Monday, January 31, 2011

Today's lunch:

• pinto bean spread on whole wheat
• wheat couscous with peas and soy butter
• dried prunes
• Panda cookies, courtesy of E's pal, Lex
• water
• morning snack: water and choice of apple or cereal bar (E has a loose tooth and hasn't been excited about hard food.)

Friday, January 28, 2011

ANOTHER snow day yesterday so no school, no school lunch. This is the third major snowstorm this month. I'm hoping tough January = milder winter in March? So the only positive was that I had to stay home from work and we had a fun day out in the snow (the sun came out about noon).

Ok, on to today's lunch:

• cannellini bean sandwich on whole wheat
• cooked sugar snap peas with soy butter
• chickpeas
• Kinder chocolate bar
• water
• morning snack: water, grapes and fresh pineapple chunks

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

E recently discovered Laughing Cow cheese. He saw it in Trader Joes one day and decided it looked fun. When he saw that a classmate had it in her lunch yesterday, he wanted it in his lunch today. (Although not with a little wheat bagel, which is what he has been spreading it on. He wanted the "little round crackers with ridges on the edges" that his classmate had so we had to grab some at Whole Foods. So many not EXACTLY the crackers his classmate had but he'll never know that!)

I'm realizing now, looking at this photo, that I should have added some fruit. Oy. 

Ok, here's today's easy-to-prepare-but-missing-the-fruit lunch:

• hummus
• celery and carrots for dipping
• Laughing Cow cheese
• little round crackers with ridges on the edges
• water
• morning snack: water, mixed fruit cereal bar

Monday, January 24, 2011

I'm a little behind on posts. Friday was a snow day so no school lunch and on Thursday I forgot entirely to do this. I think he had pasta with broccoli, fresh cherries, and garlic bread. Here's today's lunch on a very, very cold day in New England:

• grilled cheese on wheat
• beans with soy butter
• grapes
• kinder chocolate
• water
• morning snack: water, apple

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Today I'm posting the recipe for the Soup Project's third week. So far it's my second favorite. (The spicy peanut eggplant that I made the first week was the best! I'm trying to decide if it would be ok to repeat a recipe??!) I'm not a huge corn fan -- I know, I'm from New England and corn on the cob is a summer staple, but it's messy and to me, never quite seems cooked -- but decided to make a corn chowder. This one is spicy, in part because I added too much cayenne by mistake, and is perfect for cold nights. It's also really easy to make and uses mostly ingredients you probably already have in your pantry/fridge/freezer.

Enjoy this recipe and let me know what you think!

Oh, and I made lunch for E, too.

• pb&J on wheat
• blueberries
• colorful tomatoes
• yogurt pretzels
• water
• morning snack: water, cheese crackers (those Annie's bunnies)

Friday, January 14, 2011

No lunch today. Not many for this week, in fact. E was out sick on Tuesday, snow days on Wednesday and Thursday, and at home sick again today. See you on Monday with a new lunch and a new soup recipe!

Monday, January 10, 2011

Today's lunch and second week of the Soup Project!

• grilled cheese on wheat
• home fries!
• celery sticks
• grapes
• water
• morning snack: water, cheese crackers

Friday, January 7, 2011

Quick post today! Remember, I'll post a new soup recipe on Monday! I haven't decided what I'll make, but I got some good suggestions from friends, and I have tons of cookbooks, so who knows.

• wheat pasta with broccoli, edemame, and green beans
• clementine
• orange grape tomatoes
• veggie chips
• water
• morning snack: water, fig cereal bar

Thursday, January 6

We made hummus last night for dinner so we decided to save some for today's lunch. Nothing fancy, just chickpeas, garlic, lemon juice, water, salt and pepper. (I didn't have any tahini, which is fine.)

• hummus
• stuff to dip: carrot sticks, celery sticks, snap peas, sauteed tempeh, and wheat bread chunks (not in photo... added them later)
• blackberries
• a little Marzipan pig that I had put in his stocking. (E was tired last night and cried because he was excited that the treat would be in his bento box, but also didn't want to eat it. Guess he really is a vegetarian, huh?)

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

So weird typing "2011" in the title box! Anyhow, today's lunch was an easy one, something I pulled together last night, which makes life SOOOO much easier in the mornings. I made the pasta last night for dinner. (We actually ate it mixed with the spicy peanut and eggplant soup that I made on Sunday -- see recipe to the right. Insanely good. I ate way more than I should have!) The snap peas and tomatoes -- these beautiful little orange grape tomatoes that I got at Whole Foods -- were easy, of course. The cherries took a minute to remove the pits. (I'm never sure how to do that so I just cut all around it. Is there an easier way?!)

• fresh cherries, a favorite of E's• wheat pasta with soy butter and shakey cheese
• raw snap peas
• orange grape tomatoes
• water
• morning snack: water, Pirate's Booty*

* Not an ideal morning snack, but a compromise. Made by Robert's American Gourmet Food, it's corn, puffed rice, and real cheese. I've never had them because of the cheese, but E loves them. They make other stuff I can eat, like Tings, which are basically a healthier, vegan-version of cheetos. Sooo good, but I stay away for just that reason!!

Monday, January 3, 2011

School lunches are back! I have to admit, this past week, with school closed and me off from work, it was really nice not having to think about packing a lunch. It was also nice to have a week of lunches at home with more options -- things I couldn't pack in a lunchbox, such as an avocado sandwich or bananas or anything hot!

Anyhow, happy new year to everyone. On that note, I have decided to start a second blog -- a soup project! Every week for the next year, I will make a homemade soup and post the recipe online, along with a photo. The first soup is a spicy peanut and eggplant soup. The recipe is to the right. (I will post a photo tomorrow.) I included a small tub of the soup in E's lunch today. It's thick enough that I thought he could use it to dip his carrots.

For now, here's today's lunch:

• grilled cheese on wheat
• carrot sticks
• garlic bread
• spicy peanut and eggplant soup
• blackberries
• water
• morning snack: water, kidz Luna bar