A week of lunches with Applegate {Day 2 King of Jungle fun lunch and mini tacos boxed lunch}

For day two I am going to share a fun plate and a lunch box idea.

Bean is starting school today, its cool, I am ok promise.

I am mostly nervous about forgetting one of them. 

So here is what my day will look like,

I sit,

I stand,

I check the time,

I sit again,

I turn the TV on just to check the time,

pretty much on repeat until it will be pick up time.

But yesterday I made him a fun lunch while Sisty was at school.

For his plate I used Applegates organic black forrest ham and organic cheddar cheese.

Have I ever mentioned my love affair with cheese, its pretty bad.

So when I say Applegate has some of the yummiest prepackaged cheese, I know what I am talking about here folks.

I made a grilled cheese with the ham and cheese, then cut the bread in a circle. Adding some cooked frozen corn around for the mane.  

Two blueberries and some red pepper completed the face.  Broccoli florets made for some cute little trees.  The red peppers at the bottom had no real purpose other then Bean loves his "chippers" so we will pretend they are rocks.

Some hummus added a little extra for dippin his veggies.  I use squeeze bottles for this, makes it easy to write on the plates and add designs.  

His favorite part is making up stories about his plates, this little Lion, turned into an alien Lion after he eat one of his eyes, and was on a planet with "wittle guys" carrying "wight sabers"...oh having boys is SOO different then girls, hahaha.

As for Buggie today she brought her most favorite food ever, tacos.

Applegates southwest grilled chicken is crazy good, yummy flavor and no slimy gross texture a lot of those packaged grilled chickens get.  I think my favorite part of this lunch was I could make it the night before without worry of anything getting soggy.  

Some whole wheat tortillas, salsa, guac, and greek yogurt {our substitute for sour cream} round out the tacos.  Added a little real fruit leather for something sweet and called it a day.  A filling well rounded meal that took all of three mins the night before to put together. Now I cannot wait to throw some of this chicken on a salad, yum. 

See you back tomorrow! 

Organic Black Forrest Ham, Organic Cheddar Cheese, and Grilled Southwest Chicken provided by Applegate.

Belated 7th Fiesta Birthday Post

I am realizing some of you might have thought I forgot to blog a certain little girls  7th birthday. 

If you are new to these parts you may not have noticed, but for those who have been following my ramblings for some time might have.  See I LOVE planning my kids parties, crazy LOVE.  So back in April, geez that was so long ago, Buggie had a 7th Fiesta! It was all her idea and I loved every second of it.  We had gone to Mexico in February and she fell hard for the country.  Kori, did a full post on her party here, but these are just some of my favorite photos of the day...

It was a colorful magical day.

Chicken Al Carbon with Quinoa Tortillas {Clean Eats Day 1}

I am sure by now you have seen or are doing clean eating.

Its pretty much everywhere you look.

And for the most part we are pretty clean eaters.

I think the appealing part for me is it is getting back to basics, avoiding additives and processed crap our bodies don't need.

So not that four letter word, diet {said on a hushed whisper}, BUT more a lifestyle choice.

I get that it can be super overwhelming and scary to eliminate so much from you diet.

So baby steps are ok.

This week I am focusing on a whole week of clean eating.

Am I being crazy stupid strict about it, um no, Momma is not about to give up her coffee and little bit of raw sugar, I am all for healthy but not crazy. But with that said, over three months ago I switched to black coffee.  It was more out of dire straights, as I had ran out of my soy creamer one morning and said the heck lets try it black.  And I never looked back.  CRAZY.

Any who back to this week.

After Sunday night and killin a WHOLE box of Hot Tamales aka my kryptonite, I set forth on Monday on a clean eating binge.

I thought I would share my clean eating chicken al carbon with quinoa tortillas. 

I used the Gracious Pantry's recipe for the tortillas.

Now this was my very first time making tortillas, so I don't have a fancy smancy tortilla press.

I took two silicone cutting boards lined them with cling wrap, placed a ball in between and pressed down with my hands. Then to flatten them to an even thickness I used a rolling pin on top of the mats.   Once you are ready to start cooking, make sure you pan is on high heat {for my stove on 8}, one thing I could not find in the recipe.  And keep an eye on those suckers, they cook FAST.

As for the Chicken Al Carbon {makes 4 servings of two tacos each}:

- 2 chicken filets {all natural, free range, no antibiotics is the best if possible}

For the marinade: 

- 2 limes

- 1 shallot

- 2 tbsp olive oil

For the toppings:

- half white onion diced

- avocado

- plain Greek Yogurt {GREAT substitute for sour cream}

- cilantro

At least 30 mins or an hour if possible before you are ready to cook marinate chicken.

Take the chicken and cut them down the middle, making 2 cutlets.

In a large ziploc, add the juice of the limes, olive oil, and the diced shallot.

Season the chicken with a little pepper and salt.

Add to bag and massage, set in fridge.

Over medium heat grill your chicken, since they are cutlets you will only need to cook for 6-7 mins per side.

Remove from grill dice, add to warm tortillas and top with stuff above.

The kiddlets did not want tacos so I made them quesadillas 

{Napoleon make yourself a damn ques-a-dilla, sorry had to} and the tortillas held up good.

I just sprayed a non stick pan with a little canola oil.

Then this am, I decided to make a egg taco.  2 egg whites and one whole egg, some fresh salsa, and a dollop of greek yogurt. Along side my strawberry lemon water {always keep a pitcher in the fridge for easy access all day} and black coffee.

See you back tomorrow with another Clean Eats recipe from tonight.  

XOXOXO