"O"pen "O"bento!

Oh boy! It's "O" day! I'm more than half way through the alphabet! This letter turned out to be easier than I expected. I had planned to have some oshinko maki sushi in there, but when I looked in the fridge it turned out we were out of takuan! So instead I battered up half an onion to fill in the space I had left...

Ryan's "O" lunch: onion rings; onigiri; olives; oriental crackers; orzo salad w/olive oil; oranges.

Here's a pic of my dinner
from saturday evening.
I thought of it like a raw
pasta topping--without
the pasta--or a salad.
Kinda hard to decide!

It's easier to get backlogged
by one day so that I don't
have to wait until I'm done eating for the day to post. So here is what I ate yesterday...

7:30am- smoothie: 1 banana, 1/2 a mango, 6 frozen cherries, liquid DHA, water.
9:30am- 1/2 an avocado; handful of raisins & date pieces.
12:30pm- a pickle; a salad: romaine lettuce, tomato, dressing of olive oil, lemon juice & garlic.
2:30pm- blueberries w/cashew "whipped cream".
5:30pm- 2 sliced bananas w/almond butter.

The "whipped cream" recipe
from Juliano's RAW turned
out well, though I added a
bit of agave nectar and a
lot of water to make it
smoother. It was very tasty!
Fresh orange juice and a few
drops of almond extract made
it a perfect compliment to a
bowl of berries.

After a hike yesterday I
could have eaten a lot
more, but I opted for
just a couple of bananas
topped with some filling
raw almond butter.

I almost forgot!

I was just reminded that I never posted the results of my Cans For Comments food drive! Ack! Where'd my brain go?! Anyhow, here is Maia sitting next to the food that we donated:

The final tally: 16
comments. And I
threw in an extra.
Lots of beans, some
potatoes, green beans,
tomatoes, lentil soup,
spinach, & carrots.


Hopefully these made for some easy chili fixins, soups, curries, casseroles or bean salads for those in need.

My raw meals for the day:
7am- bowl of cantaloupe & grapes.
9am- smoothie: 1 banana, 1/3 cup mango, 1 T. shredded dehydrated coconut, water.
11am- leftover miso soup; a pickle.
1pm- 6 dried apricots; carrot "chips"; guacamole (avocado, tomato, onion, cilantro, lemon juice).
3pm- carrot raisin salad (grated carrot, raisins, raw "mayo").
5:30pm- dish of chopped tomato, yellow bell pepper, garlic, thinly sliced onion, and sprinkle of salt and raw sugar.

I made the "mayo #2" from Juliano's RAW which was supposed to taste more like real mayo than his "Mayo #1". Let's just say I do NOT want to try the first one now, because it was nothing like mayo, I thought it needed some salt, not to mention a little olive oil, and the vegetable and herb combo in it just did not work for me. But I ate it anyway, since I'd already made a salad with it. I ate the leftovers with a spoon. Luckily I had only made a 1/4 recipe! So I'll think I'll be inventing my own raw sandwich spread really soon.

How about some current Maia pictures to finish up the day...












She really loves her
crayons. The wall behind
her chair also sees a lot
of action, ugh.

I think she wanted to
join her brother at a
sleepover...except the
backpack with the
sleeping bag was almost as big as her! And the lightsaber even bigger! Watch out, it's Darth Strawberry!

new appreciation for cauliflower

I've
never
been
a fan
of cauli-
flower.
I mean,
I liked
it in
soup,
or in
a hot
curry,
or
roast-
ed with
plenty
of oil
& salt.
But
raw...
no way.
Until today...

7am- smoothie: 1/2 banana, 2 nectarines, handful of spinach, 1 tsp. tahini, liquid DHA, water.
9:30am- 1 apple; 6 dried apricots; 6 baby carrots; 2 small pickles.
11am- smoothie: 1 banana, 1/2 a nectarine, 1/4 cup cashews, water.
1:30pm- carrot "chips"; "mashed" dill cauliflower: cauliflower, cashews, lemon juice, garlic, salt, dill, thyme, water.
3:30pm- the leftover cauliflower mash; 1 banana.
5:30pm- cool miso soup: water, white miso, konbu, garlic, ginger, jalapeno, olive oil, lemon juice, sliced shiitake, sliced oyster mushrooms, scallion.

The cauliflower dip is my take on the "mashed potatoes" recipe in Juliano's RAW. The miso soup is my version of a recipe I found on Raw Freedom Community here.

Ryan and Nate liked the cauliflower dip so much they had to have their own plate. And after Maia got up from her nap she ate the leftovers with me by the spoonful.

raw

I've done the raw thing from time to time in my life, but I'm doin' it again for 40 days with a friend.
So instead of the usual raw blogging featuring the best meal of the day, or unique smoothie recipes and such, I'm just gonna list what I eat for the entire day for anyone who's curious...and throw a pic in here or there...

7:30am- smoothie: 1 banana, 4 frozen cherries, 1/3 cup frozen mango, 2 T. sunflower seeds, liquid DHA, water.
9:30am- small bowl of cantaloupe chunks.
11:30am- 1 orange; 12 mini baby carrots; 6 celery sticks (2 stalks).
1:30pm- smoothie: 1 banana, 1/2 a pear, handful of spinach, 1 tsp. tahini, pinch of mint, water.
4pm- 1 blood orange.
5:30pm- salad: romaine lettuce, purple cabbage, 1/2 a red bell pepper, a little chopped onion, balsamic vinegar.

Aside from my food, I did make a travel meal for my husband before he left this morning...no toothpicks 'cause ya know he might hijack the entire flight crew with a wooden toothpick. ;-)
Husband's lunch: Dr. Praeger's Tex Mex veggie burger on wheat bread w/mustard and onion; moro blood orange segments; pickle slices; baby carrots.

a week off

Hope everyone enjoyed Valentine's Day...here's our littlest valentine:

I'm taking the week off,
since it's winter vacation
at school here. No lunches
to make...just a house to
clean, sleepovers to plan,
snow to shovel, winter
hikes to take, soup to
simmer, diapers to wash,
and crafts to create.

Be back Monday!

Sunshine & Hearts

The friday before
Valentine's Day! So
of course I had to
make cupcakes. Nate's
class was baking heart-
shaped cakes, so I used
my silicon baking cups
to do the rest for us.
Have I told you how
much I hate baking in silicon? Seriously, not worth it. I should stick to the paper liners and just pipe a heart on the top. They barely looked heart-shaped anyhow, and a bit of cake always sticks inside. Not to mention they're harder for kids to get off themselves.

I sent Nate off with his
little cake undecorated,
along with a container
of frosting and sprinkles.
It's so hard for people to
understand that ingredients
are not always straight-
forward. For example, at
first glance many products
might appear vegan...if you don't know where "confectioner's glaze", "shellac", "resinous glaze" or "lac-res" often come from. So I try to avoid the kids sharing embellishments that I haven't had a chance to research myself. Short rule: if it's sweet and shiny, it may not be vegan. (But that doesn't even account for all the items out there that contain gelatin, so better safe than yucky!)

Before I get to lunch, I
have to send a big thank
you to Ramona of the
blog Alone in Holy Land.
Her blog about the struggles
of being a single mom from
Romania living in Israel
often puts things in per-
spective for me. Or some
would say it's because we're both Libras, LOL. Anyhow, I love my award. Thank you!

And now on to lunch! I gave Ryan one of my nicer bentos today, as the colours seemed suitable for a Valentine's lunch...
Ryan's
lunch:
pickled
beets;
mixed
nuts;
veg
gyoza;
rice
cheese
hearts;
mini
heart
sand-
wiches
of rice
cheese,
Tofurky,
spinach,
mustard,
Vegan-
aise; red
bell
pepper hearts; sliced plum; Tofurky cupid hearts; baby carrots.
Here's my bento that
Ryan used. And of
course what did I pack
my snack in for a picnic
around a frozen reservoir
this afternoon?? A Miffy
bento. Go figure. LOL

"N"ything goes

Honestly, I'd bought a whole bag of navel oranges for "N" day, but my husband ate them. He does that with oranges. I should have bought 3 bags. Hrumph.
Anyhow, I tossed in a non-N food, some fresh salsa I'd just made, since I couldn't leave lunch looking so bland again.
And then this afternoon I was making applesauce from a bunch of apples I'd gotten off the discount cart at the supermarket, along with a package of other random fruit...plums, pears, and wouldn't you know it, nectarines. I didn't even check. Dumb.
Alas, this lunch has some odds 'n Ns...
Ryan's "N" lunch: nuggets (w/a side of ketchup); nuts; pineapple mango salsa; nachos with chreez sauce.

Again, if you send your husband out for anything, you have to be specific. Nachos are supposed to be round in my opinion, but not in his. Doesn't really matter I guess.