meals on the move

Only grownup bentos today! Woohoo! One for me, and a disposable airplane dinner for my husband.

My
lunch:
baby
spinach
salad
with
tomato,
scallion
& shoyu;
baby
carrots;
olives;
pickles;
canta-
loupe;
1/3 of
a Raw
Revo-
lution
choco-
late
coco-
nut bar.





















I enjoyed my lunch alone at Grim's Crossing, a brook in the Ashland Town Forest.

The forecast for Los Angeles was actually the same as here in New England! For once I don't have to be jealous of my husband leaving, because in his words "New England is much prettier."
Husband's travel dinner: olives; toasted everything bagel w/Dr. Praeger's California Burger, mustard, onion & tomato; baby carrots.

Happy 1st Day of Spring!!

disposable airline meals inc.

Ryan's lunch: 2 meatless meatballs; celery sticks; red bell pepper strips; leftover homemade pizza; 1 tiny Equal Exchange dark chocolate; snap peas; dried apricots.

Nate
looked
so cute
behind
this
little
tree
on a
hike
at the
Ashland
Town
Forest
yester-
day.

Then
every-
one
climbed
a big
rock
outcrop to get their picture taken...












We hiked until dark
again, barely able to
see our way to the
car. I guess we should
start packing a
flashlight! It's hard to
get in a good hike when
Ryan doesn't arrive
home from school until
after 3pm.

Here
is my
husb-
and's
dinner
for his
flight
this
even-
ing:
a Luna
bar;
vege-
table
gyoza;
red
bell
pepper
strips;
cucu-
mber
slices;
a radish;
carrot, onion & sweet potato tempura; soba noodles w/scallion.

Kids'
dinners:
herb
flat-
bread;
carrot
sticks;
celery
sticks;
red
bell
pepper
strips;
cucu-
mber
slices;
apple
slices;
hummus.

I thought
it would
be inter-
esting to show the differences in each plate for each child's age. Top left is for a 7yo, top right is for a 5 3/4 yo, bottom left is for a 3yo, bottom right is for a 16mo.

Healthier Hummus

1 can (15.5 oz.) chick peas, rinsed & drained
1 can cannellini beans, rinsed & drained
2 T. tahini
2 T. ground or milled flax seeds
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. dried seaweed mix (I used Sea Seasonings organic Triple Blend Flakes made of dulse, laver & sea lettuce)
2 T. lemon juice
2 T. olive oil
1/3 cup water

Put everything in a food processor, adding water slowly as hummus mixes. Process until smooth.

No!!!

I'm devastated. The tomato crop at our CSA was hit by late blight. We got 3.5 pounds of green tomatoes. The rest is a total loss. No heirloom giants. No green zebras. No pick your own cherry tomatoes til you're sick. Nothin'.

I could literally go on for days about how this depresses me. Even my husband blamed his foul mood on the lack of farm tomatoes the other evening. It's just plain sad.

So before I drag everyone down with me, let me look at what has been successful this season...

Herbs...plenty of everything. Lots of basil for pesto. Plenty of dill. Lovage coming out the ears. I do wish more cilantro had been planted, but what are you gonna do.

Berries...oh my! TONS of blueberries. Plenty of raspberries, none tainted with mold despite the rains. Lots of strawberries got put up.

Eggplant...already yielding plenty. I only wish my oven weren't so antiquated as it won't broil anything properly because it leaks heat like a sieve.

Lettuce...lots of. New varieties this year. Always in tip top shape.

Corn...excellent copious flavourful corn on the cob by early August.

Kohlrabi...huh??

This is the year I have come to love kohlrabi. Instead of just hiding it in a soup or julienned in an asian stir-fry, I got creative. Kohlrabi is round, right? Meatballs are round, yes? There were plenty of small kohlrabi available in the big baskets for the mix & match 4 pound option at the farm stand. Before you quickly click away saying I'm nuts, let me show you...


Kohlrabi Balls and Spaghetti

12-18 small kohlrabi, 1-2" in diameter
1 cup diced tomatoes (canned or fresh)
1 T. vegan Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. salt
a few grinds of black pepper
2 T. margarine (I use Earth Balance)
1 T. olive oil
1 vegan vegetable herb bouillon cube
1 tsp. dried onion powder or dried finely minced onion
1 cup water
1/2 tsp. paprika
1 T. cornstarch + 3 T. warm water
1/2 box whole grain spaghetti

Cut ends off kohlrabi & peel
them. (If the greens are still
attached and in good condition,
you can saute them or put
them in a soup, etc.)

Puree the tomatoes & Worcest-
ershire sauce in a food processor
or blender briefly.

In a medium pot over medium
heat, add margarine, olive oil &
bouillon. When margarine has
melted, add pureed tomato
mixture, salt, pepper, onion
powder & water. Bring to a boil.
Add the kohlrabi. Cover, reduce
heat to medium-low and simmer
for 45 minutes until kohlrabi is
just tender.

Uncover pot. Add paprika.
Allow kohlrabi & sauce to
simmer for another 15
minutes to reduce slightly.

Bring another large pot of
water to a boil and add
spaghetti. Cook 8-12 minutes
until tender. Drain spaghetti.

Mix together the cornstarch and warm water. Remove kohlrabi sauce from heat and slowly add cornstarch mixture a few teaspoons at a time, stirring it in to the cooling sauce. Sauce should thicken. Ladle over hot spaghetti and serve.

bean sprouts

First a recipe to apologize for my 2 day absence! Hmmm...what to call this...I've been making various permutations of it for a decade...

Bean Sprout Bap

1 T. canola oil
1 T. sesame or peanut oil
1 1/2 cups frozen ground
soy crumbles
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 cups mung bean sprouts
1/2 cup kimchee (or if you're
not at kimchee fan, or you don't have any on hand, you can just use a teaspoon of hot chili sauce)
3 cups cooked rice (I use a combo of brown & white)
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. soy sauce
1 small cucumber, julienned
1/2 red bell pepper, julienned
4 green onions, sliced
1 T. toasted sesame seeds
extra soy sauce for serving

Heat oil in large pan or wok. Add
frozen soy crumbles & garlic. Stir.
When soy crumbles are thawed, add bean sprouts. Stir.
When bean sprouts begin to wilt, add kimchee, rice, salt & soy sauce. Stir.
Serve in large bowls.
Slice cucumbers & bell pepper, preferably with a mandolin. Chop green onions.
Top rice mixture, sprinkle on sesame seeds, and extra soy sauce if desired.

So...friday I was too spent to post, after picking up my husband after his week's business trip in Las Vegas. The bus from the airport was stuck in traffic, so I spent friday evening's dinner endlessly circling the Natick mall, Shopper's World, etc. trying to play tour guide to the kids who were anxious to see Dada and starving in the back of the car because I had stupidly neglected to bring along any snacks for what is usually a 20 minute round trip outing.

By the time we got home,
(I knew I needed to go
shopping), I just tossed
some food on a plate as
quickly as possible:
whole wheat mini bagels
w/Tofutti cream cheese,
baby carrots, green olives,
cashews, grapes, cucumber
slices, & soy cheese slices.

On saturday, Ryan wanted to
celebrate Dada being home as
well as being done with the
chicken pox, so he chose this
meal: mashed potatoes, corn,
crescent rolls, broccoli, pine-
apple rings, & spicy baked tofu.

And this morning, while Dada slept, we went out for an early morning hike to the brook and around the neighborhood...













Here are AJ and Ryan in front of the original post office AND library in town!

Pretty cool that it's right
on our street, preserved
by the local historical
society. It just had its
annual spring landscaping
so it was looking rather
spiffy.


Nate wouldn't keep his shoes on, but Maia enjoyed the fine spring weather.













Lunch was a muffin tin at
the picnic table...
row 1: strawberry cream
cookies, Veggie Booty, spoons
of peanut butter, green beans.
row 2: edamame, pretzel
sticks, celery & carrots,
watermelon wedges.
row 3: purple grapes, slices of
cucumber, strawberries, mix of pickles & green olives & sliced black olives.

Kids Meals

Ryan sometimes tells me about food served in the school cafeteria. The one "meal" he has been asking me to serve is "Super Nachos". So I am going to try to occasionally imitate some of the nacho toppings for him to have at school. He absolutely loved this one today...

Ryan's lunch: white & blue corn Green Mountain Gringo tortilla strips; soy crumbles; salsa; guacamole; my chili chreez sauce (minus the cornstarch so it's better for dipping); baby carrots; strawberries.

And of course when AJ
saw Ryan's lunch he
just had to have the
same thing for his snack!




Spring is here, so we had
lunch at the picnic table
yesterday: sesame tofu;
orange slices; steamed
broccoli; cucumber slices;
whole wheat english muffin.



And I was so involved in yard work that I just threw together a muffin tin dinner for the boys:
row 1 - cucumber slices; Tings; blue corn tortilla strips; meatless meatballs.
row 2 - blueberry waffle wedges; strawberries; S'mores Luna bar pieces; banana slices.
row 3 - green beans; almonds; carrots & celery sticks; vegetable crackers.

This evening's dinner:
peas; a carrot; blanched
mixed greens; orange
slices; pasta shells &
chreez sauce.