Nugget's Lunch - May 19, 2008

(clockwise from upperleft) navel orange segments, pink lady apple slices that I forgot to prevent from browning, orange and black M&Ms*, spiderman napkin, baby carrots**, more cucumber chain link rings since they were such a hit last week (and this time I used an Oxo serrated peeler, which I highly recommend because it peeled the cucumber like a hot knife through cold butter), ham that I stacked then used a cookie cutter to shape into the number 4 (since Nugget is 4 years old). A grilled cheese bunny made from Trader Joe's 100% whole wheat bread and Trader Joe's Lite Cheddar. I used a bunny cookie cutter, then did the face with Wilton's decorating icing. The scraps of cucumber, ham and cheese I saved to use in a salad later. Drink: water.

* Nugget's class had a day called Orioles Day, where they wore black and orange, and made little Orioles pendants. What is funny is that the little guy currently has no idea what the Orioles are beyond just being called "our hometown team", since (thankfully) my husband is not a fan or follower of organized team sports. Anyway, the grocery store sells M&Ms by the color, so there was no color-mining involved. I am a notorious color-miner. And for that matter, an even more notorious food-miner (gorp, chex-mix, Cobb salad...)

** For an interesting read on some legitimate reasons why not to eat baby carrots, click here.

Well, today is the last day of Nugget's afterschool program. I forgot it was his last day for a packed lunch, or I would have packed with a bang! I'm not sure what that means, since sparklers that ignite upon opening the box would be imprudent on so many levels. I guess I would have put more thought into the planning of it to make it extra special. Like a fun theme, or something more elaborate. Or an origami that unfolded and opened upon lifting the lid. (Just kidding.)

I'm not complaining about the outcome of this lunch; it's still cute. Yet this lunch (as is the case with 80% of my lunches) is purely a product of what was in the fridge and cupboard that was usable at the time. In fact, a more accurate statement would go so far as to say that all the food used in this lunch required use because it was quickly losing it's shelf life span! I guess that is how life (and lunch) is as a parent, much of our decisions dictated by necessity.

Summertime break: My posts will taper off for the summer, being mostly a quiet site with only the occassional punctuation of creative impulse or picnic impetus. I prefer the Blogging Without Obligation philosophy. So check-in at your leisure, or simply stay subscribed to the feed, and any new posts will find their merry way to you. Cheers to all and Happy Summer!

Nugget's Lunch - May 16, 2008

(clockwise from upperleft) steamed corn, surrounded by grape tomatoes and red/orange bell pepper. Mini-toasts spread with Trader Joe's sunflower seed butter and Trader Joe's pumpkin butter. (And I remembered to tell the after-school teacher that it is not peanut butter!) The hard mini-toasts become, en route, pleasingly soft when left to sit in the lunchbox with other food as pictured. Homemade chocolate and butterscotch fudge (lovingly made nut-free for Nugget by our friend Morgan). TJ's "Ultimate Vanilla Wafers", which are butter cookies made with flecks of Madagascar vanilla beans. Red grapes. And a chain-link of peeled cucumber rings (an ingenious idea included in the Laptop Lunch User's Guide). Drink: TJ's organic enriched rice milk.

HushGuppies

Yes, okay, I thought I was clever with the name for these little puppies. We were at the grocery store yesterday afternoon, and in addition to having fresh corn (which I remember two years ago was selling for 8/$1, but is now 4/$1), there was quite a selection of fresh fish. Nugget has been asking me for weeks to buy a whole fish, head and tail and all. I always explained I had no idea what to do with a whole fish. I decided to throw caution (and potential financial prudence) to the wind and use it as an opportunity for Nugget, Rooni and I to learn together how to fillet fish. The fishmongers there are truly wonderful, and always take the time to show the children various fish or lobster, and are often filleting large fish where we can watch up close. We bought a whole red snapper, wrapped it up and took it home to fillet according to their directions.

It was an interesting exercise, because I want to continually expose the children to learning and knowing where their food comes from (Rooni has been with me while I was working on a local sustainable farm "processing" chickens by hand, and Nugget had previously helped feed those same chicken) while still maintaining the boundary between what is healthy interest and childlike fascination on their part, versus encouraging unwanted behaviors. For example, we discussed and examined how the fish use their gills, how they don't have eyelids, and how the tail fin spans wide and small. I allowed Nugget to expand the tail, touch the eyes, feel the teeth and tongue, but no matter how much he begged I insisted he not poke the eye with a toothpick. It seemed too disrespectful, though that seems hard to reconcile with the fact that we were eating the fish.

Anyway, it was much easier to fillet the fish than I anticipated, but I was equally dismayed to see that a full half the weight of the fish that I bought was bones, head and tail. And therefore thrown out, basically doubling the per pound cost of edible fish. Since I am the geeky food type, I used a digital food scale and scraped out as much extra meat as I could from between the bones and inside the head. It yielded over an ounce more meat, which I decided could be mixed with some mashed black beans, splash of water, some bread crumbs and an egg yolk then dipped in panko and pan-fried. Viola! HushGuppies. The ounce of meat and extra ingredients made four.

Meanwhile, the two fillets were simply pan-seared and topped with salt and pepper. The corn was steamed for ten minutes, with half an ear reserved for the next day's lunch.

The 5PsL

Familiar with the 6Ps? Well, here it applies as Prior Planning Prevents a Piss Poor Lunch.

I'll begin begging off that I haven't (aghast!) packed a lunch in a week. One day Nugget's friend came over for lunch, and the other two days the after school program was cancelled.

On Wednesday, Nugget, Rooni and I went to the fantastic new National Air and Space Museum in Chantilly, VA. The building is basically a huge aviation hangar with aircraft of all sorts on the floor and suspended from the ceiling. The pièce de résistance is the Space Shuttle Enterprise, visible upon entry directly behind the linearly stunning Blackbird. Nugget loves space shuttles, and had been asking to go and visit again, so we did.

What I didn't do was think to plan for food, beyond two bottles of water and the couple Zone bars I keep in Rooni's diaper bag. Not that it would have helped, since no outside food or drink are allowed in (I saw one mom running out to her car with a full bag of cut apples, though I didn't think to ask her if she was required to remove them from the premises), and there are guards that search every bag prior to admitting any visitor into the museum; presumably, it is for weapons not necessarily contraband food. However, they do have picnic tables outside, where schools and tour buses can eat any packed food. But like I said, I hadn't planned.

Inside, there is only ONE option: the burger place we parents love to hate. And so it goes that Nugget and Rooni had a kid sized burger with ketchup, water, and split a medium fry and muffin. To the cashier's credit, she gave me two complimentary toys. What pains me even beyond admitting feeding this to my kids is that, in all likelihood, it probably cost (in the short term) less than packing them a healthy, responsible and waste-free lunch. I'll preemptively add that yes, I know sliced apples are available. I didn't think of it at the time - maybe a result of the grease induced mind haze?

So my lesson learned here is I need to plan ahead for these full-day adventures by checking what food is available and where we are able to eat any packed food once we are there - if it is raining, we might be stuck in the car. If we timed the visit between meals, or don't mind the occassional mindless Mcmeal, it is definitely a museum trip worth taking!

EDIT: I forgot to mention that when you visit the museum, be sure to take the trip up to the Observation Tower - the kids will enjoy watching the planes take-off and land, as well as occassionally glimpse a nearby helicopter.

Nugget's Lunch - May 7, 2008

(clockwise from upperleft) all natural pasta tossed with extra-virgin olive oil and sea salt, low-sodium turkey breast cut into strips and rolled up into bite sized bundles, Trader Joe's organic black beans, red and orange and yellow bell pepper, and Enjoy Life allergen-free soft baked snickerdoodle cookies. Drink: water.

Thinking Outside the Blue Box of Pasta

I was so excited to find these gorgeous Torino Italian artisinal pasta, in the shape of farfallines, at the grocery store. They are all natural, made from 100% durum wheat, and the beautiful color comes from red bell pepper and tomato for red, spinach for green, and curcuma (most likely turmeric, but that is just my guess) for yellow. When cooked, the reds turn a more orange hue. They are almost more beautiful uncooked, but still quite a sight when cooked ("candy cane stripes!" as Nugget said).

The pasta is apparently "extremely labor intensive" and therefore has a limited production, translating to a higher cost than basic bowties. So I only cooked exactly what I needed for Nugget today. This way, we can save it for special occassions - like lunch!

Nugget's Lunch - May 5, 2008

(clockwise from upperleft) cubed watermelon, Trader Joe's organic dried banana chips (made with coconut oil and cane juice), TJ's chocolate covered sunflower seeds, strawberry, grapes, honeyed sesame sticks in a pinch bowl, Oscar Meyer turkey bacon (I have never tried turkey bacon before; the grocery store employee stocking the bacon recommended this one), and TJ's fresh mozzarella (cut with a very small round cookie cutter) in a blue pinch bowl. I was originally going to slice the mozzarella really thin and place it between two short slices of the turkey bacon, but Nugget wanted them seperate. "Let the mozzarella leave the bacon alone," he suggested. Drink: water.

Pinch Bowls

I found these cute little silicone pinch bowls at the grocery store. Being agreeably flexible, they can be used to further divide the large Laptop Lunch inner containers, as well as take up extra space if certain food items have a higher "smushage potential". Dishwasher safe and heat resistant to 500 degrees.

Nugget's Lunch - May 2, 2008

Last lunch's "ants on a log" had Nugget's teachers wondering if there was peanut butter in the celery. I need to remember to put a little note in there next time that it is sunflower seed butter, especially if I use it on a sandwich. They suspected it wasn't peanut butter, since it didn't look quite as thick as peanut butter usually does.

My friend Pam, who is peanut allergic, has tried the Trader Joe's sunflower seed butter and had to do a mental double-take because it smells and tastes so much like peanut butter, unlike soy and other butters, which have a more distinct taste.

(clockwise from upperleft) baby spinach and spring greens, cut into slivers and tossed with strawberries, tomatoes, honeyed sesame sticks, and Trader Joe's pear vinaigrette. Broccoli (quasi-blanched by rinsing and nuking for 30 seconds) with caulifower and tomatoes. Half of a Fudge Graham Zone bar, cut into pieces, and a mix of dark and white chocolate chips. Small Gala apple slices, soaked (to prevent browning) for half an hour in ascorbic acid and white grape juice. Strawberry. Celery with cream cheese and dried apricot. Drink: Trader Joe's Pink Lemonade mixed with water. TJ's Pink Lemonade is neat because it is made with lemons, elderberries, and the pink color comes from a small amount of aronia juice concentrate, rather than food coloring. Not that I entirely stay away from food coloring, but it's nice to have the choice and then choose consciously either way.

Nugget's Lunch - April 30, 2008

A thank you to Liz for reminding me of the ease of Ants on a Log!

(clockwise from upperleft) Ants on a Log: celery sticks with Trader Joe's sunflower seed butter and raisins (I placed them on a layer of folded paper towel, so they wouldn't tumble around), four teaspoons TJ's chocolate covered sunflower seeds, strawberries, a spiderman napkin, red and yellow bell peppers, and TJ's mango chicken sausage on mini-skewers with monterey jack cubes. I used two regular sized wooden skewers, then cut them using clean gardening clippers. Drink: Trader Joe's Green Food juice/water.

Nugget's Lunch - April 28, 2008

Arrrrrrrr, matey! A little pirate patch, tucked in next to a jolly-roger napkin, accompanies today's goods. If I'd have been really thematic and on my toes, I'd have included Veggie Booty but it didn't occur to me until just now.

(clockwise from upperleft) Trader Joe's pineapple salsa (a mild, sweet salsa), roasted lavender/rosemary sweet potatoes (leftover from dinner), four white-chocolate covered pretzels (leftover from Easter, yikes!), four flower-shaped cheese spinach quesadillas (you can get eight cutouts from one tortilla), TJ's veggie tortilla strip chips, and more of the applewood smoke-cured ham steak cubes. Drink: TJ's Green Food juice/water.

Cheesy Art with the Food Writer

The kids pulled out these trays for lunch today, so I thought we'd have some fun with it. I forgot I had the orange and black Wilton Food Writers until after I made the first tray. The food writers are meant to write or draw on cookies, cakes, breads and fruit. They are not meant so much for cheese, but it worked just enough, I suppose. Nugget finished the first tray, saw Rooni's cheese fairy princess and requested a cheese picture of his own, so he ate two trays of food but as you can see the trays were not overflowing. Blue Tray 1 (clockwise from upperleft) slightly wrinkly grape tomatoes, dried currants, kiwi, apples, Trader Joe's tabbouli, TJ's Lite mild cheddar cut into shapes, and chocolate chips.


Orange Tray (clockwise from upperleft) Trader Joe's Lite mild cheddar, honeyed sesame sticks, dried currants, navel orange segments, five small pieces of a chocolate chip Z bar by Cliff, TJ's tabbouli, and a fairy princess cutout with orange Wilton Food Writer. Rooni wasn't sure what to think about the "pin-cess", but eventually tore off her head and crown and ate it. There was also a Yo Baby Peach yogurt that didn't make it into the picture.

Blue Tray 2 (clockwise from upperleft) honeyed sesame sticks, three bites chocolate chip Z bar by Cliff, navel orange segments, Trader Joe's apple raspberry fruit leather in heart cutouts, more grape tomatoes, and a TJ's Lite mild cheddar tower crane using the black food writer.

Nugget's Lunch - April 25, 2008

(clockwise from upperleft) As I have mentioned before, Nugget's preschool focuses on learning one letter of the alphabet each week. This week is letter "Z". Trader Joe's has organic alphabet pasta (a tri-color pasta using tomato powder and spinach powder to get the other two colors), so I thought it might be fun to incorporate the weekly letter into this lunch.

A great activity to keep the kids occupied while you prepare lunch in the morning is to have them sort the uncooked letters, or look for specific ones - or even have them just sort by color if the letters are too difficult. There were not enough Z's to make a serving, so instead I picked out a couple letters to spell one of his favorite words since toddlerhood - STOP (as in "Stop sign" and "Red light! Stop!"). I cooked the alphabet noodles in salted water to al dente, tossed them with extra-virgin olive oil and ground pepper, and added grape tomatoes and little squares of cut prosciutto.

To the right is fresh and airy micro-grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, which Nugget likes to eat plain but can also sprinkle on the pasta if he thinks of it. I did cover the cheese container with Glad Press-n-Seal since that container does not have a lid and the cheese would otherwise get everywhere during transport. Peas, a banana with slits for easy peeling, and five TJ's chocolate mini-meringues. Drink: Water.