Mothers aren't allowed to getsick. And they certainly aren't
allowed to get a cold, mastitis,
and a bad back at the same
time. But if it does happen,
you had better bet it's going
to happen over a long holiday
weekend with beautiful
weather. Argh.
Maia is now 3 months old.
She starting to enjoybooks, watching toys,
rolling, kicking, and
chewing on her hands.
She is my latest teether.
Believe it or not, by this
age her big brothers
all had teeth!
Monday:The plan
was for
me to
stay
home
so I
could
clean
the
house
and
relax.
But
since
I was
sick,
I should
have, napped. Instead I probably did too much cleaning but felt like I got nothing done. Sigh. Still, the 6 hours of silence was golden.
I made everyone a lunch for the visit to their cousins house. The boy got: sushi rice flowers/butterfly; cold spinach; shiitake mushrooms; sesame tofu; bell peppers; pea pods; starfruit (carambola) slices; cranberry pecan bread. Not shown: packet of pretzels and a Rice Dream drink box.
Husband's lunch:similar to the
boys, with added
celery, nuts &
raisins, and carrot
chips.
Maia's "lunch" waspacked on ice in a
Hello Kitty lunch bag.
It was her first time
from me for that long;
she did great except
for disliking the 40
minute ride home.
While everyone was goneI discovered Nate had
been up to his usual antics.
Our fruit share bag had
partially eaten apples &
pear cores in it. Thank
goodness most of our
produce is organic since
he just helps himself to
unwashed fruit when no
one is looking.
He also helped himselfto some freshly baked
cranberry pecan bread.
Either that or a little
mouse came along
after I had packed the
lunches.
Tuesday:
Farm share: arugula, celeriac, peppers, carrots, apples, butternut squash, leeks, sweet potatoes, white potatoes, broccoli, purple bok choy, baby tat soi. Not shown: PYO kale, collards, chard, hot peppers, tomatillos, herbs, flowers.Tuesday's lunches never got photographed; I was too sick still. I believe they consisted of: sunflower butter & jelly sandwiches, cantaloupe, tofu salad, & baby carrots.
Wednesday:
Ryan's lunch he helpedpack: soy cheese cubes,
Nate's Meatless Meatballs,
carrot coins, mini banana
muffin, cantaloupe chunks,
pita chips; ladybug rice ball.
AJ's snack: mini bananamuffin, cantaloupe chunks,
rice ball, soy cheese cubes,
carrot coins.
Thursday:
I was finally feeling better, just in time for a crazy day.
Nate's lunch: pumpkin donut hole; Tofutti cream cheese & cucumber star sandwiches; orange pieces; carrot flowers & green pepper leaves; olives.
Ryan's lunch: vegetable crackers & soy cheese; a sugar cookie; cucumber slices; olives; Tofutti cream cheese & cucumber star sandwiches on lettuce; cashews; orange slices.
AJ's field trip
snack: vegetable
crackers & soy cheese;
pumpkin donut holes;
Tofutti cream cheese
& cucumber star sandwich.
AJ went apple picking
with his class at
Shelburne Farm in
Stow, MA. The apples
there were in great
condition even though
a nearby farm's crop
had suffered from a
recent hail storm.
Friday:
Ryan's lunch: cucumber slices; wheat flax lavash roll-ups with Vegannaise,sliced scallion, Tofurky smoked deli slices, & Vegan Gourmet Monterey Jack soy cheese; peanuts; olives; peas & corn; slice of carrot cake; 2 sugar cookies.
And the 2 year old'sgift of the day: a basket
with sweet potatoes,
carrots, pepper, letter
magnets, & AA batteries.
I don't think he's quite
ready for Iron Chef, LOL.
4 comments:
Wow!!! I am really impressed at all you do and that you feed your family healthy. It would be great if you could post your recipes I would love that they all look so good. And we try to be healthy. you inspire me. What do you color your rice with? Patti
I have an adult cookbook more or less done, and I'm working on a kids fruit & veg cookbook right now. Thanks for the interest!
For the rice shown I usually use a few drops of food coloring. Just a little bit goes a long way.
Sometimes I use furikake seasoning, or finely chopped vegetables or edible flowers like chrysanthemum petals.
Do your kids eat everything you put in their lunches? It always looks like so much food. My daughter, who is 14 yrsold, won't eat a huge amount for lunch and is always bringing something home unfinished in her box.
Melissa - Often people are surprised at how small a bento box is when they seem them in person. I usually try to adhere to the Japanese recommendations for bento size that take into account a child's age, gender, and activity level. I also pay attention to my individual children's needs, whether they are going through a growth spurt, their likes & dislikes, etc.
My oldest is 6 and usually demolishes everything I send. My 4 year old only gets a smaller amount of food for a snack, but usually eats most of it. My 2 year old is only just getting accustomed to eating away from home with his classmates--some days he eats a good lunch, other days he is just too distracted.
Regardless of age, I find that packing small amounts of a wide variety of food results in more food consumed overall. For example, 1 or 2 baby carrots will usually get eaten, but a whole handful would likely result in all of them being ignored, or a tiny pile of spinach with just a bite or two gets eaten easily with a cute fork, but they'd turn their noses up at a big pile of it.
Maybe if your daughter helped to shop and pick out her lunchbox items she would be more apt to eat them. Does she have any interest in helping in the kitchen? Would she enjoy cooking dinner with you the night before and including some in her lunch the next day? Or making her own sandwich and cutting it into shapes or using unique toothpicks to make fruit or veggie kabobs?
Post a Comment