A thermos isn’t just good for keeping things hot, it’s also perfect for keeping dishes like this yummy fruit salad nice and cold.

Mobile Fruit Salad

1 cup fruit cocktail, drained
1 cup chunked pineapple, drained
1 cup mandarin oranges, drained
1 cup sour cream
1 cup  miniature marshmallows

Place the fruit cocktail, pineapple chunks and oranges into a large mixing bowl. Gently fold in the sour cream until all the fruit is covered. Sprinkle in the marshmallows and stir until just combined.  Place in a pre chilled thermos.

This fruit salad is a delight especially on a hot summer day.  Add a little coconut or a few nuts to make a different taste every time.

When the days are getting colder in fall, it’s nice to send your kids to school with a hot soup to go along with the usual sandwich. This chicken chowder recipe is perfect for that. Just pour it in a thermos, and send it along with a cheese sandwich or even just some crackers for a filling lunch that will also warm them up.

• 1 tbsp canola oil
• 1 onion, chopped fine
• 2 tbsp flour
• 1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
• 1 1/2 C milk
• 1 c frozen hash browns
• 1 c corn, frozen
• 3/4 C chicken breast, cooked and cubed
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper

Pour the oil in a large sauce pan and warm slightly over medium heat.

Add the onion and cook stirring occasionally, 5 minutes or until tender, then cover the cooked onions with the flour and poultry seasoning. Continue to cook for another minute.
Pour in the milk and stirring constantly bring the mixture to a boil.
Allow to cook 2 minutes longer, still stirring, until mixture begins to thicken.
Place the potatoes and corn into the mixture and bring it back to a boil.

Reduce heat to low and cover the pan.

Cook for  12 minutes or until the potatoes begin to tender. Carefully stir in the chicken and cook an addition 15 minutes or until the chicken is heated through.

This makes a great thermos lunch for children.  Just remind them not to open the lid until it’s time to eat.  Add a biscuit with butter and jelly to top off the perfect lunch.

If you are in a rush in the morning, I have the perfect grab and go hot breakfast for you. It’s some oatmeal that you take with you to work or school in a thermos. It works great for my family. We have a hard time eating first thing in the morning, but enjoy this breakfast an hour or so into our day.

Oatmeal Breakfast on the Run

• 1/4 C steel cut oats
• 1 1/2 C boiling water
• 1/4 C dried fruit

At night, right before you go to bed, pour the oats into the thermos and add the boiling water.  Place the lid on the thermos and seal tight.

In the morning drain off any excess water and stir in the dried fruit. Replace the lid and go.

You can use old fashioned oats or quick oats in this recipe but don’t try instant oats. Add a little milk, white sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon or butter for a different taste.

We’re excited to announce a new section of the Menu Planning Central blog…We’re calling it “The Recipe of The Day”.  Each day we’ll share another great recipe with you.

Since we’re all still getting used to getting back into our school routine, I thought it would be appropriate to share some simpl lunch recipes with you that you can take with you to work or send to school with your kids.

Today’s recipe is a yummy tomato and bean soup that travels well in a thermos.

Tomato Bean Soup

1 Serving

• 1/2 can (8 oz) condensed tomato soup
• 1 carrot
• 1 parsnip
• 1/4 c red lentil
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder

Pour the soup in a heavy sauce pan and add 1/2 soup can of water.  Grate the carrot and parsnip into the soup mixture and add the red lentil.

Season with the onion and garlic powder. Bring the soup to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes.

Pour the finished soup into a warmed thermos.

There are many variations to this soup.  Try grated zucchini.  Add some leftover rice or cooked pasta to the mix.  Use canned beans instead of lentils.  If you use lentils be sure they are red not green lentils. Green lentils take awhile to cook down. (Of course you could add some cooked green lentils to the soup at the end).

I don’t know about you, but I loved scratch and sniff things when I was a kid. It was just exciting to see what smell would come off the paper. Now I’ve taken it a step further and started to make scratch and sniff paintings with my kids. They absolutely love it and I’m sure yours will as well.

It really couldn’t be simpler. All you do is grab a few packs of Kool-Aid, a cup of water and some brushes. Use the Kool-Aid like water colors and let the kids paint away. When their master pieces are done, set them aside and let them dry completely. After that they are ready. Just let the kids scratch and sniff.

Can you guess what each smell is? Don’t even think about walking over to the box of kool-aid packs to peek… that would be cheating

While you are discussing the different smells with your kids, talk about the various fruits and how they could be prepared. If you have a few of the fruits available, cut them up and serve them as a snack. Of course you could also compare how the painting smells compared to the real thing.

GET CREATIVE WITH YOUR FOOD AND WIN!

Here’s a great way to get your kids to eat more fruit and veggies. Let them get creative with their sandwiches by making sandwich faces. I always start with a slice of honey wheat bread for this. Then the kids spread it with either peanut butter for a sweet sandwich, or anything from hummus to cream cheese or even a little mayo if there’s nothing else in the house for a savory one.

Next I go through the pantry and fridge and come up with all of the healthy toppings I can find.

For peanut butter sandwiches this usually includes banana and apple slices, raisins and various dried fruits.

For the savory sandwiches I pull out lettuce, tomatoes and all leftover veggies as well as some sprouts (they make great hair).

Then it’s time for the kids to get creative. Their goal is to come up with the most creative and funny face they can with the ingredients supplied. If the result is impressive, I get out the digital camera and take a snapshot before they eat the sandwich. The picture then becomes my computer background for a while. The kids love the challenge and try to outdo each other which of course results in more fruits or veggies being used for their creations.

I also noticed that they tend to snack on the good foods while they are making their face sandwich, which gives them an extra serving of fruit and veggies that day.

Let’s see YOUR Creative Funny Face Sandwiches!

We’re holding a contest and want to give you prizes for sharing your funny face sandwiches with us.

Here’s how to enter:

Photo Contest:

1. Make a silly sandwich with your child or children.
2. Take a picture.
3. Send both the picture and the recipe to us at nicole@menuplanningcentral.com
4. Check back here to vote after we post the finalists, and watch your inbox for prize notifications.

Recipe Contest:

1. Send your funny-face sandwich recipe to us at nicole@menuplanningcentral.com
2. Check back here to vote after we post the finalists, and watch your inbox for prize notifications.

What can you Win?

Great question! For starters, everyone who enters either just a recipe OR a recipe and photo will receive a printable coloring book via email as a “thank you” from us to you.

All entries will be eligible to win the following prizes, as well:

1. Membership to MenuPlanningCentral.com (1 winner)
2. Copy of Work at Home ebook www.FullTimeWAHM.com (2 winners)
3. Copy of Party by Mom ebook from www.PartybyMom.com (2 winners)
4. Pack of recipes from www.YummyPLR.com
5. $25 Gift Certificate to Amazon.com
6. More prizes coming…

Here are some tips to get your creative juices flowing with these…

• Banana slices topped with raisins, or cucumber slices topped with a dot of ketchup make great eyes.
• Pepper and apple or peach slices are great for mouths.
• For ears try mushroom slices or strawberries cut in half.
• Sprouts and little broccoli flowerets are perfect for various hair does.

Rules:

Here’s the legal stuff. The recipes and photos will become the propery of MenuPlanningCentral.com Please submit only recipes and photos for which you are the owner. (Don’t send us pictures unless you personally took them.) We reserve the right to judge the contest and choose the winners based upon our preference. Contest will end after we’ve had sufficient time to promote it and gets lots of entries.

Thank you to these contest sites for mentioning our contest.