So this week I’m returning to the garden. I just haven’t felt like I really nailed the snail idea yet, and I know they have the potential to be extremely adorable. Plus, I got to use more faces from the seaweed punches I got!
So for this take on snails, I made them in 2 separate pieces: the head and the shell. The head is mashed potatoes (no dairy!) shaped into a teardrop. I used slivered almonds for the ears and my new seaweed punches for the different facial experiences. For the shell, I layed a slice of havarti cheese, a slice of turkey, and a small amount of mashed potatoes. I cut in half lengthwise and then rolled them up. This made the classic spiral shell form. When put in position with the head, I think it’s my best snail yet!
To add a bit more protein (a slice of turkey is really not enough), I made BBQ pineapple meatballs. This is simply frozen turkey meatballs made in a slow cooker with BBQ sauce and pineapple chunks. It’s super leave it and forget it, which is nice when you have other components.
To pump up the fresh flavor in my bento, I cut bell peppers into hedgehog and bear shapes (with cookies cutters), and boiled edamame. I also included extra BBQ sauce incase the mashed potatoes were overly dry (without dairy this is common).
Finally I needed a dessert, just something sweet at the end of the meal. This time the meal was a bit fatty, so I went with grape skewers. Fruit is sweet, but the sugars aren’t complex so the body is better at breaking them down; it’s a great alternative when you don’t want to have a full dessert but need a sweet bite.
So at the end of the day, I was still full and very happy with how they held up all week. Potatoes definitely last longer the rice in the refrigerator. But what do you think? Did I finally nail the adorableness of snails?