Thursday, December 23

So this will likely be the last post for a few days. I may or may not post some days when E's out of school and I'm home from work. We'll see! In the meantime, here's today's lunch, which E will be eating while wearing PJs -- some sort of "school spirit" idea that the kids seem to love. (We never got to do this when I was in school!) I just realized that the photo quality is terrible. I snapped it just as I was running out the door to catch my train. Ah, the life of a commuter.

• hummus on whole wheat
• Israeli couscous with soy butter
• clementine
• coconut date roll
• water
• morning snack: water, cheese crackers

Tuesday, December 21

We got snow! Ok, that makes it sound like I'm excited, right? I'm not. I'm excited for E because he loves snow, but I am already sick of it. A few more months of this cold? Maybe I should move out of New England.

Tuesday, Dec. 21

• a wrap (smashed kidney beans, lettuce, brown rice)
• hummus
• celery sticks and cucumbers
• apricot dried fruit strip from Trader Joe's
• water

Monday, December 20

Not a lot of posts last week. I was out sick for part of the week and just super busy trying to get out magazine out the door so the postings took a back seat. Anyhow, here's today's lunch:

• brown rice sauteed with celery, chickpeas, and peas with sesame oil and soy sauce (leftovers!)
• pesto tortellini
• carrots
• clementine
• water
• morning snack: water, rice crackers, a couple of yogurt-covered pretzels

Monday, December 13 & Tuesday, December 14

Ooops, forgot to post yesterday's photo. I blame it on too-much-to-do-this-time-of-year-brain, although I'm often forgetful, so it could just be that. So today's post is for both yesterday and today. Tomorrow is pizza day (hot lunch) so no posting.

MONDAY

TUESDAY

• over-cooked gnocchi
• broccoli with soy butter
• tomato skewers
• grapes and clementines
• water
• morning snack: water, cheese crackers













• mini wheat bagel
• hummus with carrots and celery to dip

• blueberries
• water
• morning snack: water, watermelon

Friday, December 10

I'm going to call today's lunch the LIAR'S SPECIAL, in honor of Senator Scott Brown, who said he would support a repeal of Don't Ask/Don't Tell (he even sent me an e-mail message last night saying he supported the repeal), but then last night was one of the final votes that crushed the repeal. SNAKE and a LIAR.

Ok. Liar's Special:

• Egg-axtly The Opposite of What I Said I Was Going to Do Animal-Shaped Egg
• I've Made Everyone Blue Berries
• Pesto TorteLIE-nini
• Red-Faced Lie Tomatoes

(Close-up, although the smaller photo is actually better, I think. It's a cheap little camera and I'm taking the photos at 6:30 a.m. in my fairly dark kitchen.)

Thursday, December 9

I realized, as I was typing the list of today's lunch, that it's heavy on soy. We were in Trader Joe's once and two young boys were with their father near the ice cream section. One of the boys was pointing toward a box of Tofutti Cuties, these little vegan "ice cream" sandwiches that are awesomely yummy. The father went a little nutty, pulling the kids away and saying, in a too-loud voice, "Boys don't eat soy." I was a little put off by this (probably because I was holding a quart of soy ice cream and E was next to me). I suspect he had read some article about how the isoflavones in soy have an impact on male hormones. (Research shows this not to be true.) What bothered me wasn't that the guy felt strongly about the health of his sons, but that he was so loud and obnoxious about it.

Anyhow, here's today's soy-packed lunch!

• veggie burger (Dr. Praeger's California veggie)
• tofu
• edemame and corn with soy butter
• clementine
• water
• morning snack: water, cereal bar (fig)

Tuesday, December 7

Not the most inspiring lunch today, but pretty good from a nutritional standpoint, I guess. Tomorrow is hot lunch -- pizza day. I have to admit, as much as I prefer making lunch and having control over the ingredients, I do look forward to having one day where I don't have to scramble to get the bento box washed or worry over what I'm going to make.

• whole wheat shells with shakey cheese (parmesan)
• broccoli
• whole wheat bread with soy butter
• blueberries
• water
• morning snack: water, strawberry cereal bar**

** I realized recently that a lot of these cereal/granola bars have nuts, which they don't allow in E's classroom for morning snack. (Lunch is OK since they have designated "nut-free" tables.) Any suggestions for high-quality cereal/granola bars without nuts? Today I gave him a cereal bar from Whole Foods, their 365 brand, which are good and not expensive, but it would be nice to have other options.

Monday, December 6

It's cooooold out there today, which has me thinking about cold-weather lunches. (And sadly, it's not actually that cold -- high 30s, with wind.) I may try to find some kind of small thermos for hot soup. Not sure how easy that will be for a five-year-old, but it's worth a try.

Ok, today's lunch!

• grilled cheese on whole wheat
• homefries!
• carrot sticks
• Pirate's Booty
• water
• morning snack: water, apple

Friday, December 3

Latkes and over-cooked peas!

• pb&j on whole wheat
• overcooked peas, white kidney beans, and a tomato
• homemade vegan latkes
• clementime
• water
• morning snack: water, apple

Thursday, December 2

Today's lunch is basically leftovers from dinner last night, plus rice crackers, which E loves. That's it, nothing more inspiring today.

• pesto tortellini with side of tomato sauce for dipping

• broccoli with soy butter

• garlic bread

• rice crackers

• water

• morning snack: clementine, water