before the feast

With my husband finally back from weeks of business travel, I can begin thinking about the coming holiday. But to be honest, I just want a break!

Maia's lunch: oyster crackers; Tofurky slice; pea shoots; pickle; steamed asparagus; carrots; cherry tomato.

Ryan
& AJ's
lunches:
mini
cinn-
amon
raisin
bagel
with
tofu
cream
cheese;
cucu-
mber
slices;
Tof-
urky
slice;
carrots;
steamed
aspar-
agus.

Today was the Thanksgiving feast in Nate's preschool class. The parents walking around asking if kids would like some "delicious chicken" brought him to tears at first, but I encouraged him to try the pumpkin muffins & stuffing we'd brought (he had two helpings) made with farm vegetables (sadly the celery leaves in the stuffing were the only green vegetable among the dozen plus food items). He
eventually decided to have
some cider and a clemen-
tine as well, and I'd given
him some animal crackers
to replace all of the other
cookies.
But he looked cute wearing
his painted pasta necklace
and vegetable print vest.
Maia's class made mini pumpkin pies...hers made with tofu instead.

I never did get 'round to posting fridays lunches...I was at the end of my rope then!

Ryan
& AJ's
lunches:
steamed
broc-
coli;
pickle;
peanuts;
apri-
cots
for
Ryan;
miso
chive
hummus
& spin-
ach
sand-
wiches;
mini
gel cup;
mini
pumpkin
muffin.

And here's Maia grazing on pea shoots at the farm yesterday...









...while Nate managed to find
probably the last fluffy dandelion
to make wishes with.

almost a holiday

This year the public schools in our town declared Election Day a school holiday, mostly to avoid tip-toeing around the voters at the schools. But the younger kids go to preschool in an adjacent town where schools were open, so it was sort of a half holiday here. Maia was the only one needing a packed lunch.

Maia's lunch: honeydew melon flowers; grilled nutritional yeast cheez sandwich circles; gherkin pickles; carrot matchsticks wrapped in cucumber; roasted butternut squash seeds; steamed broccoli.

Last night at sunset I went up to the CSA to pick pea tendrils from the cover crops. There were two deer watching me from a distance, but you can't really see them in the picture unless you know they're there.
A third mobile greenhouse
has been added this fall to
increase and lengthen the
winter share production.
Instead of weekly pickups,
the winter shares are monthly
from November through
March. Only two months of
the year now that we won't
be receiving local produce!
Hopefully what I dry or freeze
will take us through until June.

Today's lunch...
Pea Tendril & Sausage Pasta

1 T. Earth Balance
1 T. olive oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 Tofurky Italian sausages, sliced
4 cups pea tendrils (a few heaping handfuls)
1/2 cup vegetable broth (or water + 1/2 a bouillon cube)
salt & pepper to taste
1/4 cup white wine
pasta, cooked and drained

In a large skillet or pot, heat Earth Balance and olive oil and add garlic & sausage. Cook, stirring occasionally over medium-low heat until sausage has browned. Add pea tendrils and broth, salt & pepper. When pea tendrils have wilted, add white wine. Cook for a couple more minutes, adding more broth or pasta cooking water if necessary so the sauce isn't dry. Toss with cooked pasta.

back to the grind

After a long holiday weekend of Ryan's birthday sleepover (they were up til 1am), work, hiking, letterboxing by the Hopkinton Reservoir, and Ryan riding his skateboard for the first time (without falling!), it's back to busy weekday business.

Ryan
had
some
left-
over
burrito
from
eating
out
with
grandma
over
the
week-
end,
so he
wanted
that
in his
lunch
today.


Ryan's lunch: honeydew melon; cucumber slices; baby carrots; a pickle; veggie rice & bean burrito.

AJ's lunch: honeydew melon; cucumber slices; baby carrots; a pickle; mini cinnamon raisin bagel; rolled up Tofurky slice; carrot cake cookie w/lemon icing.

Maia's preschool lunch: honeydew melon; cucumber slices; baby carrot; rolled up Tofurky slice; a pickle; 1/4 of a mini cinnamon raisin bagel; striped apple slice.

It's more challenging making a bento for a child under age 3. I try to avoid the tiny food picks that might be deemed choking hazards by the staff. This giraffe fork is about the smallest I'll put into the 2 year old's lunches.

Hello Kitty!!

It's finally time for Maia's first preschool lunch!

Maia's lunch: Hello Kitty rice face; steamed broccoli; carrot flowers; edamame; Tofurky flower.

I thought I was going to be faced with making 3 lunches and 4 snacks this morning, but Ryan saved me the trouble by throwing up all over his bed and his brother's bed last night. I'm so glad all the sheets had just been washed...not. So only AJ needed a lunch. And we were providing the preschool snack today, so I made 4 dozen mini muffins, enough to put in all of the kids' snacks.

AJ's lunch: mini pumpkin muffin; cucumber slices; edamame; rice ball; carrot flower; steamed broccoli; Tofurky flower.

Can you tell that Tofurky slices were on sale this weekend?? LOL. They can be shaped into cute things pretty easily. More often than not I create lunches based on what's available on sale versus buying specifically for a bento design.

Fall!

Well, it's the first full day of autumn. And our first day ever with all 4 kids in school where we could leave them for long enough to actually do something!!
I did brunch bentos for the boys today...

Ryan & AJ's lunches: tofu broccoli mini quiches; home fries; apple tart; raspberries; oranges.

We have a ton of local apples right now from Autumn Hills Orchard. So last night I whipped up a quick tart for after dinner...

I completely forgot
to photograph Maia's
snack before school
(and Nate asked for
a Zbar so no pic needed
for that)...so I quickly
opened her snack up at
school over her hook
and snapped a quick
pic. Maia's snack: mini cucumber slices; baby carrots; raspberries; Annie's gluten-free bunny cookies.

Then it was off for a quick hike up to Tippling Rock with my husband...
If you enlarge the picture
above you can see the
Hancock and Prudential
buildings in Boston in the
background.














We snacked on some
sheep sorrel growing
at the top. It's very
sour and I've enjoyed
it since I was very
young.


We got back to preschool as Maia was eating. They gave her a juice box, which explains why she wasn't eating very quickly, and why she didn't want lunch later. I asked that they please stick
with a small cup of water in the future, which is why I don't pack a drink. Kids tend to fill up on any drink you give them and then many parents wonder why they don't eat a healthy meal.












Next week will be
my first time packing
a lunchbox for Maia!
I doubt it will be much
bigger than her snack,
since the purpose of
school lunch is routine,
socialization, & self-help
skills...not eating, LOL.

Sunshine Burger falafel

What's ever better than a Sunshine Burger? Six different flavours of Sunshine Burgers! Yep, there's a variety for every taste. There's even a falafel burger. They're a bit drier than the other varieties (as falafel is normally rather dry), but serve them with the right combo of condiments and they're delish.

Ryan
and
AJ's
lunches:
falafel
Sunshine
Burger,
hummus,
cucu-
mber,
avocado
on flax
lavash
wrap
bread;
salted
almonds;
dried
fruit
(apricots
for Ryan,
raisins
for AJ); baby carrots; gherkin pickle; mini zucchini muffin.













For presentation purposes the wrap halves are stood on end, but you'd need to lay them down as in the pic on the right to fit them in a bento or sandwich keeper. I gave the boys Spiderman and Pokemon sandwich containers today--I'd intended for them to have coordinating Spiderman boxes, but it appears they left one somewhere in the past few week...Water Country? cousins house? grandmas? Who knows.

You can make the same sandwich with pita bread, or if you're gluten free try topping a corn thin or rice cake with hummus, then the rest of the fillings.

Today was also Maia' first day of preschool! I know, I know, you were expecting bigger fanfare, but the first week is only an hour each day, so she barely needed a snack. But here's what she brought:

Nate
and
Maia's
snacks:
raisins,
pretzel
twists,
mini
banana
muffin.

Nate
had
the
Thomas
the
Tank
Engine
contain-
er and
Maia
brought
Hello
Kitty of coure! It wasn't as
big as the photo makes it
seem...a toddler snack is
pretty minimal. Here is
Maia's snack in my hand
so you get the size
comparison...






And here they are
heading into school
together.

Preschool Nate

It was Nate's first day back at preschool this fall. Since he's 3, he will be going three mornings per week.
Nate's snack in this mini (180ml) Spongebob container: Veggie Booty; oatmeal raisin cookie; baby carrots.













Some of the perks of the 3 year old class are markers and scissors.

On busy days like this,
it's handy to have a
frozen stash of pesto
ready to add to a quick
pasta dish.

And I scored on a bunch
of cheap pears at the
supermarket, so I used
them in a salad.

I had ordered some Soy
Bleu to try for the first
time recently, so I added
it to the salad too.

Peppery Pear Salad
(serves 2)

salad greens for 2
1 pear, cut into slices then cut in half
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup crumbled Soy Bleu (optional)
2 T. walnut oil
1 T. olive oil
1 T. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

Wash & tear greens, place in bowls.
Cut pear and add to greens.
Add chopped walnuts.
Crumble on Soy Bleu (or other sharp tasting alternative)
Mix last 5 ingredients vigourously in a small bowl. Pour over salad.

other things

So I lied. I didn't blog once over the three day weekend! But it's so rare to have my husband home BOTH days AND have the weather be PERFECT. I took advantage of the time to get some cleaning done and just hang out with my family.

I didn't have time to put too much thought into Ryan's lunch as I was busy with other things...
Ryan's lunch: white bean & purslane hummus; a pickle; carrot sticks; poppyseed thyme crackers; chocolate chip cookie; smoked Tofurky sandwich on a crescent roll.

He had music today
for the first time in
1st grade, so I stuck
in a music notes pick
and a frozen cookie
and called it good! His
drink bottle was filled
with rice & almond milk.
I seemed to guess right
on the amount of hummus
as it came back empty.

What WAS I doing with myself on Labor Day the evening before school?? Preparing for the
preschool opening night event...
I had never attempted fruit carving before, but I'd always wanted to try it. A word of advice...get yourself the right tools first. Trying to carve all this with a dull paring knife was a heck of a lot harder than I'd anticipated! I'd love to take a class about this sort of thing, but I may have to settle with a how-to book and a good set of proper knives for xmas.

I used
the
melon
salad
with
mint
that
I made
last
weekend
to fill
the
melon.
And I
picked
fresh
mint
edible
flowers
this
after-
noon
for
garnish. Here it is on display ready to feed the masses.
There were a few other melon plates, one just watermelon, another that included pineapple and honeydew. Nice that they were all different.

It was
quite
the
spread
this
evening,
an im-
pressive
selection
of app-
etizers.
Lots of
veggies
and
hummus
to munch!

But
then
there
was
also
the
dessert table...









...which even had a small
vegan chocolate cake! I
made sure to have some
cake first, just in case the building was destroyed by a rogue asteroid.

This morning Nate got together with his class for a playdate at the preschool playground...





















Maia came along of
course. Hard to believe
we'll be putting down
a deposit for her for
the 2010/2011 toddler
class in a few weeks!