Thursday, March 31, 2011

I think today's lunch is a good one. It's amazing how hard it is to come up with healthy, but varied, lunches everyday that would be good (or at least OK!) to eat at room temperature. Oh, and did I mention, they were for a five-year-old? :-)

• pesto ravioli
• broccoli with soy butter
• grapes
• cornbread (Not homemade, but it's actually really good. It's from a Trader Joe's box mix that I veganize -- I substitute vegan egg mix for the egg and soymilk for the milk. E loves this. It's a little sweet so he sees it as a dessert, but you could also use it with savory foods.)
• morning snack: Annie's cheese bunny crackers

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

I haven't been very inspired lately about the lunches, as you'll see with today's lunch. Lot's of cold stuff, including a dip that E made last night. (He has decided that every Monday, he'll make some sort of dip.) The dip was actually pretty tasty. I can't remember everything that went into it, but it had raw spinach leaves, kidney beans, carrots, a few baby tomatoes, canola oil, and salt.

• E's Monday dip
• stuff for dipping: pieces of bread, carrot sticks, little cucumber slices (love these Persian cucumbers!)
• kidney beans
• a milk chocolate-covered marshmallow square
• morning snack: an apricot granola bar

Monday, March 28, 2011

Even though I had a lot of time yesterday to think about today's lunch, I just kept coming up with blanks. SO I told E I was going to give him a peanut butter sandwich with some other stuff and he reminded me that he doesn't like peanut butter on bread anymore. (This after telling me a few weeks ago that he didn't like jelly anymore.) Peanut butter alone is fine, but not with bread. I'm kind of bummed -- peanut butter sandwiches are so easy and a great option for lunch since they're fast to make and don't need to be reheated. Ugh. Oh well. So now I have to figure out what to give him to go with plain peanut butter. Maybe I can treat it the way I do hummus -- with little things to dip?

Anyhow, here's today's lunch, without a peanut butter sandwich!

 • Laughing Cow soft swiss cheese on whole wheat pita bread
• home fries
• baby tomatoes
• raspberries
• morning snack: cheese crackers (Annie's bunnies)

Friday, March 25, 2011

This hasn't been a good week for me and the bento box. Yesterday I had to catch up with three photos, today I forgot to take a photo. So I'll describe the lunch, in all of his yumminess. (Ha!)

• hard-boiled egg in a plastic bunny mold container (it makes a fun face on the egg)
• broccoli with soy butter
• grapes
• Annie's cheddar bunny crackers
• morning snack: granola bar

This is what the egg holder looks like. I think I got it at the Curious George store in Harvard Square.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Today is a catch up day for the bento. I've been way behind this week on postings so without further ado, here are this week's bentos plus a recipe for vegan chocolate chip bars:

March 21

• veggie lasagna from Trader Joe's
• brown rice with soy butter
• mashed sweet potato
• homemade vegan chocolate chip bars [recipe follows]
• morning snack: I forgot!

March 22

• peanut butter sandwich on whole wheat*
• Persian mini cucumbers (from Trader Joe's)
• grapes
• trail mix: chocolate chips, peanuts, raw almonds
• morning snack: raspberries

* No jelly. E has decided that jelly is now too sweet. I'm not complaining!


March 24

• hummus
• stuff for dipping: carrots, celery, cucumbers, whole wheat pita strips
• Kinder chocolate bar & a few not-as-bad-for-you gummy bears (Trader Joe's -- sweetened with fruit, no chemicals)
• morning snack: grapes




* Vegan Chocolate Chip Bars

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, mix. Add dry ingredients, half at a time.  Stir in chocolate chips. Pour batter into a square pan (sorry, forgot the size, but the regular size you would use for brownies). Bake 15 minutes or so depending on your oven. These are best if not overcooked and still a little gooey. (They'll firm up once they are cool.) Test with a fork or cake tester stick to be sure. Soooo good.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

This has been the week of no bento lunches. Monday and Tuesday were sick days for E, yesterday he bought hot lunch (pizza, of course), and tomorrow he has asked to buy hot lunch, too (grilled cheese). So today is IT! Looking at the blog and seeing the soup recipe, I'm wishing I had made more. It was so good but it went quickly. Next time I'll double it!

• bean smash sandwich (smashed cannellini beans with a little salt, pepper, and olive oil, on whole wheat pita bread)
• raspberries
• carrot sticks and cucumber slices
• homemade vegan brownies**
• water
• morning snack: water, cereal bar



** vegan brownies, from The Garden of Vegan by Tanya Barnard and Sarah Kramer, page 191

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup dry sweetener (I used regular sugar)
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups soy milk
1/3 cup oil (the recipe says olive oil but I used canola)
1/2 cup chopped nuts, optional

Preheat oven to 350. In large bowl, mix together flour, cocoa, sweetener, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add soy milk, oil, nuts (if using). Stir until just mixed. Pour into lightly oiled 8x8 baking pan and bake for about 30 minutes or until toothpick/fork comes out clean.

These brownies are really good, but cake-like, not gooey. I like gooey better so the next time I make them, I'll probably add a little more oil and take them out of the oven a few minutes earlier.

Monday, March 14, 2011

No lunch today. It's sitting in the 'fridge, ready to go, but E wasn't feeling well so he's at home today with dad. Not sure if he'll eat the lunch today at home, but it's a good one: hummos in a small wheat pita with lettuce, raspberries, carrot sticks, and a homemade cakey vegan brownie.

Thursday, March 10. 2011

Photo is a little blurry today. E wanted to take the pic so here's the result. Plus, to his credit, we don't  have the brightest kitchen, especially at 6:30 a.m. on a dreary day in March. (Did I mention that we live in New England!?!) Looking at the photo, I realize the colors of the food sort of match the day.

• hummus on whole wheat
• brown rice with soy butter
• carrots
• cheese popcorn
• water
• morning snack: water, watermelon, cheese bunnies (Annie's version of Pepperidge Farm Goldfish.)

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

I indulged last night and bought these crazy-expensive vegan marshmallows (Sweet & Sara). I'm not even a big marshmallow person, but I've been reading about them on vegan foodie blogs and when I saw them at Whole Foods last night, into the cart they went. They taste EXACTLY like "regular" marshmallows. To non-vegans, I know this doesn't sound like anything to shout about, but veganizing some treats isn't always easy. Anyhow, I don't think I'll buy these often ($6.99 for a small container), but it's good to know they're out there!

• veggie lo mein (yes, Rob got take out again)
• broccoli with soy butter
• cucumber slices
• strawberries
• 2 Sweet & Sara vegan marshmallows http://www.sweetandsara.com/
• water

Monday, March 7, 2011

In honor of Charlie Sheen, today's lunch is being dedicated to all of the goddesses out there. Perfect for a small child, right?

• Winning homefries
• Tiger blood watermelon slices
• Extragallactically good navy beans
• Living inside the truth panda cookies
• water
• morning snack: I Love You All Luna-tic bar, water

Friday, March 4, 2011

Today's lunch is a...GUEST BENTO! Yes folks, today we have a guest bento box making its debut from the fabulous, oh-so-stylish Matt Weber. Matt tells me that he and his even more fabulous, even more stylish girlfriend have been so inspired by E's daily lunches that they decided to give the bento life a shot. They even went out and bought the same bento system from Laptop Lunches.

As you'll see from the photo below, they did an amazing job, despite the fact that there's...ah, ah, meat. :-)
What do you think?

• baby tomatoes and green beans
• homemade apple crisp*
• homemade scalloped potatoes*
• chicken sandwich on whole grain with sliced cherry tomatoes and a balsamic drizzle (on the bread, which is why it looks like it has spots)
• something called a Guzzler

* Did I mention these are both homemade?

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Today's post will be quick: Here's lunch.

• veggie nuggets from Boca (note: This is something that E recently discovered and I have to admit, I don't give to him often. Maybe once every couple of months? My hope is that the other healthy foods balance out the veggie nuggets...)
• raw sugar snap peas
• blueberries
• pinto beans
• water
• morning snack: water, pretzels

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

The first day of March! Even when there's still snow on the ground, this day always makes me happy because "March" sounds more like spring than "February" does, right?

Today's lunch includes take out from last night. I literally had to grab the lo mein quickly from E and Rob -- they were plowing through the container at a ridiculous speed. I think E is going through a growth spurt or something because he is always hungry these days.

So on to today's lunch:

• veggie lo mein from Changsho in Cambridge
• blueberries
• pickles
• gummi bears from Trader Joe's (sweetened and flavored from fruit, which makes me feel slightly better....)
• water
• morning snack: water, strawberries