Friday, December 5, 2008

Color study

This week I wanted to turn the rule of color in regards to healthy eating on its ear. One simple way to help you eat a balanced diet is to include a rainbow of colorful foods...but can you still obtain a balance of nutrients from a monochromatic meal?

Monday - pink/red day:
Ryan's pink/red lunch: strawberries; cranberry sauce; apple "rabbit"; red bell pepper strips; sun-dried tomato hummus; beet chips; macaroni with tomato & "bacon".

AJ's snack:
apple "rabbits";
beet chips;
sun-dried tomato
hummus.




AJ drawing at the
computer before
school.







Later, our trio of
energetic vegan
boys. Never a dull
moment around
here!






Tuesday - orange day:

Nate's lunch:
a dried apricot; a
strawberry; tempura
sweet potato; a
pickle; marinated
mushrooms; cube
of cantaloupe; 1/4
sunflower butter &
jam sandwich; soy
cheese "Wubbzy".

AJ's snack: a baby
carrot; 2 quarters
sandwich; soy cheese
cubes; cantaloupe
cubes.



Ryan's orange lunch: soy cheese cubes; sweet potato chips; cantaloupe cubes; sweet potato tempura; bbq soy crisps; baby carrots; dried apricots.

My (late) breakfast:
soba noodles with
sweet potato
tempura & scallion.




Wednesday - yellow day:















Ryan's yellow lunch: yellow bell pepper strips; oshinko maki (with yellow soy wrapper instead of nori); slice of broccoli tofu quiche; Tings; corn; lemonade.

AJ's snack:
Tings; apple-pear
nudgie bar; 1/3
banana.




Tofu Broccoli Quiche

1 head broccoli florets, steamed (or 1 cup frozen florets, thawed, chopped)
1 onion, diced
2 T. olive oil (or 1 T. olive oil, 1 T. margarine)
1/3 cup grated soy cheese (optional)
1 lb. water-packed firm tofu
3 T. nutritional yeast
1 tsp. turmeric
1/2 tsp. salt
1 T. soy sauce
3 cloves garlic, peeled

Steam or thaw broccoli. Chop. Set aside.
Chop onion. Heat olive oil. Saute onion over low heat until soft.
In a food processor, add tofu, nutritional yeast, turmeric, salt, soy sauce, garlic. Process until smooth.
Stir in broccoli, onion, (& soy cheese if using). Mix until combined.
Pour into greased (I use spray olive oil) pie plate.
Cook at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes. Allow to cool at least 20 minutes.

Thursday - green day:

Ryan's
lunch:
green
beans;
spinach;
green
pasta
w/ peas;
steamed
broccoli;
edamame;
a pickle;
celery.






Nate's lunch:
same as Ryan's,
but in smaller
portions.





AJ's snack:
Annie's Saltine
crackers; edamame;
spinach; broccoli;
a pickle; green
beans.



Friday - blue/purple day:

Ryan's
violet
lunch:
Luna
Sunrise
blueberry
bar;
black-
berries;
Annie's
berry
patch
Bunny
Fruit
Snacks;
blue
corn
tortilla
chips;
blue rice rolls wrapped with steamed purple cabbage; steamed peeled purple potato.

This really made me realize how few naturally blue foods there are, especially during the winter. In fact it got me thinking about the total lack of edible aqua-colored foods! In Japan, colored fish paste is often used to create those colors. The only artificial food coloring I used here was a few drops of blue in the rice cooking water.

8 comments:

Maida said...

Super creative, as always! I can't wait to try your quiche recipe. It sounds great!

River (Wing-It Vegan) said...

I made a mental note to ask you for the broccoli tofu quiche recipe and all I had to do was scroll down a bit!

I love all the colors, it's a rainbow of fabulous lunches!

Your boys are so adorable and full of energy!

veganf said...

Thanks Maida!

Hope you enjoy it River. What's great about it (if there ARE any leftovers) is it's awesome cold the next day between toast or a bagel. Yum.

Ruby Red said...

Your blog is adorable! I love the color-themed eating. We all know the saying that a varied diet is full of different colors, but I like the take that you have -- eating the different colors on different days of the week!

Misty said...

What kind of soy cheese do you use?

veganf said...

Misty - I usually buy Vegan Gourmet because that's what the boys prefer. The vegan slices by Soyco (I think?) are better for turning into shapes though, but they taste rather plasticky. I personally like Veganrella, melts well and is soy-free. And when time permits, I enjoy making my own, set with agar flakes usually.

Anonymous said...

All the food looks so good. And your boys are so cute. I have two boys, 2 years old and 7 weeks old. Life is going to be very energetic and fun when they can start playing together.

tired of smiling said...

I remembered your post when I was making sherd's pie tonight. I posted really colorful pictures on my blog: http://tiredofsmiling.blogspot.com/2009/01/mmmmmm-purple-potatoes.html

Happy New Year!