Summer lunch for the kids!

A couple months ago, I made the "long" drive to go visit my best friend. I live almost 2 hours north of her, so to us, it is a long drive! Her husband was out for the day, so it was just us and her 2 kids, my adorable niece and nephew! I was so happy to spend the day with them all, so I found a couple Disney Junior recipes to make a fun filled lunch for the kids. Well of course, it was a total hit! And why wouldn't it be, Auntie Holly is one pretty cool lady who makes awesome food! We made Meatloaf Cupcakes and Veggie Skateboards! Not only did my niece and nephew love them, but even the neighbor kids who came over enjoyed them. So, first up, Meatloaf Cupcakes.

Ingredients:

2 medium russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces

1 1/4 pound lean ground turkey

3 large egg whites

2 medium carrots, peeled and grated

1/4 cup shredded asiago cheese

1/4 cup low-sodium tomato sauce

1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs

3 tablespoons fat-free milk

Salt and pepper to taste

First up, preheat oven to 350 degrees. With the oven going, place the potatoes in a medium saucepan and fill with cool water. Bring potatoes to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-high and cook until potatoes are soft. Drain the potatoes and set them aside.

In a medium bowl mix together turkey, egg whites, carrots, asiago cheese, tomato sauce and bread crumbs. Use your hands to completely combine the ingredients. Line a muffin tin with 8 cupcake liners. Scoop the mixture into the cupcake liners, mounding mixture so that it rises higher than the surface of the muffin tin. Bake until cooked through, about 22 minutes. Let cool somewhat before removing from muffin tin.

Next up is the potatoes. Place potatoes, milk, salt and pepper in a medium bowl and beat with an electric mixer until fluffy. Last step is to spread the potatoes over the tops of cupcakes and serve. You can do this by either scooping on top with a spoon, or using a cupcake tip and a pastry bag!

And now for the veggie snack!

Ingredients:

1 extra large carrot, peeled

2 small cucumbers

3 slices mozzarella or Swiss cheese

These are extremely simple to make and super fun! First, trim up the carrot by cutting off the ends. Then, cut carrot in half. To make the board part of the skateboard, slice carrot lengthwise into four 4-inch-long slices.

Trim the top and bottom ends from the cucumber. To make the skateboard wheels, cut cucumber into eight 2-inch-thick slices.

Cut cheese slices into strips, circles, stars, or any other shaped desired. For fancy shapes, use small fondant cutters.

Last thing to do is to assemble skateboards, place a carrot strip on top of two cucumber wheels. Decorate carrot with cheese. Now, in my photo it will look different because we did it backwards with carrot wheels and cucumber tops, but either way works great!

So, there you have it. A fun weekend meal for the kids! Let me know if you try it and what you think of it!

Peace and Good JuJu,
Holly