Friday, September 16, 2011

Lunchbox #3

Let's just say I'm going to file this one under both "head scratchers" and "lessons learned."  See, I have two bagel-loving kids.  I thought bagels would be a slam dunk. Even when I was packing lunches up, Big Dog told me just how delicious the bagel looked.  So imagine my WTF moment when I opened the lunch boxes tonight and found each bagel only had about three bites in it.  Weird.  The multicolor cauliflower was also largely uneaten despite the boys gobbling it down at home.
I'm not really sure what happened with the bagels.  Too big for polite school eating maybe?  But I have to remember the boys both bow to peer pressure.  The cauliflower was probably a casualty of nearby "yucks" from lunch table neighbors.  Big Dog has given up favorite lunch foods based on the criticism of his peers in the past, I guess I should just expect it.

Whole wheat bagel with low fat cream cheese
Multicolored cauliflower (steamed since they don't really like raw cauliflower-or at least I don't and I project that upon the boys)
Sliced red plums
YoKids yogurt tube
dark chocolate square
Snack container: green seedless grapes

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Lunchbox #2

Well there were going to be mini sandwiches on these adorable little artisan slider buns, but as soon as I put them on the counter, Little Dog told me he hated them.  So I tried to come up with something else. I asked for suggestions and he requested deviled eggs.  Perfect!  Well, it probably would have been more perfect if the eggs were store bought instead of our own eggs that are fresh and thus resist being peeled without shredding into a thousand pieces.  Anyhow they might not be beautiful, but they were tasty.  So, today's lunch was as follows:

Deviled eggs
Berries (raspberries and blueberries)
Heirloom cherry tomatoes
English cucumber in rice wine vinegar (in the small container, turns out it is just about the perfect size for this)
Yo Kids Squeezer
A couple of Trader Joe's Gummy Tummies

Snack container was filled with sliced pluots (not pictured)

Basic Deviled Eggs

2 hard boiled eggs
2 tsp mayonnaise
2 tsp sweet relish
1/2 tsp vinegar (I used rice wine vinegar because I had it on hand, I usually use apple cider vinegar for this)
1/2 tsp brown mustard
salt and pepper to taste

Cut the hard boiled eggs in half, remove the yolks and put them into a bowl with all of the other ingredients.  Use a fork to mash the ingredients into a more or less smooth mess.  Scoop it back into the cooked egg whites.

To keep them from sticking to the lunchbox, place a piece of waxed paper on top of them before closing the lid.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

A cavelcade of lunches

We got new fancy lunch boxes this year.  Stainless steel, dishwasher safe, decorated with magnets and just plain awesome.  And as I started packing them up, I realized how nice it would be for me to have a record of what was in them each day.  Mostly I think it will be handy to track what was eaten and what came home untouched.  So here we go, the first day of a new line of work on this blog.

Lunch #1 (for the blog, #5 if you count the ones that didn't get photographed)

Peanut butter and strawberry balsamic jam on whole wheat bread.
Snap peas and heirloom cherry tomatoes
White nectarines (Big Dog brought them home claiming the darkening was "rot")
Trader Joe's organic yogurt squishers
Dark chocolate
Side container snack: black plum

I originally cut the sandwiches into heart shapes, which caused Big Dog to say, "Mama, really?" making me feel like a bit of a dunce, so I cut his in half.  I left Little Dog's as is.  When I picked him up from school he asked, "Was that a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?"
"Yes," I answered.
"Then why was it shaped like a heart?"
"I thought you might like it," I said.
"I didn't like it."
"You didn't?" I asked, a bit surprised.
"I loved it.  After I hated it."
So at least we cleared that up.
Lunch as planned.

And if you're too cool for heart-shaped sandwiches.