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

Monday, April 4, 2011

Leftover lunch. Stuff from last night's dinner, which included the Egyptian split pea soup that I made (see recipe to the right). I also included some of those veggie stick things which always taste good at first, but then I regret eating them. E likes them, though.

Looking at this lunch, I wonder if it's enough calories for a five-year-old. Hum. I'll have to beef up (well, not literally!) his dinner!!

• brown rice with soy butter
• chickpeas
• Persian cucumber slices, mini tomatoes
• veggie sticks from Trader Joe's
• morning snack: strawberries

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