The letter this week at (P)enelope's school is P. They had to wear (P)ajamas today and they made (P)ancakes. I also made her a P bento.

P is also for (P)ink (P)olkadots, cheese letters that spell out (P)en (one of my nicknames for), (P)otato chips, (P)ineapple, (P)istachios and (P)ickles. She also had a turkey sandwich on a roll with tomatoes.

P is also for...

(P)regnant :)

We had a snow day today, sNOw school, sNOw work, sNOw fun!

My first post in 2012! Can you believe it, already?! Did everyone have a fabulous New Years Eve? The three of us stayed home and kept warm, I am still trying to recover from the nasty cold that has been going around. Ugh. Did you have a delicious New Years Eve meal? We had some tasty appetizers and Penelope and dad made cupcakes for dessert.


Spanakopita, Arancini,and Empanadas. The Spanakopita and Arancini were from frozen, boo for me, but the Empanadas are semi homemade. They were yummy!

Empanadas

Filling-
1lb Ground Beef
1 Large potato chopped into small cubes (about half the size of a die)
1/2 can of Rotel (you can chop up some tomatoes, green chili's, and onion instead)
Sliced black olives
Salt & Pepper
Cumin
Garlic salt
Onion powder
Shredded Colby jack cheese
Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust

Cook the ground beef and potatoes with the seasonings. Once the beef is cooked through and the potatoes are soft to the touch add the Rotel and black olives. Set filling aside. Roll out the pie crust with a rolling pin and then using a circle cookie cutter cut out rounds. I used a small round cookie cutter about the size of an English muffin so they didn't hold much filling. You can make them bigger if you like.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and preheat your oven at 400 degrees. Fill the center of each dough round and then fold over to seal. It helps to use a little water to get the dough to stick together and then use a fork to crimp the edges of the dough that you brought together. Before you pop these in the oven brush the top side with a light egg wash for a nice golden crust. Bake for about 15 minutes. These are good served with guacamole and sour cream for dipping. 

I know it's been awhile since I posted any bento's. Poor Penelope has been eating plain boring lunches. I decided to finally do something a little fun for her today, especially since she is getting very excited about Santa's upcoming visit.
Snowman turkey and cheese sandwich, grape tomatoes, pickles, craisins, and a piece of Christmas fudge from our cookie swap. Thanks Tracy, it's delicious!

Today I made a yummy shredded beef in the crockpot for tonight's dinner. Even though I didn't get a picture of it I thought I would share the recipe because it was very tasty. This shredded beef can be used in tacos as well as quesadillas, burritos, salads, sandwiches, you name it! Here is the recipe. Enjoy!

Crockpot Shredded Beef

4 lb. Boneless Beef Chuck Pot Roast
1 Cup of Beef Broth
1 package of dried Onion Soup Mix
2 tbs of Tomato Paste
3 Garlic Cloves minced
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp Cumin
1 tbs Chili Powder
1tbs Adobo Seasoning.
Olive Oil

Mix the paprika, cumin, chili powder and adobo seasonings in a bowl and then pat over the entire piece of meat getting it completely covered. Heat a skillet on medium high with some olive oil to sear the meat so both sides are browned. Place meat in crockpot. In skillet add the beef broth and tomato paste and stir  to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer a few minutes. Place the minced garlic and onion soup mix over the meat in the crockpot and then pour the beef broth mixture on top. Cover and set the crockpot to low and cook for 7 hours. When it is finished remove the meat from the crockpot and place in a bowl using 2 forks to shred it. Once the meat is shredded put back in the crockpot with the juice so that the meat remains moist. We made soft tacos with this meat on flour tortillas topped with guacamole, sour cream, and cheese. Delicious!

Here is Penelope's new Snack Box.

Penelope has had many smoothies in her short life but this is the first one she made all by herself!

1 Banana
About 3/4 cups of frozen blueberries
About 3/4 cups of yogurt
About 1 cup of milk
About 1 tablespoon of sugar.










She made enough for the both of us and then some! Good thing it was a yummy smoothie.