twice bitten

Wouldn't you know it--I announce my participation in the Cans For Comments food drive, and then I look through the boys' backpacks before school and find out that the school is also having a two week food drive?! I guess we'll be donating a lot of food this December!
So that there's not too much of one type of food, the categories of non-perishable food items are divided by grade. AJ is in kindergarten, and all the kindergarten classes in his school are supposed to bring pasta, rice, oatmeal, or cereal. Ryan is in 1st grade, so those classes are to provide baking mixes. We never use baking mixes, but I managed to find one in our pantry. It's good I need to go shopping tonight...I'm going to try to have both boys bring something for their classroom's box every day.

Here are today's donations:
AJ - a box of whole
wheat elbow pasta.

Ryan - a box of
cinnamon roll mix.




Ryan's lunch: seitan cutlets;
rice; steamed broccoli; edamame
"snack" with apple peel tongue;
black olives; mini Pez; cucumber
slices; raspberries; baked
blueberry oatmeal (recipe
from Fat-Free Vegan here).


And isn't
this just
the
cutest
hiker
you've
ever
seen??
Even
after
she
head-
butted
a rock...

She
can
really
hustle
down
the
trail
for
short distances...

edamame

Nate's
class
had
two
birth-
days
to cele-
brate
today
and
tomo-
rrow,
so I
readied
two
cupcakes
for
him
to take
along.



However, Nate insisted
he wanted edamame
instead...so I made the
edamame and sent that
along too, and added some
to Ryan's lunch while at it.


Ryan's lunch:
left-
over
tofu
dinner
in a
Thermos;
edamame;
vege-
table
gyozas
with a
side of
soy
sauce;
ground
cherries;
rasp-
berries;

Edamame
is a
typical
bar
food in Japan, served in the pod, salted, alongside beer or sake. But kids absolutely love it. And you can cut prep time to a minimum by buying organic pre-shelled edamame, pouring some in a glass bowl, covering it with water, and nuking it for 2 minutes, then letting it sit for 2 minutes. Drain, add salt, and serve.
If you've ever tried to shell edamame for a couple of hungry kids, you'll know why the pre-shelled edamame is just brilliant.