Archive for the ‘whole food’ Category
Black Rice Pasta bentos
Posted on: November 20, 2012
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One of my favorite things to do when I have a moment of spare time is to find local grocers with imported foods and dive in. I have found some tiny grocers in my town hidden in small strip plazas and off the beaten path. One of my favorites is a small Asian grocer. I’ve discovered vegetable and fruits I’ve never seen, foods that aren’t normally available here and more importantly some inspiration to look at food a little differently. A few weeks ago we tried Forbidden Rice which has a heavier feel to it and is black in color. This time I found black rice pasta. It looks jet black before it’s cooked and then it takes on a purplish hue once it’s cooked. It’s gluten free, allergy friendly and makes the same old dishes more interesting.
Miss G has black rice pasta mixed with a bit of Earth Balance coconut spread. I sauteed some Field Grain vegetable sausages to go with the pasta and made a face of it. The “hair” is vegan parmesan, eyes and nose are roma and grape tomatoes and the sausage pieces are the mouth. In the top left compartment are dried cherries and cashews and at the top right are black seedless grapes packed in her Easy LunchBoxes container.
In her Happy Tiffin stainless bento are purple sweet potato chips, pear slices, clementine orange sections and sliced kiwi for her preschool snack.
And my little Miss 2 year old has a LunchBots Quad. From the top left are black seedless grapes, black rice pasta and Field Grain sausage, pear and clementine pieces and raspberries for lunch.
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Is everyone getting in gear for the holidays? I’m still planning our Thanksgiving meal. It will be just the 4 of us this year so the pressure’s off. I am starting to get a bit jittery about the holidays. So much to do! It’s all good, family fun though.
Miss A doesn’t have school this week so I’m just packing for Miss G, 4, and her preschool lunch. I made some almond butter mini pocket sandwiches with Rudi’s brand Honey Sweet Whole Wheat bread. It helps to flatten the bread a bit before making these pockets so the filling is less likely to pop through the bread. To the right of her mini sandwiches are watermelon hearts surrounded by steamed edamame and dried apricot tulips. In the bottom tier from the left are black seedless grapes, a piece of cauliflower, 2 Hail Merry macaroons in between the cups, and a silicone flower cup of grape tomatoes on the right.
Miss G’s snack is 2 Crimson Gold organic apples, sliced plums, mango hearts and a dried apricot shape on a ring pop holder.
I will be posting my Thankful Giveaway on Wednesday of this week. Stay tuned and come back to enter to win some fun goodies! It will be a good one!
Things I used to make this lunch:
Ravioli and Wholly Guacamole
Posted on: November 16, 2012
- In: Autumn | bento | casein free | dairy free | eating local | eco-friendly | egg free | engine 2 diet | food blog | Foods | gluten free | kids | leaf | lunchbox | meatless | no waste lunch | obento | organic | plant based | plant strong | school lunch | snacks | toddler food | toddler lunch | Vegan | Vegetarian | whole food | yum
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Aloha and Happy Friday!
Little Miss 4 year old has a simple lunch. In her Sistema sandwich sized bento box, she has pineapple pieces, Soy Boy brand dairy free ravioli, hibiscus shaped watermelon pieces and sliced mini carrots.
For her preschool snack, she has a Wholly Guacamole brand 100 calorie snack pack of guacamole, Trader Joe’s edamame crackers for dipping, and 2 Crimson Gold apples. Below is a small container of Marcona almonds.
Wishing everyone has a great weekend ahead. I’ll be doing a giveaway next week like I promised a while back. I am thankful for so many people who read and appreciate me sharing lunches so stay tuned!
Polenta heart bento lunches
Posted on: November 15, 2012
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The Quinoa Corporation makes packages of premade polenta. They’re perfect for a last minute dinner or snack. The polenta they make is USDA certified organic, kosher, gluten free and fat free with no funky additives. It comes in all different types, plain, flavored with garlic.
They also make yummy pastas with corn and quinoa and fun shapes for kids. For today’s lunches I used their blend of corn and quinoa for added protein. I like to cut shapes for the kids out of 1/2″ slices. I also cook the leftover scraps for me to eat. I either bake or grill the polenta on the stove top. It’s pre-cooked so there’s no worry about it not being cooked long. I cook it long enough for it to be firm and picked up by little fingers without falling apart. Below are quinoa polenta hearts baked in a skillet on the stovetop over medium heat for about 10 minutes on each side. In her mini dippers container is barbeque sauce for dipping. next to the polenta hearts are a cup of raspberries and a pick of yellow grape tomatoes. At the top left are heart shaped watermelon pieces and at the top right are cantaloupe hearts packed in her Easy LunchBoxes container.
For her snack today, Miss G has a LunchBots Uno with a sweet potato pumpkin shaped muffin at the top left, 2 Crimson Gold mini apples, slices of local Florida oranges with a lion pick and snow peas.
Miss A has mini leaves in her LunchBots Quad. From the top left are watermelon leaves, cantaloupe leaves, quinoa polenta leaves and a peeled clementine surrounded by dried apricots.
Things I used to make this lunch:
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I admit there are days when I really miss the smell of dried leaves and the beautiful fall colors. For my 4 year old daughter’s lunch, I tried to make a little autumn in her Easy LunchBoxes container.
I love finding new ways to reuse existing tools. My readers have probably noticed my slight obsession with the small cookie cutter presses. I loved the patterns they leave in the sandwiches. This leaf cutter was part of a set for cutting fancy pie crusts. I use them year-round for cutting fruit, vegetables and mini sandwiches. The leaves are made from Rudi’s organic whole grain bread and filled with Trader Joe’s pumpkin butter. The tree trunk is two pretzel rods. Green grapes are the grass on a pick. The top left is filled with organic rapsberries with an oak leaf & acorn pick. In the top right there are 2 Crimson Gold tiny apples and a peeled clementine with a scarecrow pick.
Miss G’s snack is a Happy Tiffin brand stainless bento filled with cashews and dried edamame in the bottom container. At the top are dried apricots, grape tomatoes and a peeled clementine.
For my 2 year old daughter, I packed a LunchBots Quad. From the top left, she has long grain brown rice mixed with vegetables and black beluga lentils. Green grapes and raspberries are in yellow silicone ovals at the top right. In the bottom right compartment are Rudi’s organic whole grain bread cut into mini ice cream cones with a small cookie cutter plunger and filled with Trader Joe’s pumpkin butter and in the bottom left compartment is a peeled clementine and a small silicone container of marcona almonds. Both girls have ice water with their lunches.
Things I used to make this lunch:
Lunch for a princess
Posted on: November 13, 2012
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Mom’s had her hands in the Play Doh collection again. I found a mini Cinderella crown cutter in the Play Doh stash so I’ve scoured it off and I’m using it for lunches now. Miss G has a princess sandwich today cut with a LunchPunch sandwich cutter. She has yellow and red grape tomatoes surrounding the sandwich. At the top left are crown shaped cantaloupe pieces with a princess wand pick and at the top right are kiwi slices with a tiara on top packed in her Easy LunchBoxes container.
For her snack today, my 4 year old has a Happy Tiffin stainless bento filled with sliced mangos, a peeled clementine, 2 Crimson Gold tiny apples and whole cashews.
My 2 year old had leftovers from last night. She had plums, carambola (star fruit) spaghetti squash with marinara sauce topped with dairy free parmesan and pineapple chunks packed in her LunchBots Quad stainless lunch container.
Happy lunch packing!
Things I used to make this lunch:
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Happy Monday, all! I had another kid activity & errand filled weekend, and the weather here in Florida was a bit warm but beautiful as usual. My girls are having leftover homemade Pad Thai today for lunch.
Miss G has an Easy LunchBoxes container full of rice noodles with homemade sauce topped with sugar snap peas. At the top left are organic raspberries and at the top right is a peeled clementine. We’re accustomed to using almond butter in place of peanut butter almost 100% of the time. It just makes it easier to have peanut-free lunches if I decide to send leftovers. We don’t have a peanut allergy, but since it’s so common both schools are peanut free. If your child’s school is nut free, there are great soy butter and sunflower butter alternatives that you can use in your cooking and baking.
I use the Happy Herbivore’s “Cheater” Pad Thai sauce recipe.
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp smooth peanut butter ( I use almond butter or soy butter so I can send it to our peanut-free schools)
1 tbsp sweet red chili Asian sauce
1/4 tsp granulated garlic powder
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp hot sauce, or to taste (for the kid version, I do not add hot sauce.
I usually top this off with mung bean sprouts, snow peas or sugar snap peas and sometimes broccoli or carrot slices. My kids love it!
For her morning snack, Miss G (4 ) has marcona almonds, cashews and dried cranberries in a small snack bento.
For her afternoon snack I grabbed a LunchBots Duo and filled it with fresh, organic fruits & veggies. On the left are grape tomatoes and mini carrots and on the right is a halved pear and green grapes.
Little Miss A (2) has the mini Pad Thai version of the same lunch in her LunchBots Quad. From the top left are rice noodles with pad Thai sauce, a sliced pear at the top right, green grapes and raspberries. Both girls always have ice water with their lunches.
Vegan scrambled egg bentos
Posted on: November 9, 2012
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Happy Friday!
Above is my husband’s lunch of vegan scrambled eggs, hashbrowned potatoes at the top left and pineapple chunks packed in his Easy LunchBoxes container.
It’s chilly here even for Florida (in the 40s) so breakfast is what’s for lunch! One of the things I was missing as a vegan was eggs. Not the gross, slimy raw part, but just the texture. So now I’ve found it. It’s vegan scrambled eggs! Here’s how I make them:
I use 1 package of extra firm tofu drained and crumbled. I cut the small pieces for this one, and it didn’t absorb the flavors as well as crumbling. I add a bit of water so it doesn’t stick while warming. You could also add a bit of oil or margarine. I saute the tofu over medium heat with 1 small onion, chopped and a half of a bell pepper (any color) diced. Cook for 5 minutes until onions are cooked. Then I add:
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp turmeric which give it it’s egg-like color
Options:
black olives, halved grape tomatoes, 2 italian sausages diced into 1/2 inch pieces, I used the Field Grain Meat Company’s sausages.
Mix ingredients well and cook for an additional 5-10 minutes over medium heat. Serve plain or inside warmed tortillas with dairy free sour cream and salsa.
Miss G’s (4 years old) is above. She has the same tofu scramble with lots of black olives. At the top left she has pineapple pieces and 2 small pancakes sliced in half. Not shown is her Mini Dippers container of maple syrup for the pancakes packed in her Easy LunchBoxes container.
Miss G’s snack for today is packed in her LunchBots Duo stainless container. One the left side is a leaf shaped sweet potato muffin with 2 Crimson Gold apples. On the right is a peeled clementine orange and sliced kiwi.
Today is the last day to enter to win a CuteZCute sandwich cutter kit! Please click on the photo below to enter!
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Things I used to make this lunch:
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Wednesday is a perfect day for leftovers. Mom’s feeling a bit under the weather so dump dinner in an Easy LunchBoxes container & voila. Lunch is served.
Lunch today (dinner last night) is brown rice with mixed vegetables (broccoli, carrots, snow peas and onions) on top. I packed a tiny sauce container of soy sauce. In the top left container are grape tomatoes and in the top right are red grapes.
In her Happy Tiffin stainless bento, Miss G’s snack is a seckel pear, clementine sections, kiwi slices and a container of roasted pumpkin seeds.
Little Miss 2 year old has a LunchBots Quad for lunch. From the top left are clementine sections with a star container of pumpkin seeds, red seedless grapes, star sandwiches with pumpkin pecan butter and a small Hail Merry brand chocolate vegan macaroon, and at the bottom left are mini carrots and sugar snap peas.
Go Vote!
Posted on: November 6, 2012
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Today is an important day. Not the day to be apathetic & say that your voice doesn’t make a difference. It does. As Americans, we have the great privilege of living in a country that allows us freedoms and rights that were fought for and earned. Regardless of who you will vote for, please go today and exercise your rights!
GO VOTE!
I made Miss G a patriotic bento today. She has grilled non-dairy grilled cheese (Daiya brand) sandwiches on whole grain and pumpernickel with 2 tiny crimson gold apples and a Liberty Bell pick, dried apricots and an Easy LunchBoxes mini dippers container with cashews. In the top left compartment are yellow and red grape tomatoes and at the top right is vegan pesto pasta with an American flag pick packed in her Easy LunchBoxes container.
Miss G’s snack from the top left are carambola/star fruit slices, a peeled clementine, star shaped watermelon pieces and plum slices in her LunchBots Uno.
Miss A has her scaled down version of the same lunch. From the top left she has sliced strawberries, vegan pesto pasta, watermelon stars and Daiya grilled (dairy free) cheese sandwiches.
bentoriffic 