School's back

(Watermelon, banana, corn thins & tahini, choc-chip cookies, tempeh, salad)

Lily goes back to school (well 'holiday program') today and I have to admit to being just a little bit relieved. I am the kind of person who prefers one-to-one interaction and it turns out that goes double for children - especially when one of them is as much of a highly-strung extrovert as Lil. I have found the summer holidays a bit full-on.

And, yes, that is a Pink Disney Princess Lunchbox. I don't want to talk about it.

My baby girl is getting so very big these days. Here she is this morning helping with the dishes. She is quite determined to do absolutely everything for herself these days.

White (& red) lunchbox

I didn't realise until I'd finished making Lily's lunchbox yesterday that it was basically all white. In a vague attempt to remedy the situation I added some grapes and tomatoes, but still, it was basically a white lunchbox...

Specifically it contained two corn thins with ABC spread (almond, brazil & cashew nut); an egg white (she hates the yellow part); half a pear; and those token tomatoes & grapes.

'Slug' noodle lunchbox

Yesterday morning Lily woke up and said, "I want tofu in my lunchbox today."
"OK," I replied.
"With broccoli and zucchini," she added.
"OK. Would you like rice or noodles with that?" I asked.
"Noodles. You know mama; noodles are like slugs," she said.
"I guess they are kind of like slugs. And broccoli is like trees, isn't it?" I replied.
"Yes. And zucchini is like fish."

Mmm...

Anyway, so I put udon noodles in her lunchbox with broccoli, zucchini, cauliflower and tofu; and I popped in some watermelon and rockmelon to round things out.

All up it was a very successful lunchbox. It came home completely empty, except for a little pile of tofu in the corner. The tofu I used was left over from our Vietnamese take-away the night before and I have to admit that it didn't look very appetising cold... Next time I'll put in some freshly cooked tofu from the fridge.

Cheese & crackers lunchbox

In yesterday's lunchbox I packed a cheese & tahini sandwich; some more cheese & rice crackers, some grapes; and a salad of avocado, cucumber, capsicum & a cherry tomato. We also popped in a soy milk popper in the hope that it might help her relax at nap time (which is after lunch). Previously Lily napped almost everyday at preschool, but she hasn't napped for over a week now and she is fading quickly in the afternoons...

When I picked her up the crackers & cheese were gone, as were the soy milk; half of the grapes and part of the salad, but the rest remained. She decided to eat the cheese sandwich while we were still gathering her stuff though, so all up it was a successful lunchbox.

Sushi lunchbox

In yesterday's lunchbox I packed some tofu & avocado sushi with some little packages of soy sauce; some salad and a little tub of cream cheese for dipping; some grapes & rockmelon; and a tub of berry yogurt.

You may have noticed that we have gone back to the old lunchbox. Sigh. Sadly Lily has informed us that she prefers this one, because it fits inside her "Elmo lunchbag" (photo below). Double sigh. Stupid branded kids crap. Boo hiss.

Anyway, this was too much food, again (possibly because they cooked pesto pasta for morning tea and she had lots of it!). She ate her yogurt and all of the tofu sushi, plus a bit of the fruit and salad, but the rest of it had to wait until afternoon tea. Even then the avocado sushi was dismissed.

Tempeh wrap lunchbox

Friday's lunchbox was a tempeh wrap (with a bit of extra tempeh on the side); a local autumn plum; some rice crackers & cream cheese; and a blueberry & vanilla yogurt.

When I picked Lily up from preschool her crackers and cream cheese were gone, as was her yogurt (but she told me that she dropped it and I don't know how much she had before that happened) and a few pieces of tempeh. The wrap, however, was still mostly intact and the plum had barely been touched.

I asked her why she didn't eat her lunch and she said that she was too tired. I think her preschool is just fabulous, except for one little detail: they don't sit the kids down to lunch until 1pm. To me that is absolutely crazy! Lily is generally ready for lunch around 11:30-12 (aren't many adults?), and she is exhausted by 1pm. I've talked to them about it, but nothing seems to have changed...

To be fair, they do have a decent morning tea around 10:30-11am with fruit & veggies, and yesterday the children had cooked a 'cheesy vegetable bake' and eaten that with their morning tea (and this is fairly common). So, I may be overreacting. I do, however, wish that they would eat a little earlier.

Fortunately most of the food didn't go to waste. We had tofu, veggies & rice for dinner, and I added in the rest of her tempeh & the veggies from her wrap to her plate.

Soba noodle lunchbox

In yesterday's lunchbox I packed a soba noodle salad with broccoli, tofu & sesame seeds, next to it are a few sugar snap peas and a little tub of miso sauce for the noodles, up the top is a nashi pear and a few tiny teddies.

Sadly Lily was exhausted by lunchtime and barely touched her lunch. Fortunately, she ate it all up for dinner (when served alongside some fresh miso soup), so all was well in the end.

Oh, and it turns out that she prefers her nashi pear peeled... Not sure how long I should cater to this preference though - isn't there a ton of nutrients just below the peel?

Lunchboxes... back with a vengeance

One of the things that compelled me to start blogging again was our recent acquisition of a new lunch box for Lily. It's a Laptop Lunchbox (bought from here) and I love it. (Pathetic, aren't I?). Anyway, be prepared for an onslaught of lunchboxes for a little while as I work through my excitement...

This is a picture of yesterday's lunch: animal pasta & cheese, with a little tub of tomato sauce, some watermelon, a salad of capsicum, tomato, avocado & cucumber and some blueberries & yogurt.

In case you were wondering: Yes, it was too much food. She demolished the pasta, ate most of the watermelon & blueberries, but that poor salad was barely touched... Next time I think I'll pack less pasta.

Lily's lunch - penne, tempeh & fruit

Today's lunch was penne with zucchini, mushrooms, tomatoes, olives and artichoke pesto; some fried tempeh, some mandarin, a strawberry, corn thins with tahini and some rice crackers.

I think that I might have to start branching out from the corn thins. Even I am getting bored of them...

Lily's lunch - avocado, tempeh & fruit

Today's lunch was tofu, avocado, cherry tomatoes, apple, pear, a hard boiled egg, and some corn thins with tahini.

At least, that's what I made originally... Then Lily spotted it and ate half the egg and the corn thins. So I made some more corn thins with vegemite and put the half egg in with the avocado.

I guess it doesn't really matter when she eats the food, does it?

Lily's lunch - fried rice and fruit

Today's lunch was fried rice with tempeh, avocado and cherry tomatoes, half a banana, some pear, apple and (frozen) blueberries.

Yep, we bought some Tupperware... Don't you just love that blue?

Lily's lunch - couscous & chickpeas

Today's lunch was couscous with chickpeas and veggies; rockmelon & grapes, some chunks of avocado and some plain corn thins.

Lily's lunch - soba noodles & dumplings

Yesterday's lunch was soba noodles with stir-fried tofu, snowpeas, mushrooms & a dumpling; pear, apple & grapes; and a vegemite corn thin (yep, can't get away from the vegemite!).

She was desperate to eat the noodles etc before she left the house and I wouldn't let her. That was pretty silly in hindsight, because she was over it by lunch and only ate her grapes...

Lily's lunchbox: animal pasta and tempeh

Today's lunch was animal pasta with tempeh, a banana, some rock melon and some pineapple.

And, on a complete tangent, I came downstairs today to see Lily sitting on the ground with an old laptop battery on her lap. She was pretending to type on it. She looked up at me with a cheeky smile and said, "I'm doing my PhD."

"Oh," I replied. "What is it about?"

"Katie and Olly," she answered.

Later, in the car, she mentioned her PhD again. "And it's about Katie and Olly isn't it?" I asked.

"No," she replied. "It's about something else."

"Oh, what's it about now?" I asked.

"Um, I'm not sure yet. I need to listen to some music to think about it."

Fair enough.

Lily's lunch - tempeh, carrots & fruit

Lily wasn't well yesterday and so there was no lunchbox to be made.

Today's lunch is tempeh, avocado, roast carrots, strawberries, pineapple and corn thins with vegemite. Yep, had to get the vegemite in somewhere...

Lily's lunch - guacamole, pesto pasta and dried fruit

Today's lunch is guacamole with corn thins for dipping; pasta with spinach pesto; dried fruit (cranberries, peach, apricot & date) & cashews; and an apple. Oh, and a little hand on its way to start eating that pasta a little early...

Lily's lunch - tofu wrap & pumpkin muffin

Today's lunch is an avocado, tofu, tomato and grated carrot wrap (rye mountain bread); a mini pumpkin muffin; a corn thin with ABC spread (almond/brazil nut/cashew); and some fruit (strawberries, mandarin & pear).

I love this little yellow bento box, don't you? I got it on ebay.

Lily's lunch - dahl, papadums & soy yogurt

Now that Lily is is heading out with a family member three mornings a week I get to pack her lunch. I love packing lunch. There is something so satisfying about it.

Anyway, I had this idea that I would try to share the lunches with you - for a bit of fun and a bit of inspiration (both for you and for me - it makes me more likely not to get stuck in a rut). Of course, I am terrible at doing anything regular on this blog... but for now it seems like fun.

The picture above is of her lunch today: spinachy dahl, papadums, corn thins & vegemite, a banana, a mango&peach soy yogurt and a bottle of water.

It was too much food (especially since they get morning tea at Playgroup this morning), but I like to give her a bit of choice. As it turns out she ate everything except the dahl.

Oddly she lapped it up last night and went back for seconds, but apparently she was pretty full by the time she came to it. So I ate it instead.

Apple-raspberry tart lunch box

Today's lunch box contains two soy sausage, tahini, pesto, tomato, carrot, shallot & spinach sandwiches, a container of 'cheezy chickpeas', a container of red grapes, raisins & dried apricots and a slice of apple-raspberry & coconut tart (recipe below).


The tart was an idea that came to me early yesterday morning as I lay there wondering whether to get up at 5am or hope for a little more sleep. I remembered that we had some apples that needed using and thought that they would be yummy with a bit of cinnamon, coconut, almond meal & raspberries. Turns out that I was right. P. and I gobbled up a quarter of it last night and only stopped in order to avoid making ourselves sick.

Apple-raspberry and coconut tart

Ingredients

Pastry
2/3 cup plain flour
2/3 cup almond meal
1.5 tablespoons of vegetable oil
2 teaspoons of sugar (optional)
water

Filling
3 Granny Smith apples (peeled, cored and sliced)
2/3 cup raspberries
1/3 cup shredded coconut
1/4 cup plain flour
1/3 cup almond meal
1/4 cup of vegetable oil
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon of allspice
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
Egg replacer equivalent of 3 eggs


Instructions

Pastry
Preheat the oven to 180 C.

Combine the ingredients together and knead into a ball. Roll flat with a rolling pin (sprinkle some extra flour on top if it feels too sticky) and then press evenly into a greased shallow pie dish (or a pyrex one - they don't stick, which is nice).

Bake for around 8 minutes or until slightly brown (start preparing the filling while the pastry is baking).

Remove from the oven, but leave the oven on.

Filling
Sprinkle one of the teaspoons of cinnamon over the slices of apple and stir through. Place half of the apple slices on the base of the tart in a spiral pattern.

Combine the remaining dry ingredients together in a bowl and stir thoroughly. Add the vegetable oil, egg replacer and stir together. Add water if the mixture is too dry. When well combined, add the raspberries and stir through gently.

Pour the mixture over the apple and spread it out so that it covers the tart evenly.

Place the remaining half of the apple slices on top of the mixture in a spiral pattern, pushing gently so that they sit into the filling. Sprinkle with a small amount of sugar if desired.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the apples are browning and the filling is starting to become crumbly (it will be more sticky than a cake though and so your knife will not come out clean if you stick it in the centre of the tart).

Beans, rice & Muhamarra dip lunch box

Today's lunchbox contains a spicy bean and vegetable soup over brown rice, a container of Muhamarra dip (recipe below), some celery & carrot sticks, some corn crackers and an apple crumb-cake muffin.

The Muhamarra dip is something that we always used to eat at Cafe Mint and it was a real favourite of mine. I have been wanting to make it myself for quite some time and was really happy with the results. It takes just the way I wanted it to. The apple crumb-cake muffin is from Vegan with a Vengeance. It is yummy, but, again, I think that the recipe is too sweet (especially the topping) and you could halve the sugar and receive better results.

Muhamarra
(Roasted Red Capsicum and Walnut Dip)

3 roasted red capsicums, rinsed and partly drained, coarsely chopped
1 & 1/2 cups broken walnuts
1 slice of crusty bread (crumbed)
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 small red chili (diced)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Preheat your oven to 180 C and then place three whole red capsicums inside, in an oven proof dish. Bake for around 40 minutes or until sunken and soft, turning regularly (say every 15 minutes). Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

Peel the skin off the capsicums (if they are properly cooked, this should be very easy), remove the core and the seeds and chop into one inch slices. Allow it to drain, but keep some of the liquid for the dip.

Combine all of the ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. (You may wish to add the walnuts and olive oil slowly as the mixture reduces in size). Add extra olive oil if it looks too dry.

Store in an airtight container in the fridge. Yummy as a dip with pita bread, crackers or veggies, or as a spread for sandwiches etc.