Heart Beet: #21

This was her lunch for last Friday. I got a little behind on posting. She had Beets & Greens Risotto that I attempted to shape into a heart. On the top are blackberries and kiwi. As a special treat, I included a homemade brownie that isn't pictured here. 

The risotto might sound gross, but it's really good. I'm not a beet fan by any stretch of the imagination, but we kept getting them in our CSA share. So I either had to throw them away or learn how to use them in a way that didn't make me want to gag. After some experimentation, I realized I don't mind them sliced raw in salads. And I actually like them in this recipe. You basically throw grated beets and some kind of greens - the beet greens themselves work really well, but this time I used kale - into cooking risotto. At the end you add lemon zest and juice and a dusting of parmesan. For some reason this combination makes beets not only palatable, but really good. The full recipe is in Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison.

The Verdict: I was the lunchtime volunteer in Peas classroom last Friday. She ate every bite of her lunch. It was kind of funny that her best friend also brought beets in her lunch, but they were roasted. (Gag.) However, they girls thought that was just great.

Another Sushi Bento: #20

I think I'm getting a tiny bit better with the sushi. She also seems to love it and will eat it even when I include items she won't normally deign to touch - like avocado. So on the left are strawberries, blackberries, and pineapple. On the right are sushi rolls made with avocado, carrots, and cucumbers. She has milk to drink.

Whoooo's Ready for Lunch? - #19

I'm a little late posting, but this was Tuesday's lunch. She had Forbidden rice with a cheddar and provolone owl. He's a little rough around the edges, but I didn't feel like redoing him. He's sitting on a carrot log. In the right side are carrot sticks, cucumber slices, pineapple chunks, and blackberries. I also included some ranch dressing and milk.

The Verdict: She ate pretty much every bite. There were a few grains of rice left, but that's it.

Spring Chicks: #18

Poor Pea was not very happy to be going back to school today. She loves her teachers and friends, but says the day just goes on too long. At least she had some cute little chickens to keep her company. In the top container are carrots, cucumbers, blackberries, and strawberries. On the bottom are a Barred Rock hen (like our own black-and-white speckled hen named Beauty) and two little Buff Orpingtons.

The big hen is made from sushi rice and Forbidden rice mixed together after cooking. She actually does have eyes, but they blend in with the black rice. I guess I should've used something other than nori to make her eyes. Her comb is strawberry and her beak is carrot. The other two are made from my first attempt at tamagoyaki. I made it using two eggs in a small round cast iron skillet. It definitely wasn't as easy as the pictures and directions insinuated, but I think it worked out. If the girl eats the little yellow chicks, it'll give her a good boost of protein. We also have adult buff orpingtons in our flock, but sweetPea decided it was a mama and her two babies.

The Verdict: Blargh. I tried to pull a few over on her and both backfired. First, I accidentally (on purpose) failed to send ranch dressing for her to dip her veggies. So she didn't eat her veggies. Then I told her that the tamagoyaki was "scrambled eggs that have been shaped into chicks". She said it tasted "weird". So she ate her rice and the fruit. 

I'm really trying to get some protein in her other than dairy and it just isn't working. We don't eat meat (I've been adding fish back into our diet, but she'll have none of that), she can't eat nuts and certain seeds due to allergies, she thinks beans are the grossest things in the universe (other than meat), and tofu is "yucky"; so really all that's left is dairy. Occasionally she'll eat eggs, which is what I was attempting to capitalize on here. I'm hoping if I stick it in her bento every  now and then she'll get used to the flavor. 

Spring Break Bentos: 16 & 17

I was trying to get us out the door, but I knew she'd be starving if I didn't bring any food. This was kind of a "snack" that I brought along on our hike. It contains cheese & crackers with blueberries, red grapes, and cucumber slices. sweetPea hiked all 1.5 miles without even asking to be carried once. Once she tripped and said it was hard to pay attention to where she was going when she was looking at "all this beauty". 

The Verdict: I didn't pack enough food. Apparently this is plenty for a relatively sedentary day at school, but for a 1.5 mile hike she needed more. She ate every bite and then had several more snacks when we got home. 

I took this along with us to a trip to the Science Center. On the left is purple cole slaw with a cheese butterfly. On the right are red grapes and kiwi. I also took along some cheese and crackers in a snacktaxi.

The Verdict: It was a disaster. Apparently putting cole slaw in a Lock & Lock container works just fine when the box will stay fairly horizontal. This was carried in my backpack for several hours. The juices from the cole slaw leaked over into the other container. The kiwi was tinted from the purple, which left it a very odd color. The grapes were also swimming in the sauce. Pea said, "I don't want to eat this. Who would?" Luckily I'd taken along the cheese and crackers so she ate those. Lesson learned.

Zoo Friends: #15

sweetPea is on spring break this week so I made a list of both sunny day and rainy day excursions. After yesterday's thunder storm, we decided to head out to the zoo. The food at our zoo is great, if you consider soggy pizza, processed chicken strips, and hot dogs that have languished under heat lamps to be food. We've learned to pack our own snacks and lunch.

In the top section are a provolone cheese zebra with nori stripes and a provolone giraffe with cheddar cheese spots. The are playing in a field of broccoli and carrot flowers. On the bottom is a rice tiger with nori stripes and cheddar ears. I added grated carrots to the rice for color. I also stuck some red grapes next to the tiger. You can see that I tried to put the grapes on both sides, but there just wasn't room. The poor fellow got the left side of his face smooshed from my attempts.

I also put together my first adult bento.

Clockwise from the top right are kiwi, purple coleslaw with carrot sticks on top, red grapes, and a leftover popover.

The Verdict: The lunches stayed perfectly packed even after being slogged around in my backpack. In fact, the first thing we did upon arrival was sprint to the far end of the zoo to catch the tiger feeding. So I know they were jostled quite a bit. I've never actually watched Pea eat one of these lunches so I was surprised at how she deconstructed it. She picked up each little piece and popped it into her mouth. She even tried to eat the features off the characters. She ate most of it in the end. She left her leaves, even though I'd packed romaine lettuce instead of spinach. She was pretty distracted though - we ate at a table beside a big playground at the zoo and her friends were calling to her to come and play.

Sushi Bento: #14

I've never made sushi before, but sweetPea told me the other day that she "just loooooves sushi". How could I argue with that? It surprises me a bit because the nori has such a strong fish flavor. She completely turns her nose up at all fish.

Most sushi we find locally is made with sesame seeds so we can't just stop at the Whole Foods deli and pick up a few. She's allergic to tree nuts and many seeds. So I watched a few videos on Youtube and figured I could give it a shot. My very first roll was pretty ridiculous looking (but still tasty). The second one was tucked into this very simple lunch.

Included are four sushi pieces made with rice, carrots, cucumber, and avocado. On the right are red grapes. 

I obviously had the nori wrapper and the rice, but I don't have any special sushi equipment. Instead of a bamboo sushi mat, I used a placemat covered with plastic wrap. She missed school today, because she was complaining of ear pain. This lunch was quickly made as we were rushing out the door on the way to the pediatrician.  

She ate two of the pieces and all of the grapes while we were in the little room at the doctor's office. We were seen pretty quickly and it turns out she's fine, just really congested.

When we got home I made us a very tasty nutritious treat I wanted to mention because it's so very very good. I've been following Weelicious and she had a program on making avocado shakes. While making the sushi, I noticed that our avocados were really ripe and won't last much longer. She has a specific recipe on Weelicious, but I simply threw in stuff until it tasted good. I used one avocado, one banana, some milk, some coconut milk, and a spoonful of honey. Oh, and I threw in a few ice cubes.

Yum. I think I want another.