Day 38 - Whatever I could find in the Refrigerator Salad

I was running off of steam this morning - was at the ER 8 hours, until 11 p.m. last night with my little boy and a lacerated chin (some 20+ stitches later).  So, I only had to pack one lunch today and I did not have a chance to run to the grocery store yesterday. Translation - HELP!

The Irresistible Menu du Jour
- Quinoa, Tofu, Veggie & Cottage Cheese Salad (oh, right, and some chick peas)
- Apple Slices
- Corn Muffin

On Saturday I made lettuce wraps - hence the  tofu and veggies mixture.  I also had some leftover red quinoa in the fridge that was still respectable.  And, an unopened container of cottage cheese caught my eye.  Not something you'd find in a fancy restaurant, but I threw it all together, with a little olive oil and SHE ATE IT ALL!!!  Amazing, especially since she wasn't that fond of the tofu lettuce wraps!  Just proves that with a little creativity, there is life after leftovers.

Surprise Salad

Corn Muffin

Day 37 - Caprese Salad

Apparently last week I was 'blog-challenged'.  Looking at my blog I realized that I totally missed Friday.  So, to catch up:

- Caprese Salad (tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, olive oil, basil - and I add balsamic vinegar and avocado if I have it)
- Apple Chips
- Grapes
- Banana Chocolate Chip Cookie

Caprese Salad with Avocado

 Funny - usually I'm pretty good at estimating how much to make to fill the thermos containers, but this time I underestimated, so I topped up with some chickpeas I had leftover from making hummus earlier in the week!

Day 36 - Smoked Salmon

Lunch Box Menu
- Smoked Salmon & Cream Cheese on Rye Wasa Bread
- Cheesy Kale Chips
- Vegan Blueberry Scones
- Apple

We have a smoker which we use maybe twice a year.  My husband is the king of the smoker (and the grill, for that matter) - I don't enter these domains!  He smoked some lovely salmon a couple of weeks ago which we enjoy mostly as little appetizers, but it served me well with my bare fridge today.  I just took out some whole grain wasa bread, spread a little cream cheese on it and then the smoked salmon.  Kids did eat it after a bit of coaching - there sense of smell was leaning a little too much on the smoked side! 

Smoked Salmon on Wasa

The Kale chips were made in the dehydrator - a favorite among raw foodists.  The "cheesy" is the vegan substitute - soaked raw cashews and nutritional yeast.  Got my daughter to eat them and my son tried them, but only ate a couple.  I guess I shouldn't complain!

Cheesy Kale Chips

Lastly, the vegan, low gluten (made with spelt flour) blueberry scones.  Delectible!

Vegan Blueberry Scones

Day 35 - Butternut Squash Soup

Oops - forgot to post yesterday!

Tis the season for butternut squash, and a family favorite of ours is butternut squash soup which I made a huge pot of on the weekend.  Really easy recipe with butternut squash soup, chicken stock, cream cheese, onion, marjoram, cayenne and a bit of salt to taste.  Blend it all up for a creamy YUM!

Menu
- Butternut Squash Soup
- Tamari Rice Crackers
- Apple

Simple, but a hit.  This was the first time  I wasn't impressed with the heat retaining property of the thermos containers, but I suspect i hurried the heating of the soup on the stove in the morning and it wasn't heated all the way through.

Butternut Squash Soup

Day 34 - Crab Cakes & Birthday Surprise!

Forget the menu for a minute.  My baby turned 6 today!  So, I actually made cookies (I can count on my fingers how many times I have done that - I'm a cook, not much of a baker (too many exact measurements for my squiggle personality).

Of course, I can't just make any cookies.  The main ingredient can NOT be sugar (actually I'd rather not have any sugar), and whole grains, please.

So, I found a yummy recipe in one of my cancer cookbooks, if you can believe it.  Oatmeal, banana & chocolate chip cookies.  Made with maple syrup and whole wheat flour.  The chocolate chips - well, I usually substitute carob, but figured the cookies are a treat and I wanted to ensure that all the kids at my daughter's school would eat them.  Of course, can't serve cookies without raspberries on the side! And, added in some apple cider fresh from a local farm (but did dilute it in some water).  This year I got to stay and watch the birthday procession at school - very sweet. They put the "sun" in the center of the circle of kids.  Then the birthday child walks around the sun as many times as years old, signifying a year of the earth's rotation around the sun as a year in a life.  Quite clever and fun for the kids as they count.  Gotta love Montessori!

Oatmeal, Banana & Chocolate Chip Cookies

 OK, so the lunch box menu:
- Crab Cakes (found at a local farmer's market)
- Whole Wheat Bread
- Mixed Baby Green Salad
- Apple

Baby Greens Salad & Crab Cake

The Quintessential Apple

Day 33 - Basil CousCous

Back to the grind.  Spent a week in Disney World and my stomach is still reeling.  One day I did manage to pack us a lunch of hummus and cucumbers in a whole wheat wrap, but the other 4 days...well, let's just say it wasn't quite so healthy.

One meal in Animal Kingdom was quite delicious - at Tuskers, a Morrocan-influenced restaurant.  We found this pearled couscous that was really tasty.   Had basil and olive oil and peppers in it.  So, we tried it here at home and it ended up in the kid's lunch today.  It also ended up coming home uneaten (full disclosure) - so they had it for dinner and they really liked it.  Had to force them a bit to eat something new.  Really, it is not so new - couscous is actually tiny pasta. It just looks different.  The pearled version is plump and juicy, unlike the rice-like, more common version that I was used to.

Even though the cold weather hit NJ this past week, we had one more picking of fresh basil off our deck planter to add to the couscous.  Quite tasty if I don't say so myself!

Menu:
- Basil Couscous (with poblano peppers)
- Carrots & Homemade Hummus (got rather energetic my day back from Disney World and cooked up a bunch of things yesterday)
- Apple
- Apple Chips for snack

Basil Couscous

Hummus, Carrots & Apple

Apple Chips

Day 32 - Red Quinoa & Teriyaki Salmon Salad

I actually got really organized and made and packed this lunch last night!  First time I have successfully done this (and only 32 days into lunch making LOL).

I made some teriyaki salmon a couple of nights ago for a friend who was over for dinner with her kids (got all but one to eat it), and had leftovers - perfect for the lunch box.  So, looking through my cupboard of grains I found some red quinoa that I have yet to try out.  Cut up the leftover baby cucumbers, added some scallions, feta and olive oil - packed it in the thermos containers - all done.

The quinoa was really fast to make - 20 minutes - during which time I prepped the rest.

Full Menu:
- Red Quinoa & Teriyaki Salmon Salad
- Apple Sauce Cookies

The salad is pretty heavy, so I don't think the kids will need more to fill their bellies, and I'm fairly certain they'll have fruit for snack at school, so a fairly uncomplicated lunch.

Oh yes, and no blog for a week.  I'll be back blogging on November 8th.

Dried Red Quinoa

Cooked Red Quinoa

Red Quinoa & Salmon Teriyaki Salad

Apple Sauce Cookies