witch kitty

Here's a helpful tip...don't freeze black rice and expect it to hold a shape when you thaw it! I was pleasantly surprised when the fresh hot black rice held together nicely in a triangular onigiri mold 2 weeks ago, but not so impressed when it fell apart after being microwaved 2 weeks later. So to maintain my original bento design with a black witch's hat, I grabbed a triangular silicon baking cup and put the black rice inside that instead.

Once I had the cat and hat finished, it looked more pirate or pilgrim to me, but whatever, it still looks seasonal, right?!

Ryan's lunch: green beans dressed w/soy sauce; black rice w/carrot; meatless meatballs; rice ball w/nori & black rice cat face; carrot sticks.

Ryan's school snack:
dried apricots, pumpkin
banana coconut bar.

AJ's school snack:
raisins, pumpkin banana
coconut bar.

For recipe, see here,
but add 1 banana & 1/2
cup shredded coconut.

I never did get around to blogging yesterday. It snowed for the second time in mid-October (never happens here!)...the kids were stir-crazy...and my husband was on the way home from 4 days in Texas. And I was about out of groceries.

So time for a muffin tin meal. Seriously, I had 1 frozen veggie burger, 2 end pieces of bread, some random dried fruits & nuts, and a few stray farm veggies and apples hanging around...but the kids always go for a "picnic" as they call it!

Top row: BBQ Sunshine Burger wedges; apple slices; bell pepper & cucumber slices.
Middle row: green beans; pbj sandwiches; carrot sticks.
Bottom row: cashews & Craisins; edamame; peanuts & raisins.

Now that Maia has all
her 1 year molars and
almost all of her incisors,
she's ready to share all
of the yummy crunchy
foods that her brothers
enjoy.




She held her own during
the vulture diving food
frenzy, LOL.

Live Long and Prosper

Here is
a meal
suitable
for any
Starfleet
Vulcan
on an
away
misson...
(no
school
today,
"teacher
devel-
opment"
day).

MY
lunch:
Top
tier:
lentil
balls;
a pickle; blanched mixed greens (spinach, beet greens, tat soi); yellow watermelon. Bottom tier: black rice with goma shio; Star Trek insignia made of summer squash, soy cheese & nori.

I had planned for this lunch to be vegan and gluten-free (and almost soy-free except for the Star Trek insignia). But the lentil ball recipe gave me some trouble, and I ended up baking instead of frying the balls and coated half of them with whole wheat panko breadcrumbs instead of more ground hazelnuts. Whether they failed to fry properly because of the lack of egg, or the recipe's attempt to convert from metric to American measurements is unclear. I like the hazelnuts, but the ones with breadcrumbs were way better. I may start from the ground up creating a vegan lentil ball that doesn't fall apart or become dry tasting when baked as I just love the idea so much.

As for the beautiful stainless
steel tiffin, I won that last
winter here. It is mine mine
mine! Many people are con-
cerned with plastic bentos
because of the many plastics
from China and the U.S. that
contain BPAs. I had read
various opinions and rumours
that Japanese bentos do not
contain BPA, but finally I
found an article that seemed
to really know the answer. I
am happy to report that I
won't be trading in our plastic
bentos, but I do ultimately
prefer stainless steel or wood,
particularly bamboo; it's just
that for a family of six, outfitting everyone's lunches in these materials gets really pricey. If you have the money and prefer the Laptop Lunches style versus a bento box, PlanetBox is a cool alternative. If you're looking for alternatives to plastic bentos To-Go Ware, Life Without Plastic, KidsKonserve, are among some of the options.