Almost Potato Week

I'm a huge Vampire Diaries fan. And the season 3 premiere is coming up this week. I had some grand plans, only one of which has made it to reality thus far. This bento is MINE.
I created the ribbon and blood drop out of blanched red pepper. And I added baked some Sophie's Kitchen vegan breaded shrimp (frighteningly realistic actually).
It was almost too cool to eat! TVD bento: pineapple, orange cherry tomato "vampire" (with the closest thing I had to Ian Somerhalder's signature hat), blanched spinach, steamed broccoli, edamame, vegan breaded shrimp, rice.
Ryan & AJ's lunches: brown rice w/veggies; vegan breaded shrimp; edamame; steamed broccoli; pineapple; lemon cookie; potato leek kale soup (w/side of smoked salt).

The
boys

deci-

ded

that

this

week

would

be

"potato

week"

because

we'd

gotten

lots of

local

potatoes

from

our

CSA.

Soup

yester-

day, Alton Brown potato salad today.

Ryan & AJ's lunches: potato salad; Gardein crisp tenders; green beans.

But potato week didn't quite go as planned. I pulled out these yummy spinach tofu quiches from the oven and popped in a baking sheet full of sweet potatoes wedges. Half way through, the oven promptly turned off and displayed an error code. Now, I love my new oven to bits, but according to the GE website, all error codes are proceeded by the letter "F", and all mine as showing was a red "5". Go figure. So I abandoned the sweet potato fries (yuck, half-cooked sweet potatoes? Hopefully the squirrels enjoyed them from the compost). Luckily I still had some rice in the rice cooker from the night before...
Ryan & AJ's lunches: garlic broccoli stir-fry; spinach tofu quiche w/cheddar Daiya cheese; rice.

By the next morning we'd solved the oven malfunction...by turning off the circuit breaker for the entire house (yes, we tried the individual ones for the kitchen first, but it was unsuccessful).

Ryan & AJ's lunches: mashed purple potatoes; blanched spinach w/peanut sauce; simmered shiitake mushrooms; edamame.

Plays Well with Leeks

Ryan's lunch: carrot sticks; chicken-free nuggets (with a side of ketchup); 3 mini muffins: apple-cherry, zucchini, banana-blueberry; steamed broccoli; green & purple grapes.

Nate's snack:
Krinkle sticks;
green & purple
grapes.





I'm not a big raw
arugula fan, though
we get plenty from
the farm. Here's a
way I love it...

Saucy Potatoes & Arugula

3 cups water + 1 veg
bouillon cube (or 3 cups vegetable stock)
3 cups potatoes, chopped (about 4-6 small potatoes)
3-4 cups arugula leaves
1 T. margarine
salt & pepper to taste
sprinkle of cayenne pepper (optional)

Place water & bouillon in a medium pot and begin to heat to a boil. Meanwhile wash arugula and chop potatoes. Add potatoes. When water boils, stir, and reduce heat to medium. Cook 15 minutes.
Add arugula, cook 1-2 minutes more.
Drain most of cooking water. Serve in a bowl, or over pasta.

For eating plain, I drain most of the liquid. For pouring over pasta, I leave a bit more.

Maia really loves playing with food & being outside...

Hot Dogs & Curry

Ryan's lunch: strawberries; Yves Good Dog hot dogs w/ketchup & mustard; a Tirosh sandwich biscuit; marinated mushrooms; balsamic zucchini.

AJ's snack: biscuit
& hot dog.

Yep, out of time this
morning!



Since my instructor at the
Y was on vacation, I used
the time to pick up groceries
at Asinayo, the local asian
market in town. They were
out of the teensy gel cups I
usually buy for Ryan for a
treat in his lunches, but they
had this huge bucket super
cheap so I thought I'd give
them a try; there are four
flavours: strawberry, mango,
lychee & grape. Ryan is dying to try them but I'm making him wait for lunch!

This afternoon this blog hit 2,000 hits per month. Yahoo!

And in other fun, there's still time to enter the giveaway over at Lunch In A Box for a Kids Konserve lunch set. Kewl! There are many great places online to buy stainless steel lunch products now.

And here's Nate playing
with his castle while I
cooked dinner...when he
wasn't busy trying to
remove outlet covers to
plug in a LiteBrite or
ransack his brothers'
Bionicle collection.


Along with basmati rice
& a chick pea curry, I
wanted to use up some
potatoes...so I created
this recipe...


Lemon Curry Potatoes

3 medium potatoes, peeled,
cubed
2 cloves garlic, peeled & roughly chopped
1 T. olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. mustard powder
1/4 tsp. turmeric
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. ground coriander
a pinch of ground red pepper
1 T. lemon juice

In a small saucepan, boil potatoes until soft, about 15 minutes. Add garlic, cook another 2 minutes, remove from heat. Drain. Allow to cool somewhat.
Add olive oil & cook over medium heat 2-3 minutes.
Add remaining ingredients and cook until heated through.

Winter soups

It's snowing. Again. Definitely time for a soup recipe post. A bunch of them. So here are my recipes for a few satisfying yumminesses I've showcased in Ryan's Thermos and at home during the past few months, and an old fave...Happy New Year!

Star Soup

My vegan version of Chik'n & Stars.

1 T. olive oil
1 small onion, diced
2 carrots, peeled & diced
1 package Lightife Smart
Strips, chopped
2-3 cups mild vegetable
broth (I like Imagine's Organic
No-Chicken Broth)
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. salt (optional)
1/2 box/bag star pasta

Cook onion & carrots in olive oil over low heat until onion is very soft.
Add broth & salt, bring to a boil.
Add pasta, reduce heat to medium, stirring often.
After about 10 minutes add the chik'n strips. (Add extra water if soup becomes too thick.)
(If you don't want to use faux meat, try adding 1/3 cup of red lentils when you add the broth instead.)

Potato Leek Soup

Creamy goodness. And you can change it up by adding chopped broccoli, parsnip, or winter squash when you add the potatoes.

1 T. olive oil
1-2 T. margarine
1 large onion, roughly chopped
3 large leeks, washed and roughly chopped
6 potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
1/2 tsp. salt
a few grinds pepper
3-4 cups milk vegetable broth (I like Imagine's Organic No-Chicken Broth)
1/2 cup plain almond milk or rice milk

Cook onion & leeks in olive oil & margarine over med-low hear until quite soft.
Add potatoes, broth, salt & pepper. Cook about 30 minutes or until potatoes are soft.
Allow to cool somewhat, add milk, then puree soup in a food processor until just smooth.
Serve & add more salt & pepper to taste.


White Bean & Root Veggies Soup

Somehow white beans in soup seem so delicate and delicious. A great way to mix & match your winter storage root veggies.

1-2 T. olive oil (and/or walnut oil)
1 yellow onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 cups vegetable broth + 2 cups water
1 tsp. salt (optional)
1/3 cup dried red lentils
2-3 large carrots, peeled & chopped
1 turnip, chopped
1 parnsip, chopped
1 medium potato, peeled & chopped
1/2 tsp. dried marjoram
1 can cannellini beans (or other white beans), drained & rinsed.

Cook onion & garlic in olive oil over med-low heat for a few minutes until they begin to soften. Add all but remaining ingredients except for the beans and cook until vegetables are just tender. Add beans and cook another 15 minutes.


Spicy Black Bean Soup

Add an extra jalapeno and clear your sinuses baby!

2 T. olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
3-5 cloves garlic, chopped
1-2 jalapenos, seeded, diced
2 cans black beans, drained, rinsed
2 T. ground cumin
1 T. dried oregano
1/3 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1/2 tsp. salt
a few grinds black pepper
1 poblano pepper, seeded & chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded & chopped
4 cups vegetable broth, plus 1 cup water
1 T. brown sugar
2 T. cooking sherry
2 T. lime juice (lemon will suffice in a pinch)

Cook onion, garlic & 1 of the jalapenos over low heat until soft.
Add black beans, cumin, oregano, 1/2 the cilantro, 1/2 the parsley, salt, pepper, 1/2 the poblano pepper, 1/2 the red bell pepper and the vegetable broth.
Bring to a boil. Cook for at least 1 hour at a slow boil, adding water if necessary.
Remove from heat. Briefly puree soup with an immersion blender, or ladle half the chunky contents from the soup and puree in a food processor.
Return to pan and add remaining ingredients. Cook for another 30 minutes.

Worm for a week

The weekend:

A yummy lunch of pea shoots
with an asian sauce over ramen
noodles & a little cold tofu....and
some sorrel leaves, which are
an herb by the way, so do not
cook them like I did or they
turn brown! Don't make my
mistake! Slice and add as a
garnish.

I need to learn more
about the less popular herbs.
I need to stroll the herb gardens at our CSA and pay closer attention to those lesser known varieties. But until then, can any of you out there suggest a good website with photos of different culinary herbs?
Popsicles on the porch steps: frozen layers of soy yogurt & fresh strawberry puree.

Tuesday:
Ryan had his first day of
"Farm Camp" at our CSA.
He brought a snack, lunch,
and contribution to the
farm's daily Stone Soup.
Each day all of the farm
employees, work-for-
sharers, regular
shareholders fulfilling
their work hours, volunteers, and kids are welcome to share lunch at the big picnic tables under the apple tree. Everyone contributes something for the vegan soup, or brings along something to accompany the meal such as bread, cookies, etc.

Ryan brought a can of
organic black beans and
some barley for the soup.
And he brought his own
bowl and spoon, since
everyone either brings
their own dishes or uses
the big wooden bowls that
belong to the farm.

In addition to Stone Soup, Ryan brought a bento with Alton Brown's Cold-Fashioned Potato Salad, tofu salad sandwiches, an orange slice, cucumbers, & carrots. He had an organic juice box, which I had frozen beforehand to use in place of an ice pack in his lunchbox.
For his snack he had an Odwalla bar, and of course a big bottle of water.

The kids harvested baby carrots, drew pictures, and made their own wormeries to take home. So we now have a pet worm living in the dining room for the week.

Our CSA share is starting to grow:
- basil, thyme, oregano...and a few other's I'm not sure of! (that's what happens when I'm not there to pick them and my husband takes over.)
- 3 quarts of strawberries
- 1 head green leaf lettuce
- 2 quarts sugar snap peas
- 1 large zucchini
- 1/2 lb. mixed baby greens
- baby beets with greens
- 1/2 lb. spinach
- a dozen garlic scapes
- 18 stems rainbow swiss
chard
- a bunch of baby carrots
with greens

Dinner was whole grain
spaghetti with zucchini,
garlic & garlic scapes,
oregano, & capers. So
delicious.



Thursday:
Ryan's lunch for farm camp: strawberries; almonds; fresh peas; mini-corn muffin; carrots; crescent roll sandwich with smoked Tofurky slices, soy cheese, & lettuce. Not shown: juice box, Luna bar, water.

Lunch at home: pasta
with leftover zucchini
sauce mixed with a
marinara sauce & sliced
green olives. Oh man
was this good!




From the local
Farmer's Market:
- 1 loaf white bread
- 1 loaf wheat bread
- red new potatoes
- 2 tomatoes
- 1 green bell pepper

What makes these local
greenhouse grown tomatoes
so tasty is that they are
sown right into the ground inside the greenhouse.

Ryan shows off his wormery.