Thursday, October 28

Normally I try not to put sweets in E's bento box too often, but since it's his favorite time of the year, and since we just made Halloween cookies, and because he's just an awesome, awesome kid, I put a bat cookie in today, plus a second one for his friend Jack, a fifth grader who is his"lunch buddy" and whom he adores!

• wheat pasta with broccoli and shredded carrots
• celery
• grapes
• homemade bat sugar cookie
• water
• morning snack: water, pita chips (which he forgot to eat yesterday)

Tuesday, October 26

Finally, an apple small enough to include in the bento box! E loves apples and so I often include them whole as his morning snack, but have also wanted the option to have them in the bento box. Unfortunately, regular-sized apples don't fit. I've tried cutting and drizzling with lemon juice (which he likes), but he's not crazy about the two things together for some reason. Anyhow, this morning I remembered that he brought home a few tiny apples from the apple picking field trip his class took to Smolak Farm. The apples are tiny and perfect. But what happens when they run out?!?

• grilled cheese on whole wheat (E wanted to eat this for breakfast this morning, but there was only one piece of cheese left....)
• veggie potstickers
• raw sugarsnap peas
• apple
• water
• morning snack: water and watermelon/strawberries

Monday, October 25

E had a play date yesterday with his best friend and so we made sugar cookies. It was a non-vegan recipe because the vegan recipe we usually use for sugar cookies doesn't roll out very well. It's super tasty, but not easy to work with. So this recipe has an egg, although we still used soy butter (that's all we have). I, obviously, didn't eat any, but I'm told they're good. Very easy to use this dough and they stay soft. The recipe, from a book called Ghoulish Goodies by Sharon Bowers, is posted below.

• home fries! (A fan favorite!)
• cannellini beans
• little tomatoes
• homemade tombstone sugar cookie
• water
• morning snack: water and an apple

Perfect Sugar Cookies (from Ghoulish Ghosts)

• 1 cup butter, room temp (I used Earth Balance soy butter)
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 egg **
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Cream butter and sugar. Add egg, beat until fluffy, add vanilla.

Add flour and baking powder in another bowl. Add, in batches, to the wet mixture until well combined. Divide dough in half. Form into balls. Wrap in plastic wrap and store in the 'fridge for at least 30-40 minutes. (Apparently you can skip this part but the dough won't be as easy to use.)

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease your baking sheets or use parchment paper (which I do). On lightly floured surface, roll dough. Cut into desired shapes and decorate. Bake 4-8 minutes, depending on your oven (I only had to do 4 minutes, believe it or not.) and how thick you roll the dough.

Let cool before moving them to a plate/container. Continue decorating (frosting, icing, etc.)

** Next time I make these, I'll substitute vegan "eggs" to see how it affects the recipe. I'll let you know!

Friday, October 22

It's Friday!

• black bean and tofu rollups on wheat tortilla
• celery logs (peanut butter and nutella "ants")
• pineapple
• peanuts
• water
• morning snack: water and pita chips

Thursday, October 21

Finally posting today! I was just looking at the photo and have to admit, the lunch does not look appetizing, but it really is good stuff. You have to remember that I take these photos at like 6:30 a.m., in a semi-dark kitchen with terrible lighting and using a small digital point-and-shoot. The picture really does not do this lunch, or any lunch, justice!

• wheat shells with shakey cheese
• raw tofu (some cut in oh-so-creative star and snowflake patterns!)
• corn with soy butter
• strawberries
• water
• morning snack: water and pita chips

Tuesday, October 19

Ok, so this has nothing to do with bento boxes or lunch, but I have to vent about one of my pet peeves. Today on the red line commuting in, the guy next to me had his legs spread so far that he was taking up half of my seat. And it wasn't crowded! And the worst part was that he was so blase about it. When it's crowded and everyone is jammed together, I don't have a problem with people bumping into each other and space being limited. But when it's not crowded? Come on — pull your legs together and be polite. Seriously.

Ok.

Lunch.

• pesto mini ravioli
• carrots
• garlic bread
• strawberries
• water
• morning snack: soymilk and fresh pineapple

Monday, October 18

Ok, no creativity today. I know, I had all of Sunday at home to think about it, but I just couldn't muster the energy needed. So again, a simple lunch. Speaking of simple, I saw a friend today on the train and we started talking about campaign signs. Every single one looks identical. It's too bad that pols have to stick to the red/white/blue theme. Not only does it not allow them to be individuals, but it also doesn't let their signs stand out in any way. Would it be so bad to throw in a little yellow or purple or something? Anyhow, just remember to vote in a couple of weeks.

And that brings us to lunch...

• hummus on wheat
• broccoli and peas
• brown rice with soy butter
• watermelon
• water
• morning snack: sesame sticks and soymilk

Friday, October 15

Not a completely inspired lunch, but a decent mix, I think.

• edemame with soy butter
• cucumber slices
• wheat toast with melted cheese
• pinto beans
• raspberries
• water
• morning snack: water and grapes

Thursday, October 14

We've been away: Columbus day, school closed for a professional development day, a sore throat. I can't believe we made it to Thursday! We made vegan chocolate chip cookies yesterday (recipe below) and I included one in E's lunch. I hope he eats the other stuff BEFORE the cookie. Hum....

• tortellini
• brown and wild rice
• steamed carrots with soy butter
• vegan chocolate chip cookie
• water
• morning snack: apple and water

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon  salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup soy butter (I use the earth balance brand.)

1 teaspoon vanilla
2 vegan eggs (I use Ener-G mix.)
3/4 package of chocolate chips (I use the semi-sweet from Trader Joes. No dairy, of course.)

Preheat oven to 375

Combine flour, salt, and baking soda in a bowl and set aside. Combine sugars, butter, and vanilla and mix until creamy.  Add vegan eggs. Add dry ingredients, half at a time.  Stir in chocolate chips.

Bake 6-10 minutes depending on your oven. These cookies are awesome. Totally chewy and rich. And you can lick the spoon and eat the batter without worrying about egg issues! :-)

Friday, October 8

One of the good things about keeping this kind of daily blog is that you can look back at what you've made and get a sense of whether you're making too much or too little of something. I realize that I've been making a lot of sandwiches. Easy, good cold... but maybe I've gone too far? E did ask for a grilled cheese today, which I made. Not sure how good it will be sitting in his bento box for three hours, but hopefully he likes it.

Anyhow, it can't be worse than yesterday, when I completely blew lunch. I totally forgot that they were going on a field trip to an apple farm. We were told to leave the lunch box at home and brown bag it. And no nuts. So what did I do? I sent him to school with a bento box AND a peanut butter sandwich. Luckily, the teachers put most things in baggies for him, but he said it was too cold at the farm to eat so he pretty much didn't touch anything.

Of course he ate the apple cider donut that the farm gave to them... :-)

• grilled cheese on whole wheat
• hummos
• carrots and sugar snap peas to dip
• grapes, strawberries, and cantaloupe
• water
• morning snack: pretzels and soymilk

Thursday, October 7

A few people have told me they liked my post from a few days ago (see September 30 post) where I drew the lunch because I had forgotten to bring the camera to work. (Yes, my boss knows I do this at work!). Anyhow, I probably won't include a drawing every day, but from time to time, I'll give it a shot. Here's both:

 • pb& j on wheat

• broccoli

• couscous and peas

• grapes

• water

• morning snack: pretzels and soymilk

Tuesday, October 5

I did a lazy lunch today, nothing that required any heavy lifting, that's for sure. After my ultra-creative lunch yesterday (ha!), I needed a break. :-)

• vegan burger on whole wheat with mustard
• sliced baby cucumbers and grape tomatoes
• sesame sticks
• raisins
• water
• morning snack: soy milk and a fig cereal bar

Monday, October 4

I realized last night that I had not made any effort to create a lunch for today that was creative, as I said I would in Friday's post. I mostly have an excuse: We spent the day at a farm in Ipswich, trying to get through their elaborate corn maze, doing a hay ride, and picking pumpkins. By the time we got home, it was a quick dinner (thanks to the veggie stew I made on Saturday), bath, and books for E, leaving me little time to do much else. Needlesstosay, my first attempt at a creative lunch did not work so well. There's always next week.

Today's not creative lunch:

• pan fried potatoes
• broccoli with cheese stars (so creative!)
• an eyeball biscuit (ok, I had wanted to use a black olive for the eye but we didn't have any so I used half of a small tomato with a raisin stuck in the middle. They looked better last night...!)
• pineapple
• water
• morning snack: soymilk, apple

Friday, October 1

Ok, so I'm feeling like the lunches are dull. Not so much the content, but in the presentation. I happened upon (yes, can you tell I'm currently reading a Charlotte Bronte novel?) a similar website where the meals were like works of art. Buns shaped like bunnies with current eyes and sandwiches with animal faces carved into the bread. Every piece of raw vegetable cut into a flower shape, every hard-boiled egg topped with a some sort of design or shaped like a favorite animal. Where do people find the time on a daily basis? As creative as I am, or like to think I am, how in the world could I pull this off? Also, how much food is wasted in making cute decorations, I wonder? 

So here's what I'm going to try: Since I don't work on Sundays, I'll attempt, at least for the next few weeks, to make Monday's lunch a little more fun. If you have any ideas, send them my way!

Until then, here's what E got today!

• hummos on whole grain
• raw carrots and yellow beans
• apple slices (dunked in lemon juice first so that they wouldn't brown)
• cannellini beans
• yogurt-covered pretzels
• water
• morning snack: soymilk, fresh pineapple, raisins