Wholesome? Is that the same as REALLY BIG?

It's that time of the month again. No. Not that time. Time for Margot's Healthy Lunchbox event! In celebration of this I've decided to loosen the chains a bit and make a lunch for BratImeanBoo.



1. 2 slices off the world's fattest spicy crab roll
2. oranges
3. watermelon
4. honey roasted almonds
5. mini Fudge Grahams



I had the rest of the roll. And the rest of the watermelon. And almonds. And cookies. No orange though, trying to cut out the extraneous fruit in my diet to leave more room for chocolate and coffee. Back tomorrow with more lunches that I didn't make for my heathensImeankids!

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Boo's Baby Burger

I begrudgingly made a lunch for the Boo.



1. little bitty slider leftover from her dinner
2. Maui onion potato chips
3. a jelly

She also got a chocolate Yoo-hoo in a box.

As you can see there was virtually no effort involved so I don't really feel like I broke my vow to never make food for the little heathens again.

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I Didn't Think It Would Still Be Good

It's more than just the heat that's making me cranky these days. I swear if you didn't know better you'd think I'm constantly trying to poison these kids. I mean I know I'm cheap, and I do hate waste. But still. I've never given them bad food. When I doubt I really do throw it out! But still. Every single freakin' thing they take out of the fridge; "Mom? Is this still good?". God forbid anything should get close to its "sell by" date. I've drank more milk in the past 2 weeks than in the 24 before that - PROVING that the milk isn't bad. And I don't. like. milk.

"Honey do you really think that I would EVER give you something that wasn't good for you? Something that would make you sick? Seriously? It smells fine. If something LOOKS okay and you smell it and it smells okay and then you taste it and tastes okay then it's most likely good to eat."

"Uhm...no but Mom, it's just that the expiration date says April 1st and it's already March 25th and I'm not sure blahblahblahblahblahblahblah"

"GIVE ME THE DAMN MILK!"

gulp

"Do I look like I'm dying? No? Then drink it!"

And now today.

"How was lunch?"

"I didn't eat it. I'm sorry Mom."

"Why not?"

"Well I didn't think it would still be good."

One of these days they'll push me too far and I'll serve up a big stale tortilla burrito for dinner with out of date cheese AND sour cream and and maybe some rotten fruit for dessert. Just. Cause. I. Can.



1. burger
2. berries
3. container of sugar
4. baby banana
5. pig full o' beans

My lunch was the same. I had a hamburger. It was left-over from last night. I mixed in sliced green onion and blue cheese crumbles and then grilled them. It was absolutely delicious. And I didn't die.

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Summer Days

It's sure getting hot. Yeah, I'm bitchin' about the heat already. Betcha can't wait for August.



Identical light summer lunches for the Boy and Boo, mine was much the same, so I didn't bother with a picture.

1. honeyed yogurt in the container
2. baby banana
3. monster strawberry
4. black grapes
5. biscuit

I learned from experience that if a kid can't open a banana, a kid won't eat it - and those little Manzana bananas can be really tough to get into! An easy fix is to snip half-way through the stem with scissors, not enough to expose the fruit, but just enough to get the tear started. Works like a charm - or you could something like this.

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Just Another Packed Lunch

1. sliced ham rolled with cream cheese in the middle
2. tiny pickles
3. little toasts
4. peach rings
5. carrots and hummus for the boy
6. grapes
7. pistachios

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Back to the Grindstone

So long Spring Holiday, it's as though we never really knew ya.



1. ham slices rolled up with cream cheese inside
2. wedges of Edam
3. snow peas and baby carrots
4. dried pineapple
5. Nutella sandwiched between coconut bar cookies




1. cubes of leftover ribeye
2. wedges of Edam
3. snow peas and baby carrots
4. potato chips
5. Nutella sandwiched between coconut bar cookies

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Mini Meatloaf Lumps o' Love

Life's been a little crazy around here. The cure? Little lumps of barbecue glazed meatloaf. Tastes like love. Or at least like really good meatloaf. I made some extra for the freezer. Any bets on the date I'll find them and throw them away? No? Oh well. At least I got a chance to use the new food processor for like the 4th time since I got it at least 2 months ago. It can make bread crumbs out of bread slices in no time flat. A real workhorse that thing is turning out to be. Good investment. Yep.







1. little meatloaf or loaves depending on the eater
2. strawberries
3. roasted corn
4. orange slices for me
5. sugar for berry dipping for them
6. carrots for them cause good mommies give their kids vegetables
7. mini fudge grahams for them cause good mommies compensate for giving their kids vegetables that they don't particularly like by giving them cookies even if they also gave them pure sugar

Hey, it's just a little sugar. Like less than a teaspoon. They drink water! And milk. Organic even. Back off nutrition police! It's a healthy lunch. Really. The fact that I'm entering the first lunch in Margot's Wholesome Lunchbox monthly blogging event and not the other two means nothing. Nothing at all.

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When the Whole is Less than the Sum of the Parts

1. onigiri stuffed with krab, cream cheese and green onion
2. strawberries
3. container of sugar
4. pistachios
5. fudge filled marshmallow



1. 3 onigiri stuffed with krab, cream cheese and green onion wrapped with nori belts
2. strawberries
3. container of soy
4. container of sugar
5. dried pineapple
6. chili lime peanuts



1. 2 onigiri stuffed with krab, cream cheese and green onion
2. strawberry
3. vanilla yogurt with dried papaya
4. granola
5. tangerine
6. pistachios

Those kids didn't like onigiri stuffed with krab, cream cheese and green onion. Though they do claim to like rice, krab, cream cheese and green onions. Freaks.

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Peanut Butter Sanwiches. Again.

1. peanut butter sanwiches
2. grapes
3. pretzels
4. pistachios
5. watermelon





1. peanut butter sanwiches
2. grapes
3. pretzels
4. pistachios
5. watermelon
6. orange slices
7. cookies

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Bento Lunches for a Boy and a Boo

I made a couple of fast and easy bento lunches for Boy and Boo - and then I went back to bed :)



1. chunks of sausages and cheese
2. crostini
3. banana muffin
4. grapes
5. orange slices



1. chunks of sausages and cheese
2. banana chips
3. banana muffin
4. grapes
5. orange slices
6. rice balls

Aren't those oranges gorgeous? I actually bought them only because they were smaller than the MONSTER sized navels on display - it wasn't until I cut into one that I noticed the little ID sticker and realized we had gourmet citrus on our hands! Oh, just 69 cents a pound too. Don't hate me.

In honor of our "found treasure" I made a salad based on a recipe from Pinch my Salt made of these oranges with jicama and cilantro dressed with a vingrette made from their juice and served it with grilled tuna for dinner last night. It was fantastic! I did have to add a bit of vinegar to the dressing though, probably because of the low acidity of these oranges.

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Peanut Butter & Banana Gyoza Sandwiches

I thought this turned out to be a nice little lunch using an idea I totally stole from flickr user snappinesswho makes cute bento lunches for her daughter. Around here you can never have too many ways to pack a peanut butter sandwich, and these are practically mess free - bonus!

1. dumpling shaped sandwiches
2. kiwi
3. heart shapes cut from part of a doughnut
4. bite of chocolate

I made the sandwiches filled with a mixture of peanut butter, banana, and a bit of honey using a gyoza press. I bought a set of three different sized ones at a local 99cent store a while ago but this is the first time I've used them. I won't mention how many "practice sandwiches" I made before I realized I was over-stuffing them!

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Valentine's Day of Doom

Okay - it wasn't that bad, we did get brownies with pink frosting. But I seem to have lost the ability to take a decent photograph, and that's makin' me pretty freakin' cranky.

If you squint you can kinda see what we had for lunch.



1. baked potato (salted and peppered)
2. heart-shaped containers of butter and sour cream
3. little tomatoes
4. brownie



1. shrimp
2. cocktail sauce
3. chili lime toasted corn
4. cheese
5. brownie



1. shrimp
2. cocktail sauce
3. chili lime toasted corn
4. steak bits on picks
5. brownie

The picks are strategically placed to keep the brownie from getting stuck to the lid and also to keep the steak out of the frosting. I normally don't get too concerned about "food safety" with our lunches but with these I took the added precaution of adding a layer of frozen reusable ice cubes on top of the shrimp right before they head out the door.

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Is it Bad When the Cookie is Bigger than the Lunch?

1. pasta salad
2. cheese
3. bagel chips
4. blueberries (under the cookie)
5. pink cookie with sprinkles

Well is it?

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Wholesome Fudge Filled Marshmallows

I started buying granola from the bulk bins at the market. It is -so- much cheaper - keeps me from cringing if someone (not naming names here) doesn't finish a whole serving - but ... well, surely I'm not the only one a little creeped out by bulk bins? I mean it's fine for something that you can wash or cook, like lentils. But cereal? I just know it's crawling with germs - not that I'm letting it stop me. Heck, I even decided against keeping my own secret stash of prepackaged stuff in the back of the cabinet. See? I can get past this!

1. whole milk vanilla yogurt
2. granola
3. half a banana
4. few cherries
5. Hello Kitty fudge-filled marshmallow

Margot from Coffee and Vanilla is hosting a round-up this month of healthy packed lunches - this is my entry.

About drinks ... we do. Drink that it is. It's just not worth noting for the most part. I take a water bottle. Everyday. Boo usually takes a juice box or a non-dairy chocolate "milk" box that I keep in the freezer, but sometimes she takes a water bottle or buys a drink at school. Rarely I make her a smoothie. I'm not thrilled with the drink boxes but it seems to work pretty well. Keeping them frozen ensures they're still chilled for lunchtime and helps cool the lunch itself. Most importantly though it also keeps little piglets from drinking up a week's worth of pricey but portable juice boxes while ignoring the half-gallon in the fridge!

Oh, I almost forgot - I put a drop of honey on a square of cling wrap and pressed it onto the cut edge of the bananas. I forgot to ask Boo if her banana stayed nice, but I know my half was fine. Of course I'm not the one that just can't eat around the brown bit on the end!

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Hold the Ranch

1. leftover chicken strips
2. roasted peas
3. cherries
4. orange slices
5. side of ranch

Me - "why didn't you eat the ranch?"

Boo - "I couldn't figure out how to get it open without looking at it."

Me - "..." - dumb stare

Boo - "well, you aren't supposed to be eating in the library."

Me - "..." - dumb stare

Sometimes with Boo, it's better to not ask.

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Second Rate Mac Salad Lunch

Boo loves macaroni salad. I made this one quickly out of a few bites of left-over pasta that I squirreled away in the fridge with a little mayo, salt and pepper, and chopped scallion. I'm afraid that it might not have been quite up to Boo's standards because she later questioned me about the availability of green bell peppers (I never buy them so she thought they must be expensive) and then requested a list of ingredients the next time I go shopping. I think I'm about to get some schoolin' on mac salad makin'!

1. macaroni salad
2. cherries
3. grapes
4. bagel chips
5. roasted red pepper hummus

A while back I posted a recipe for making hummus in a blender. Meanwhile I did finally get a food processor and assumed that it would be the superior tool for hummus making but surprisingly I found I prefer the texture of the blender hummus. Go figure! The processor hummus lacked the lightness of the blender hummus and even though I processed it far longer it seemed to retain some grittiness. Admittedly this is a one time experiment so far - so it could in fact just be the beans I used or some other variable. I'll report back :)

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Double Pie Bento

Pizza pie! We don't have pizza very often, and we do there's usually none left, so pizza bento alone would be pretty durn exciting, but wait! there's more! Pie that is. Lemon Meringue. Daring Bakers. Golden Curd. Uhm, nevermind.

1. left-over pizza
2. blueberries on sticks
3. quail egg (not eaten)
4. almonds
5. green jelly
6. itty bitty lemon meringue pie

But look at it, isn't it cute? The pie I mean. Flaky Crust. Towering Meringue. Sorry.

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Everykid's Bento Lunch - Dispelling Bento Myths One Meal at a Time

"Hey Boo, what sounds good for lunch tomorrow?"

"Peanut butter sandwich cut in some cute shape, some jellies, and something chocolate."

Hmmmm, easy enough.

Done.



1. peanut butter sandich cut with a dog cookie cutter - that's a little nori circle for the eye, carrot for the collar and tomato for the nose
2. bread scrap bone stuck on with a bit of peanut butter
3. 3 bite size jellos
4. blueberries and kiwi cause Sister doesn't always get everything her way
5. little container of chocolate chips cause Sister usually gets everything her way

I've heard People (and you know who you are) say they don't have time to make "stuff like that", or that their kids "won't eat stuff like that", or "I don't know where to get/can't afford to buy that stuff" - all the while drooling on my lunch. Seriously? You can do this! It's a sandwich! Packed in a little plastic container from the dollar store. (I don't know what to say about kids that won't eat peanut butter) The whole thing took less than 5 minutes, 3 of those I probably spent trying to find chocolate chips in that black hole of a pantry.

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Crab Cakes & Quail Eggs

The only big news here is that I made a face on a quail egg. I totally copied that idea, but I still smiled every time I thought about the little chick in my lunch bucket! Boo didn't get one, frankly she was horrified. Traumatized even. She may not ever eat eggs again. It retrospect I probably shouldn't have called them little "baby" eggs. It wouldn't surprise me if she comes home tomorrow and announces she's decided to be vegan - but she probably wouldn't even eat tofeggs at this point.




1. crab cakes
2. potato salad
3. peas
4. container of chipotle mayo
5. tomatoes
6. rice balls
7. quail egg chick




1. crab cakes
2. potato salad
3. peas
4. container of ranch
5. little cake

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Croissants and Chocolates

For me:

1. croissant with herbed cream cheese, sprouts, and yellow pepper
2. apple slice with a couple of blackberries
3. little wedge of cranberry stilton
4. dark, dark chocolate squares



For Boo:

1. croissant sandwich with herbed cream cheese and a chicken tender
2. blackberry stuffed apple
3. mango jelly
4. white, white chocolate chips

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