crunchy or smooth?

No, no, not the ghosts. The peanut butter! I was raised on natural smooth peanut butter, usually homemade. But I admit it, I'm a fan of sweetened crunchy peanut butter. Or plain cashew butter.AJ's lunch: green beans; cucumber slices; Boo apple; raisins; pbj ghost sandwich.

Nate's lunch for grandma's house: cucumber slices; striped apple slices; green beans; pbj ghost sandwich.

It's
look-
ing
like
fall
finally!
This is
the
view
from
the
back
of our
house
up-
stairs.
Our
trees
tend
to be
very
yellow,
less
reds this year than usual thanks to the wonky precipitation pattern.

AGGGH!!!! A BOY!

AGGGH!!!! A BOY! The costumed kid reminds me of something from It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, which has always been one of my favourite Halloween book and movies.
Ryan's lunch: Tofutti cream cheese & strawberry jelly ghost sandwich w/raisin eyes; steamed broccoli; peanuts; slice of asparagus bacun tofu quiche topped with a soy/rice cheese ghost trick-or-treater w/nori eyes.

I thought it would be
interesting to show a
typical morning's
spread of tools I use
to create a bento
embellishment. Here
you can see the ghost
cookie cutter I used
for the sandwich, scraps
of leftovers, the costumed
boy in progress, and
various knives, tweezers
(for placing tiny nori
pieces) and scissors. I do
sometimes use shape
punches, but more often
I just use some small
scissors and cut shapes
freehand. On the right
you can see a box full of
nori scraps, which reduces
waste and is handy for
tiny facial features.

Finally, the finished
product. Notice the size
of the bento in comparison to a typical small cocktail napkin. It took less than one raisin to create the eyes of the ghost!













And here's Maia at school
waiting to pick up AJ. The
fall leaves on some of the
trees were really impress-
ive. All of the fall colour
has been late this year,
but there have been some
very vibrant red trees.

Small Victories

AJ decided he liked asparagus this week! Hooray! I had previously only been able to get him to eat it disguised as a green bean in a salty asian sauce. Ryan was very enthusiastic when we bought it at the supermarket, and AJ repeated him, praising the green vegetable repeatedly as they zipped around the produce department. But even at his pediatrician appointment this week, when asked his favourite foods he said, "Carrots, asparagus, and mashed potatoes."

I never demand that he try anything. I don't think that helps a picky eater at all. I just present a piece of whatever it is along with the rest of his food. Everyone talks about how delicious their food is and we model eating it again and again. It's fun to watch him very slowly add to his repetoire.

And in other news,
Maia is 2 months old
today! So here is a pic
from earlier in the
week. I have yet to
take the obligatory
2 month photo yet
today. But she is 10
pounds 10 ounces
and 23 1/4 inches long.

Here's a photo of the famous
asparagus meal, along with
"Neat Loaf" from the
children's book Benji
Beansprout Doesn't Eat
Meat, and some mashed
potatoes. The Neat Loaf didn't
hold together like it should,
but since it was a kids' book,
I followed the recipe as a child
would and did not use a food
processor. Ryan wants to try
it again at Thanksgiving anyhow.

Monday:


Ryan's lunch: onigiri
bee; Tofurky slice
"flowers"; raspberries;
steamed asparagus; a
cherry (pre-pitted).
It was a smaller bento
so that Ryan could bring
a Thermos his beloved
potato-leek soup, everyone's favourite.

Husband's lunch: orange
cherry tomatoes; cherries;
a pickle; peanuts;
raspberries; Nate's meatless
meatballs; vegetable bagel
sandwich; asparagus.



Tuesday:

Ryan's lunch: 2 amaranth graham crackers; slice of leftover "Neat Loaf"; 2 polar bear animal crackers; purple grapes; edamame; onigiri bear; mini spring roll; cantaloupe bears & kiwi...Vanilla Almond Luna Sunrise bar on the side.

CSA share: napa cabbage; leeks; corn on the cob; onions; red potatoes; carrots; 4 lbs tomaotes; 1/2 peck apples; 1 head lettuce; 1 small pie pumpkin; zucchini; cucumbers; 1/3 lb tat soi greens.
Not shown: PYO cherry tomatoes; kale/chard/collards; hot peppers; herbs; flowers.

Wednesday:

Ryan's lunch: onigiri moon; raspberries; pineapple starts; cucumber stars; marinated mushrooms; "Good Dog" on a whole wheat bun with organic ketchup.

Husband's lunch:
orange cherry
tomatoes; orange
slices; tofu salad
sandwich on
whole wheat bun.




My lunch: HA! See, I
have my bad food days
like anyone! "Good Dog"
with ketchup & mustard
on a whole wheat bun;
french fries; a pickle.



Thursday, September 11th:

Ryan's lunch: onigiri peace symbol surrounded by a rainbow of fruits & veggies.

At home, AJ & Nate had:
mini pumpkin-apple
muffin; onigiri; edamame;
apple slices; green beans;
(and Nate had 2 cherry
tomatoes).



Friday:

I always tell Ryan "NOTHING BLUE!" But I just had to try this food coloring technique from Lunch In A Box. So I guess now I'll be getting requests for blue Pokemon in the future, sigh.

Ryan's lunch: pineapple Pac-Man; peas; steamed carrot "ghosts"; Tofutti cream cheese & jelly "ghost" sandwich; mini zucchini muffin; roasted & salted pumpkin seeds.

Next week AJ & Nate start preschool, so I'll be overwhelmed with cute bento photos! See you then!