled ginger, Carrot sticks, and a normal mushroom.

Bottom: Noodles topped with red radish bits (left over from cutting the Mario mushrooms, no need to waste food!) , and Mini meat loaf patties. (not pictured: Wasabi mayo to dip patties in) *Look for the Mario Theme Dinner to yet to come!*

Snack Plate

Here's another quick and easy snack plate, my kids love this one! A few slices of your favorite cheese, I used Cheddar. A favorite snack cracker I just happened to get Ritz crackers this time. A few pickle sticks, and tuna fish in the middle! I mixed this tuna with mayo, mustard, celery seeds, and a few dashes of Tabasco sauce. I've also mixed it with mayo, mustard, and wasabi horseradish, or just serve plain is yummy too.

Boys in the Kitchen!
Okay so today I was feeling adventurous... or a bit crazy not sure which. And I let the boys over the safety gate into the kitchen to help Mommy make their Lunch. Orion (the older boy), and Elias (the younger boy), had a blast and it actually wasn't as hard to juggle two little boys and lunch making as I thought it would be. We made our Chocolate muffins first, which of course the favorite part was licking the bowl. Then Elias was sent to play toys while Orion and I made the Bento Lunches which he had asked for. We made Peanut butter/Jelly (only jelly for Elias as he's allergic to nuts) Dinosaur shaped sandwiches, Cut up apples (Mommy used the sharp knife while Orion arranged the pieces in the boxes) , Small Cheese slices, and pickle sticks. Add the green "bug juice" and TADA!! Oh and a special thanks to Grandma C. for the home made aprons :) So it's a little picture heavy, but I thought it'd be fun to share the step by step fun that we had.

Hearty Meal

Left: Ranch Dressing in a foil cup, Carrot sticks, Radishes, Avacato slices, Green Bell Peppers, Mushroom, Peperoncini, and Sweet Pickled Ginger.

Right: Chimichurri Beef Steak, fried potato's and Green Onions. (Not Pictured, sause packets for optional use over steak)

Kabob Bento

Left: Sticky Rice with Green Onion garnish, Mini Kabobs made with Cocktail wieners, Carrots, Red Cabbage, and Yellow Onions.

Right: Steamed Red Cabbage, Carrots, and Yellow onions. Sweet baby pickles, Mushroom, Radish, Kiwi fruit, and a Chocolate Cherry for dessert.

Dinner Serving Differences

So I made a yummy dinner for us but my husband had to leave for work early forcing me to have to pack up his dinner to go. So I thought I'd show the different ways this dinner was then served.

The first pictured on the Right is the Adult serving dinner plate. Pictured on the Left is the Bento style Serving. And lastly the bottom picture is a Child's serving dinner plate.

We had Stuffed pasta shells or Manicotti, covered with a spaghetti sauce, Pecorino Romano cheese and Green Onions for color. Flat Green Beans also known as Fava Beans lightly salted, Cooked Carrots, Peppered Cut Corn, Mushrooms, and mini bread bowls baked with a Spinage Artichoke Dip.