Sunny Mighty Jungle Day

Ryan wanted a sandwich on this fluffy loaf of bread. With lots of empty space, I pitted a tiny damson plum to hold the sandwich in place. Then I added a side bento with the rest of his food.
We got our first fruit share of the season this week from local Autumn Hills Orchard, with lots of apples and plums.
Ryan's lunch: Tofurky, lettuce & soy cheese sandwich; damson plum; sesame snap peas; roasted red potatoes "fries" with a side of ketchup; a baby carrot; 4 bean salad.

Nate's lunch for grandma's house: Tofurky rolls; baby carrots; green & purple grapes; 3 mini muffins.
His lunch needed to be firmly packed and stable enough to be tossed around in a wild 3 year old's backpack. It was a beautiful sunny day, and Nate was excited to drive through "the Sunny Mighty Jungle" (the Garden In The Woods) to preschool as usual. At school he wouldn't let me even get him a piece of paper, he insisted on having his new teacher do it instead. I was outta there quickly! His first week of preschool has been great.

Not just junk

Somehow August has ended up as a birthday heavy month in our family. I never intended to have summer babies (actually, I wanted a spring baby, but ended up with an autumn, winter, & 2 summers instead). My husband, aunt, and nephew all have August birthdays, as did my father. So I'm trying not to let cupcakes rule the cuisine for the summer, as tasty as they are!

Nate had a special visit to grandma's house the day after his birthday so they could do birthday stuff without his big brothers crowding the attention. Here is Nate's lunch: blueberries & cherries; flat pretzels; 1/2 wheat english muffin; edamame; tiny pickles; carrot sticks; green bell pepper strips.

For dinner, a nice muffin
tin meal on the picnic
table with organic
limeade to drink. Tops
on drinks are a must for
our yard with so many
mosquitos and other
bugs...luckily the food
disappears quickly!
Row 1: edamame; flat pretzels; smoked Tofurky; cashews.
Row 2: frozen strawberries; green bell pepper strips; Craisins; pickles.
Row 3: round tortilla chips; smoked almonds; cucumber slices; cantaloupe wedges.

Maia still does not care
for any beverages besides
breastmilk, except for the
occasional sip from a
brother's water bottle. But
she adores juicy melon diced
and served within easy
reach in her own Hello Kitty
bowl that I found at the local
supermarket of all places!

Too Hot to Cook...Almost.

Ryan's dinner for after swimming at grandma's house: cucumber slices; soy cheese squares; carrot sticks; dijon potatoes; green bean & chick pea salad; peanuts; flat pretzels; peach puffs; plum pieces.

My dinner:
Plum
Watermelon
Blueberries
Red Raspberries
Champagne Raspberries

And some cute from
the park...


Maia still likes
to eat flowers.
Somehow she
always manages
to hunt out the
edible ones, thank
goodness. But then
again most field
wildflowers are
technically edible,
especially in small
quantities.