Back from a Break

Hi all! I was on hiatus without ability to download my photos.
Despite being on vacation, I didn't let the week pass without at least one set of bentos...

Ryan's lunchNate & AJ's lunches

I did not bring any supplies with me. I made do with whatever I could find at the local Publix supermarket...though I did know the house we were staying in had the Pooh bentos since we'd rented it before.

I also made a great dinner for the plane on the way down to Florida, but I ran out of time to photograph before leaving the house, and wouldn't you know that my camera was buried in an overhead bin and I had a baby asleep in my lap when it was time to break out the food.
But there were some great kimchee dumplings, cucumber salad, spinach, sandwiches, chocolate covered rice cakes, smoked almonds, etc.

The trip back wasn't as fancy, utilizing whatever groceries I had left. We ate a simple bean salad with tortilla chips though...quite yummy!

I'll be tacking on vacation pics to the ends of all my posts this week...

Firsts & Lasts

It was a week of many firsts and lasts.

First farm pickup of the season, first hot weather, first popsicles of the year, Nate's first time playing in the pool, opening of the local farmer's market, first time I've had a kid officially "graduate" from something.

Last day of preschool, last preschool snack bentos of the school year, last month of pregnancy (I hope), last of our frozen stash of pumpkin & pesto from last year.

Sunday:













Popsicles in the pool. It was in the 90's for a few days.

Monday:Ryan called this his "spring scene" snack: blue-tinted rice; dried apricot & carrot for the sun; cucumber grass; green bean stems; red & yellow bell pepper flowers; marinated mushroom halves.












AJ's snack: pumpkin-carrot-apple mini muffin; rice ball; green beans; banana piece.
Ryan's lunch for grandma's house: pbj sandwich; banana piece; orange slices; carrots; chocolate sandwich cookie; Animal Parade vanilla calcium vitamin.

Dinner was some simple sushi: cucumber & sesame; asparagus; oshinko (pickled daikon); avocado. And some inari, cold tofu, & watermelon. Perfect for a hot evening.










Tuesday:
Ryan's snack of leftovers: watermelon; maki & inari sushi; small squeeze bottle of soy sauce.

First CSA farm share
of the season:
- 1 bag mixed baby greens
- 1 head red leaf lettuce
- 1 head romaine lettuce
- 2 baby bok choy
- big bag of pea shoots
- 1 bunch kale
- 1 bunch red radishes
- 3 stalks rhubarb
- 1 bunch chives
- 1 marigold plant

We immediately used the
kale for dinner with a whole
wheat spaghetti with the
Barbara's Kale Cream Sauce
Over Pasta recipe from
Debra Wasserman's cookbook
Simply Vegan. A salad of
romaine & mixed baby greens, chives, & local greenhouse-grown tomatoes completed the meal.

Wednesday:

AJ's snack: bunny onigiri; mini corn muffin; cold tofu; baby carrot; chocolate moon.
Ryan's Indiana Jones snack: cucumber slices; chocolate moon; "crystal skull" onigiri; mini corn muffin; cold tofu, nori & black sesame seed "map"; baby carrots. (No, he hasn't seen the new Indiana Jones movie, but grandma got him a small Indiana Jones Lego set.)

Dinner: curried tempeh
salad in rice wraps with
mixed baby greens &
pea shoots.






Thursday:

boys' lunch: tofu salad
sandwich on whole
wheat roll; orange slices;
baby carrots.




Ryan watering some flowers.









With only 1/2 a dozen
vendors, the first local
farmer's market of the
season in our town is
small, but it was still
nice to visit. I picked
up some local red potatoes
dug that morning, along
with an animal-free soap
from a local artisan.


I arrived home to a wonderful surprise: a package in the mail with gifts for the new baby and I. Two and half years ago, when I was pregnant with Nate, I became friendly with a group of mothers from an online due date club on Mothering. Since then many of us have stayed close, met in real life, and some of us are expecting another baby.
Recently I discovered that my favourite sling and mei tei had been ruined in the back of my car over the winter due to a leak in the trunk and had become covered in mold. One of the items in the package was a brand new Babyhawk mei tei, along with other gifts from Little Willow which is a natural baby products store owned by one of the mamas in our group. I was so touched!

Dinner: spaghetti & broccoli
with marinated mushrooms
and the last of our frozen
pesto from last season.





Friday:
I made some mini loaves of pumpkin bread with the last of our frozen pumpkin to give to Ryan & AJ's preschool teachers on their last day. Ryan also picked some wild roses from our yard.
Here is Ryan getting a graduation certificate from his preschool, along with a collection of his artwork from the year, a photo album, a small tree to plant, and the book Be A Friend To Trees.
Then his class enjoyed some popsicles together.

AJ also received a portfolio
of his artwork and a small
gift from his teacher. His
class had an ice cream
sundae party (which we
brought along vegan ice
cream, sprinkles, whipped
cream & chocolate sauce for
of course).

Nate enjoyed checking out
the train table and toys in
the classroom where he will
be in the fall.

stamping on food

Monday:
Armed with some new soy paper wrappers and edible ink markers, I got out a rubber stamp set and prepared to decorate some onigiri rolls. I'd never worked with soy wrappers before. They soften easily on damp rice, but the image I'd stamped on them didn't bleed at all. So I will definitely use this technique again. But I still want to think of more edible surfaces to stamp on in the future.
Ryan's snack: sports-themed onigiri; spinach; grapes; a strawberry.
I've discovered that AJ doesn't always care for food that LOOKS like other things! When he saw his snack he declared "oooh! My favourite!" with regards to the stamped onigiri, but then he chewed off the ends at school but left the balloon image alone. I'll have to not make such an effort on his snacks. Oh well! Ryan loves them.
AJ: onigiri roll; broccoli; grapes; spinach.
My husband's lunch: various onigiri w/furikake seasonings; leftover general Gao's "chicken"; spinach; strawberries; an apricot.

Ryan has been picking
lots of dandelion greens
from our yard. Our poor
neighbor with the
monoculture golf course
lawn doesn't know what
he's missing! Ryan
insists I include his
harvest in our meals. So far I've blanched it with spinach, and added it with some green beans to our ramen noodles. Next he wants them added to his favourite tofu dish.

Tuesday:
Ryan loves all sports, so I made his bento look like a pool table...a bed of brown rice; barely blanched spinach leaves (patted dry); edamame pockets; a pretzel cue stick; a white chocolate chip cue ball; a triangle I made out of melted chocolate and froze the night before; various fruits, veggies, & beans cut into circles with a metal frosting piper nozzle.

Lunch was orzo pasta
with chopped fresh &
sun-dried tomatoes,
garlic, walnuts, salt,
pepper, & olive oil.



The boys helped to
plant the azalea bush
they got me for
Mother's Day. Ryan
dug most of the hole
and added compost
from our compost pile.



Wednesday:
Ryan: oriental rice crackers; an apricot; bean salad; cucumber salad.

A "picnic" lunch for the boys: whole wheat bagel pizzas made w/Veganrella cheeze; grapes; strawberries; peanuts; carrots; celery.

Dinner: pickled beets; steamed baby purple potatoes; spicy baked tofu; steamed broccoli; corn.

Friday:
AJ and Dada's lunch: rice; mini pumpkin muffin; steamed baby purple potatoes; honeydew melon; spicy baked tofu; mini zucchini muffin; steamed broccoli; cantaloupe; 2 white & dark chocolate ducks.

AJ needed something to share with Dada on his preschool field trip to Boston to visit the ducks and ride the Swan Boats in the public garden. A few days earlier I melted some vegan chocolate and made various shapes, including these ducks.
A great award-winning book to read for kids is Make Way For Ducklings about a duck family's search for a place to live in Boston.