All posts filed under: What to eat Mom?

chicken rice pilaf bento lunchbox

Bento Lunch box Recipe: Chicken Pilaf

Our yummy lunchbox recipe for you this week is Chicken Pilaf. It is always a hit and miss for me when cooking basmati rice, most of the time it turns out mushy. As my friend would say “basmati is no good when sticking to each other” I prepared this pilaf recipe twice this week and the basmati rice was perfectly cooked. The kids love it as well, that is why they had for school lunch and more at home. Chloe’s: Chicken pilaf, strawberries and cereal bar Vierte’s lunchbox: chicken pilaf, baby carrots, dried mangoes, kiwi and cereal bar   Give it a try and let me know if your kids enjoyed this Chicken Pilaf recipe as well.

Recipe Zaatar Feta Pinwheels

Bento Lunch box Recipe: Zaatar Feta Pinwheels

We survived the first week of back to school! Well, technically it was not 5 days of school week for us but still, YAY! For us UAE residents our busy school and work week begins on Sunday till Thursday. We have Friday and Saturday as our weekend. Our back to school week was a breeze, both kids woke up on time and no major morning drama. LittleMiss did have a rough start in school but was fine after. I first had a taste of Za’atar pinwheels when LittleMiss and I attended a Baby Massage class. After that, I have a weird craving for the flavor ever since and would eat one whole Za’atar Manakish just to satisfy myself. This week I finally got a chance to re-create the za’atar pinwheels I had 4 years back. It is super easy to make, perfect size for your kids lunchbox and yummy too. Our De’Longhi MultiFry Machine is becoming one of our favorite kitchen gadgets, it has literally saved me from spending more time in the kitchen. This machine also allows me to “fry” food by using …

Honey Soy Chicken recipe

Honey Soy Chicken with De’Longhi Multifry

I have been using my De’Longhi MultiFry for more than 1 year now and it has reduced my work time in the kitchen. The first time I got to use the MultiFry was with Chef Osama where we made Um Ali. Some Dubai base Mama media influencers were invited to celebrated Mother’s Day with Chef Marta and De’Longhi at Galeries Lafayette Gourmet, The Dubai Mall. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Abigail | Home • Food • Lifestyle • Dubai (@cuddlesandcrumbs)   Chef Marta Yanci taught us how to properly use the Multifry and showed us 3 recipes (fries, pizza and muffin) that we can re-create at home. The kids and I prepared Sweet Potato fries and it was surprising that both really liked the fries. I have mainly been cooking most chicken dishes and crispy lechon on our MultiFry because it just cooks much faster and use a small amount of oil. Kuya V has requested that we recreate the Chicago style pizza and muffin that we prepared with Chef Marta, watch out …

chicken teriyaki bento lunch

Teriyaki Sauce Recipe and Bento box ideas

Any dish with teriyaki sauce is a family favorite that’s why I always have a bottle of homemade sauce to perk up grilled or pan fried dish. I once taught that preparing this sauce would take a lot of effort, I was wrong. You need few ingredients and just simmer away. Teriyaki flavor is different each time you prepare it depending on what ingredients you use. For instance when I make it for salmon more garlic on the sauce then more ginger if chicken. Teriyaki Sauce Three Ways All three lunchboxes below use teriyaki sauce in different ways. Grilled Chicken Breast with Teriyaki Sauce on the side Panda rice bento box is a chicken breast marinated with teriyaki sauce then pan fried, sauce packed on the side. Slow cooked Chicken Teriyaki This week I dumped chicken drumstick with teriyaki sauce in a pan and slow cooked it for 30 minutes. Oven baked meatballs drizzled with thick teriyaki sauce Oh I also use sauce as salad dressing, you should try it. Yummy! One chef on a cooking show …

isda lumpia recipe bento lunch

Fish Spring Rolls (Fish Lumpia)

Fried spring rolls or commonly known as lumpia shanghai in the Philippines is a favorite dish to serve on special occasions along side pancit. Besides fried rice this is one dish that my kids eat with much gusto that has hidden vegetables and it’s easy to prepare. Lumpia is a versatile dish that you can prepare vegetarian or with any meat you like. For this recipe I made use of left over fried fish and broiled fish fillet. I packed this for the kid’s bento lunch box and they once again requested it for lunch.      

chicken popcorn bento lunch kebab

Chicken Popcorn Kebab Bento Lunch box

The last of the three products I presented for a bento workshop is the chicken popcorn, it’s odd shape and dull color made it challenging to turn into something fun and inviting to eat. Other products use for the workshop are chicken nuggets and sausage. Kuya V was the one who suggested that I turn them to kebabs or barbecue with colorful vegetables in between. Barbecue sticks are not allowed in school, instead we made use of drinking straws as skewers.  Now, your chicken popcorn looks more inviting to eat compared to just placing them flat inside your lunchbox. Inside our lunchbox : kebab of capsicum, olives, cherry tomatoes and chicken popcorn strawberry, kiwi and blueberry cheese cupcake (I will post recipe of this soon) sweet corn adorned with cucumber carrot flower baby carrots and broccoli Bento tools: tiny fork food picks, silicone cupcake liners and drinking straw. Check out how we made fun bento lunch box with sausage and chicken nuggets. Tag us on any of your bento lunchbox creations and use #UAEMakesBento and #WhatToEatMom on instagram. We are @cuddlesncrumbs on …

hungy caterpillar bento lunch

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Bento Lunchbox

LittleMiss C’s class is currently learning about bugs in school. One of the books they are reading and also our favorite is “The Very Hungry Caterpillar.” I prepared a simple lunchbox as per LittleMiss’ request about the book. We have ‘flower’ ham, caterpillar beans, and flower carrots over steamed jasmine rice. Items used: U-Konserve 32 oz stainless square box Eco-Vessel Steel bottle *Both items are from the online store My Baby Organic Shop. Tag us on any of your bento lunchbox creations and use #UAEMakesBento and #WhatToEatMom on instagram. We are @cuddlesncrumbs on all social media platform.

how to make sausage octopus crab bento lunch

How to make Under the Sea Bento Lunch box

We officially welcome summer in Dubai. Mighty sun hiding behind the clouds this morning which makes it a perfect beach weather. Here’s a simple bento lunchbox to welcome summer. This is the second bento lunch box I presented at a workshop for a company here in Dubai. The goal was to turn three boring grocery food –  nuggets, sausages & chicken popcorn to something that is more inviting and fun to look at. Inside our lunchbox : octopus and crab chicken sausage pasta on top of a bed of lettuce olives cheese & bread stars baby carrots & broccoli grapes Bento tools: crystal food picks and cupcake liners This is one of the lunchbox I made for a bento workshop I conducted here in Dubai that aims to make the chicken sausage the star of the bento box. Follow the simple instructions below to create a sausage/hotdog Octopus and Crab. Next post will be how to make a fun bento lunch box with chicken popcorn. Check out how we created Minions out of chicken nuggets, here. Tag us on any of your bento …