Mushroom Pie

This month I participated in a fun theme brought to us by http://bakeat350.blogspot.com . The theme this month is pie! I decided to make a Mushroom Pie and I am oh so glad I did!

Here is the mushroom pie in it's delicious glory in a bento for Kidlet. He has pie, carrots,raspberries, checkered apple, cucumber, and grapes.

Here is the whole pie. I am not generally a fan of most savory pies but this was absolutely the most amazing thing ever to go in to my mouth. If you have a Trader Joe's near you and have ever eaten their Mushroom Turnovers then imagine those only gigantic. Yes indeed. Here is the recipe I used:

Ingredients

*

Filling

* 2 1/2 cups chopped onions
* 3 tablespoons butter
* 8 cups chopped mushrooms
* 1 teaspoon dried thyme
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* lots fresh ground black pepper
* 8 ounces cream cheese

Crust

* 2 1/2 cups flour
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 cup butter
* 1 cup sour cream
* flour, for coating the dough and board for rolling

Glaze

* 1 egg
* 1 tablespoon milk

Directions

1. Saute the onions in butter in a large skillet.
2. When the onions are soft and translucent, add the mushrooms and thyme and suate for a few more minutes, until the mushrooms release their juices.
3. Add the seasonings.
4. Cut the cream cheese into small pieces and stir it into the mushrooms until it melts.
5. Remove from the heat and set aside until crust is ready.
6. Preheat oven to 400°F.

7. For the crust, combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.
8. Cut in the butter just enough to achieve a crumbly mix.
9. Stir in the sour cream to form a soft dough.
10. Generously dust the dough with flour and form into a ball.
11. On a heavily floured surface, roll out 2/3 of the dough to fit a 10 inch pie plate.
12. Trim the edges.
13. Fill with the mushroom mixture.
14. Roll out the remaining dough about 1/4 inch thick (Thicker than normal pie crust) and cut into strips 1 inch wide.
15. Weave the strips into a lattice over the filling.
16. Fold the ends of the lattice strips under the bottom crust, pinch the edges together, and flute.
17. For the glaze, beat the egg and milk.
18. With a pastry brush, thoroughly coat the pie crust. (You will have more glaze than you will need).
19. Bake the pie for 25-35 minutes, until the crust is puffy and golden.

Hot Diggity Dog

Another bento inspired by the BentoChallenge group. The challenge was to make a hot dog creation other than the usual octodog. I chose snail since I thought I had a better chance of making it with a tofurkey sausage than the others lol. Let me tell you it is not easy. The soy hotdogs are softer and do not hold up well. But finally I managed.

Kidlet has a soy snail dog with edamame eyes on top of whole grain spagetti with broccoli, cherries, checkered apple, and oranges. Yum!

Tattoo bento

So last week's BentoChallenge was all about Tattoos. We however had VBS and a weekend trip last week which meant that I epically failed at producing a bento during the appropriate time frame. Oh well, better late than never right? ;)



Kidlet has a peanut butter sandwich with cheese that was colored with food markers *yes my son likes cheese on his peanut butter, he's special* , edamame, checkered apple, cherries, and an orange slice.

When I was getting ready to take the picture this morning Kidlet caught a glimpse of the bento and was very excited, telling me "Yeah!! This is the tattoo I am so getting when I am old" Good boy.

It's all in the butt!

Today we have a celebration bento. An "Oddish" made of cheese on top of a peanut butter sandwich with checkered apple, grape, and strawberry. Story of the celebration is below!

Kidlet has always had training wheels on his bike. Last summer I attempted to teach him to ride the bike sans trainers but it was a disaster.I always thought that his dad would teach him these things. In most respects I have done a good job filling both roles. However, this Mama was just not made to teach in that way. I failed. We both cried. And the wheels stayed on. This summer Kidlet turned 8 1/2 and all of the neighborhood kids can ride without their training wheels, but not poor Kidlet with his failure of a Mama.


He didn't seem to mind that he had the extra wheels, at least not in a way I could pick up on. I was washing dishes the other day while Kidlet played outside. I went to call him in for dinner and saw the training wheels and bolts sitting on my front porch.


Whaaa??? How did that happen?! Strong little fingers is how that happened. Apparently Kidlet removed his own training wheels and just did it. He taught himself how to ride his bike. He constantly amazes me with what he can do when he sets his mind to it.


I called him in for dinner then and he zoomed over on his bike. He smiled up at me, so proud of what he could do and said "I figured it out! It's all in the butt!!"

Leftover Lion

Ah, leftovers! Bento is often percieved as something that must take extensive cooking and preparation. Nah! This is last night's pierogis paired with a fast cheese lion and grapes, blackberries, and cherries. Fast, easy, delicious!

In our house pierogis are one of the most coveted leftovers so Kidlet was thrilled to see this bento lunch in the morning!