Tuesday, May 24, 2011

The bento is back! Ok, at least for today. We'll see how the rest of the week -- the rest of the school year! -- goes.

• PB&J on whole wheat
• cheese stick
• fresh mango
• Joe Joes! (Trader Joe's version of Oreos, minus the hydrogenated oil)
• morning snack: pretzel/pita chip/cheese cracker mix

Monday, May 23, 2011

Ok, still being bad about the bento photos. I just can't seem to pull it together in the mornings anymore. How in the world did I manage to take photos of the lunches for the past 8 months??! Well, I did manage to make a soup last night for the soup project: 17 Bean & Barley. (Yes, that does say the number 17!)

I will post the recipe to the right, as always!

And for those who are interested, E had wheat pasta with soy butter and shakey cheese, soycatash (a mixture of edamame, corn, and red peppers), baby red tomatoes, and little chocolate graham bear cookies.

Monday, May 16

I've been bad about the bento. Last week, there was one day when I forgot to charge the camera and I didn't realize until I was just about to leave for work. I also forgot to take pics at least once or twice. Anyhow, nothing today, either. E wasn't feeling great so we decided to let him stay home. (It's Rob's day off so that makes it easier!) Hopefully tomorrow....

Until then, there are two new soups for the soup project!

Monday, May 9, 2011

Ok, I've been out of the bento loop for the past week, thanks in part to strep throat. (Me, not my five-year-old. First time I've ever had it. Not fun stuff!) Anyhow, I'm just going to ignore the last week and start from scratch, including adding a new soup to the soup project. This is for last week -- I actually DID make it last week, just never posted it. I'll make this week's tonight and post it tomorrow or Wednesday. Two good soups that are super easy!

On to today's lunch:

• baked potato with soy butter
• whole wheat pasta with peas
• almonds
• raspberries
• morning snack: honey graham Z Bar **

** E's classroom is nutfree. It's not easy finding granola bars that don't have nuts but these Z Bars seem okay so that's why you see them so often for his snack.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Today's bento, mostly leftovers from last night's dinner.

• pesto tortellini with red sauce
• garlic bread (french bread with soy butter and "sandwich sprinkle" from Penzey's.)
• strawberries
• Easter candy! (Ok, this is not healthy!)

Two posts again today plus this week's Soup Project soup: Tomato Rice.

Wednesday, April 20

• whole wheat pasta with red sauce, baby carrots, whole grain bread with soy butter, two cookies from Busy Bee bakery

Monday, April 25

• grilled cheese on some kind of oat bread, carrots, baby tomatoes, blackberries, corn bread from Trader Joe's (a mix that I veganize)

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

A short bento lunch week -- this is April vacation so E is only at school today and tomorrow. (Luckily they offer programming at his school during vacation weeks for parents who can't get out of work. Not free, of course, but it's a lifesaver!)

Also, check out today's Soup Project soup (recipe to the right): Creamy sweet potato squash.

 • grilled cheese on whole wheat
• raw green beans
• blackberries and grapes
• homemade vegan chocolate chip and coconut cookie

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

A little behind again this week. Yesterday was full of meetings and interviews and who knows what. Anyhow, I'm now posting yesterday's lunch, today's lunch, and my weekly soup: Booming Black Bean!

Monday

• orecchiette pasta with tomato sauce
• blueberries
• baby heirloom tomatoes and cucumber slices
• Panda cookies (thanks Lex)
• morning snack: pumpkin loaf (From a Trader Joe's box mix that I veganized)






Tuesday

• hummus
• carrot sticks, celery sticks
• french bread
• clementine
• chedder bunny crackers
• morning snack: dried fruit bits**


** These are tastier than they sound.

Friday, April 8, 2011

With today being opening day at Fenway, I wish I had it in me to whip up some amazing baseball-inspired lunch, but these days, I feel lucky that I've managed just to get any lunch made. Plus, I'm not a sports fan, so...? But if you live around here, you'd see that just about everyone else is. I saw people on the subway this morning wearing their Red Sox clothes (including a hospital working with Sox scrubs). And E's school is not only allowing Red Sox baseball hats today, but they actually sent home a memo encouraging kids to support the Sox by wearing baseball shirts and whatever else they have at home. (Luckily, although Rob is even less into sports than I am, we did manage to buy E a Sox hat last year, more to keep the sun off of his face than to show support.)

Anyhow, here's today's not-inspired-by-opening-day lunch:

• pesto tortellini (Wait! It's Rico Pesto-celli pasta!)**
• kidney beans
• soycatash: soybeans, corn, red peppers (frozen from Trader Joe's)
• sauteed asparagus
• Kinder chocolate bars
• morning snack: blueberry cereal bar

** Ok, after trying this first lame one, I'll stop. 

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

I can thank Rob for making Tuesday lunches easier: Every other week, it seems, he picks up veggie lo mein and I grab some for the bento box before it gets gobbled up! Thank you, thank you.

• veggie lo mein
• veggie dumpling
• garlic bread
• raw snap peas
• yellow muscatel grapes (If you've never had these, they are really good. Very mellow grape flavor, no seed. A little more expensive than the standard green or purple kinds, but worth trying!)
• morning snack: veggie stick chips