Pumpkin Patch

I just happened to pick some pea shoots growing as a cover crop at the farm yesterday, perfect for pumpkin vines...

Ryan's
lunch:
veggie
fried
rice
(with
onion,
carrots,
aspar-
agus,
broc-
coli,
snap
peas);
rice
cheese
moon;
carrot
pump-
kins
with
nori
and
pea tendrils; meatless meatballs.

AJ stayed home with a stuffy nose today, so I only had to make one bento. Ryan noticed the difference, saying "you make nicer lunches when you only have to make one! I like it when my lunch looks like an actual place." It's true...it's much easier to make just one bento.

The boys have been asking to get pumpkins for Halloween. We only have one pie pumpkin from the farm this year. The winter squash crop didn't do so well. I suppose I'll have to find a place to buy a couple of decent carving pumpkins, preferably locally grown that don't cost a fortune.

fried rice

Fried rice is one of the quickest, easiest, tastiest things to make in the morning when there's leftover rice lurking in the rice cooker. Toss in a little onion and/or scallion, some frozen or leftover veggies, and that's that. Peanut oil is my preferred cooking medium, but I'll use canola if I'm sending the lunch along to preschool or if it's going to be eaten in the classroom.


Nate's lunch for grandma's
house: vegetable fried rice;
honeydew melon flowers;
sesame tofu; mini banana
blueberry muffin.

And then there are always
snacks to be made...
more mini banana blue-
berry muffins; cucumbers
slices; baby carrots.

My muffin and cupcake
stashes have been running
low lately. Probably due to
the raw food eating plan.
I need to get baking! I can't
wait 'til next week!

Ryan's lunch: vegetable fried rice w/purple potato flowers; honeydew melon flowers; sesame tofu; mini banana blueberry muffin.

This was our very last potato from the farm. But I was impressed at what a deep purple colour it had. Not bad for a local potato!

Me, yesterday:
7:30am- apples slices w/almond butter.
9am- flax crackers.
11am- smoothie: 1 banana, 1/2 cup frozen mango, 3 frozen strawberries, 1/4 cup ground almonds & hazelnuts, liquid DHA, water.
2pm- 1 avocado.
4:30pm- dried zucchini chips.
8pm- Raw Revolution chocolate coconut bar.

I just HAD to dehydrate some
zucchini chips yesterday after
reading about it on someone's
blog...but now I can't remember
whose! Sorry! I made three
varieties: garlic, kelp, and Old
Bay. LOL. And wouldn't you
know it, Ryan hated them, and
AJ loved them...the total
opposite of our norm.

not pink!

Anyone who knows me usually teases me about my dislike of all things pink. While I will make an exception for Hello Kitty, I still prefer the classic red and white. But beets turn everything they touch pink!
Ryan's lunch: Sweet & Sara toasted coconut marshmallow; piece of vanilla raspberry cake from Hippie Chick Bakery; blanched spinach w/toasted sesame seeds; mixed salt nuts; mini cucumber slices; beet stems fried rice.

Beet Stem Fried Rice

1 T. canola or peanut oil
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup thinly chopped
carrot
1 1/2 cups cooked rice
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 cup chopped beet
stems
1 T. finely chopped scallion
1 tsp. soy sauce

Heat oil over med-high heat in non-stick skillet or wok. Add onion & carrot. Cook for not more than 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add remaining ingredients. Cook another 2-3 minutes, stirring regularly.

So now you have another use for beet stems besides soups! I like to blanch the greens mixed with spinach. And I either roast or steam the beet root itself. But when I steam it, there's a cup or so of intense deep pink liquid leftover. It seems a shame to waste it...put it in a soup? But it's so good for dying! Don't feel like tie-dying your underwear or your favourite dishtowel today? I don't blame you.
If you have kids, or want to make a cool handmade gift for one, try using the leftover steaming water for playdough! Here's my recipe:

Magenta Playdough

1 cup flour
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 1/2 T. cream of tartar
1/2 cup salt
1 T. canola oil
1 cup water from
steaming beets

Combine all ingredients in
a pot. Stir constantly over
medium-high heat. When
it forms a ball, cook for
about 1 more minute until
dough begins to firm.

Allow to cool, kneading
every so often as it cools.
Store in an airtight con-
tainer.

Here is AJ making a playdough maze. Nate requested white playdough for his birthday in the beginning of August, and the playdough is still nice and soft.

fried rice & fritters

Ryan's lunch: blanched mixed greens (spinach, beet greens, tat soi); zucchini fritter; orange segments; fried rice; strawberry gel cup on the side.

Yay for a fried recipe that
works! The zucchini fritter
recipe is from another Mofo'ing
mama at Tofu-N-Sprouts. I
used summer squash because
that's what I had available. I
cut back on the spices, onion &
garlic a bit since these were
intended for the kids...and of course most were stolen by my husband and the baby! I later whipped up some white bean hummus to dip these in for myself. Bonus that these are gluten and soy free! I fried them in peanut oil, but I'm sure canola or sunflower oil would work well too.

As for the fried rice, I was aiming to make the "Miso-Pickle Rice" from the cookbook Bento Boxes which I reviewed here. But when I got out my pickled burdock root from the fridge, I realized I had opened the package quite a while ago to garnish some sushi, and the pickling liquid was very cloudy and funky looking, so into the compost went the burdock root, and I made do with some thin carrot instead. I sauteed the carrot first in a little oil with miso, and used chick'n Smart Strips instead of chicken. My husband also stole the leftovers to have for breakfast, LOL.

catchup and musturnip greens

After
my
husband
was
away
last
week,
I had
to catch
up on
stuff...
like
getting
away
from
the
house,
kids,
and
computer
for
some
hikes,
grocery shopping, and yard work. So time to play catch up!

Before Dada arrived home, Ryan sold cookies and cider on sunday. We have these red dragonflies in the area, and I think this one was waiting to purchase something from Ryan's stand, hanging out right under the menu.

On monday I was out of
food and motivation, so I
grabbed some crescent
rolls out of the drawer, some
of those cinnamon apples
I'd frozen in ice cube trays
last month, a handful of
frozen spinach, and a quick
grate of soy cheese...

These disappeared FAST.
Ryan got a cinnamon apple
roll and a spinach-soy cheese
roll in his lunchbox, along
with a soy yogurt, a side of
watermelon, and a drink of
rice-almond milk.

By tuesday I was a little more organized...and I skipped a fall themed bento in favour of something quick in one of the new bentos my husband picked up at Daiso in San Jose...

Ryan's
lunch:
grilled
nutri-
tional
yeast
cheez
sand-
wiches;
canta-
loupe;
red bell
pepper;
peanuts;
green
beans
dressed
with
soy
sauce.


This slim 510ml bento
fit well into his lunchbox
and held just the right
amount of food for a
6 going on 7 year old's
appetite when densely
packed, along with a
bottle of chocolate almond
milk.

Turnip Green Fried Rice

2-3 cups cooked rice
2 T. peanut or canola oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 cup raw turnip greens
1/2 cup corn, fresh or
frozen
1 T. soy sauce
1 tsp. salt

If you have leftover rice, great! If not, cook some and let it sit for a bit.
Wash and chop a bunch of turnip greens. Lay them in a pile and slice of chop into strips.
Heat oil in large skillet or wok.
Add onion and cook for 2-3
minutes over medium-high
heat, stirring often. Add rice
and stir to combine. Add corn
and turnip greens, soy sauce
and salt. Cook until heated
through and turnip greens
have wilted. Serve hot.

The kids will eat almost
any veggie in a fried rice
dish! And we are getting
tons of greens in a huge
variety from the farm
right now.

First day of fall, and
I spied the first red
maple leaf on our lawn.
Lots of raking is in my
future for sure.


And now we're up to today's bento...

Ryan's lunch: rice with a
nori Pikachu face; green
& purple grapes; steam
broccoli; bean salad; a
side of black raspberry
applesauce.



I made the bean salad,
along with some more
apple cinnamon crescent
rolls, for the teacher
appreciation luncheon
at the boys' elementary
school. Hopefully some of
the staff enjoyed it. With
600 kids there are a lot
of teachers!