Lunchboxes and Tomatoes

Here's Tuesday's lunchbox. I had made something I've been wanting to try for awhile - a sort of Nora safe corn dog. They are actually mini corn bread muffins from Isa's cornbread recipe, with a hot dog slice in the middle. I have no idea if Nora actually likes these are not, since they don't send home the uneaten lunch. But given she likes corn bread a lot and hot dogs a lot, this is probably a safe bet. Also in the lunch are a broccoli and carrot melody, a 1/2 of a plum cut into pieces and two number cookies (2 & 5). Here it is packed with the ice pack, juice box and notes.
On another front, the tomatoes are coming along finally. They are suffering from some sort of leaf wilt which makes the plants look awful, but there are plenty of fruit on the branches, despite a theft last week of a clump of them. Psycho Squirrel is the prime suspect - we believe he knew that Karl was off premises. Here's Nora dutifully watering:

Gunnerkrigg Court

As Todd and Jason already know, I've become completely enamoured with the the webcomic Gunnerkrigg Court. I think part the appeal of Siddell's creation is the steampunky feel, although more gritty and then the whole girl power aspect gets me completely. He's dealing with some interesting themes too: technology verses nature, the power of myth, mothers and daughters, free will (for robots and humans), and whether our children take the same paths we choose. Because I have no patience, I devoured the archives in one fell swoop and now I must wait for the three times a week when the next intallment will be posted. I hate waiting...

Today's Lunchbox

Nora's lunch today was broccoli/avocado/soy cheese wrap-ups, banana wheat germ mini muffins, carrots (check out my pin wheels), mango soy milk (frozen to act like an ice pack) and mandarin oranges.


Here it is packed:

When we got home today there was a package from the UPS man, and my bento bonanza has come in. I had ordered a bunch of smiley-happy-lunch goodness that is cuter than cute for Nora's lunches (and the little girl in me). I'm looking forward to using all this stuff in upcoming months. Here's a pic of my haul:

Some of the things pictured include rice molds, food cutters, paper cups, food separators, sauce cups and little food picks. Here's a close up of some of my favorites.
Since I'm promoting this whole lunch box thing for all of us this fall, I also got some food jars (otherwise known as short, squat thermoses) for Jason and Nora. Guess who gets which:

I am all ready for packing lunch, now I'd just better do it!

Ladies and Gentlemen....

May I present to you -

DR MURPHY!

Jason successfully defended his dissertation today in front of his committee, department chair, Todd and me.

Afterwords, the three of us (Todd, Jason and I) retreated to the Scottish Arms where we ate and drank way too much. Now we are recovering on the couch with Mexican Coka-Cola.

I'm so proud of him! Congratulations Jason!!!!!!!

First Day

Nora's first day of preschool was yesterday. Here are the obligatory first day photos. Notice Nora's lack of smile. In fact she seems almost put out. Actually she seemed to enjoy preschool, even if she wasn't intially enthusiastic. Jason went with her for this first day and stayed for a while with her. Then he left. Then he came back, then he left, and then he came back and then he left, and then he came back again when it was time for her to go home. Jason has gotten to know the staff at WCCC very well. I get to go with her on Friday. I'm sure the staff will come to believe we are the most clingy parents ever. Jason and I think they are amazing because they actually got Nora to nap on her first day.

In her backpack is her lunch box, a change of clothes, and Meowy Boom-D-aye who got to go to preschool too.
Here's photo's of Nora's lunch. I made salami and soy cream cheese roll ups, peas, and added some fruit gummies and alphabet cookies (they spelled NORA)
Here it's packed with her juice box, ice pack and a small snack box of raisins. And I added a note to her on top from me (I was inspired by Bob and Sarah's wall of notes that have been included in Zelda's lunch forever).

While I'm sure I'll never inspire the artistic and creative bento box creations of Japanese moms, I am inspired by them and I hope that I can keep up the pace of packing lunches for Nora, me and also Jason this fall. Here's Nora's lunch box (which she informed me was "kinda too heavy"). It's actually smaller than a typical school lunch bag and it unzips into a place mat. And it's a dog, so Nora can ask her new favorite question: "Where's the Woof?"

Recipe Roundup

I've been cooking quite a bit lately, and thought I'd share what recipes I've been testing:

From Vegan With A Vengeance, I made the Coconut Heaven Cupcakes which were amazingly terrific. My only complaint is that the cupcakes and the frosting left me with a 1/4 a cup of coconut milk in the can. I hate it when things don't come out even. But they were so good, I plan to make them again, soon.

From Veginomican, I made the much more healthy Banana Wheat Germ muffins. These were also delish and much more healthy with very little sugar, lots of wheat germ and of course, no eggs or milk, so pretty low fat too. They also dealt with a problem we often have in our house: over-ripe bananas. Jason and Nora are pretty good about eating them up, but I won't touch them once the peels have any brown spots so we usually have 2-3 that I either end up freezing for smoothies or now I will use in these muffins. The muffins also freeze well.

Also in Veginomican, was the jicama/avocado/watercress salad. I always buy a jicama with great intentions and then I remember that I really don't want to eat more than a little of it. Or maybe the jicamas I buy are just too big and I should look for smaller ones which are reputedly milder and sweeter. I didn't have any watercress, so I didn't make this exactly as written, but did follow the directions on the dressing. Next time I will use less dressing and probably add the avocado when plating this since it got a little mushy in the fridge. Overall, you have to love jicama to like this salad, and while I don't dislike it, I don't really want to eat this for days, so make it if you've got a group coming for dinner and you need a side dish. I also added two shredded carrots which was a plus for me since I find jicama sometimes overwhelming. The dressing is pretty tasty, so you may want it for other salads.

This weekend I finally did something I've been meaning to test for a while - Veganizing the Krauskopf zucchini bread recipe for Nora. Honestly, I didn't think this was going to work, the recipe calls for 3 eggs, which is more than I've ever tried to substitute before. Most of the on-line vegan zucchini bread recipes call for using Energy Egg Replacer, something I've never bought because Isa's list of egg replacements in VwV usually calls for something I already have on hand (soygurt, bananas). This time I used one of her suggestions that I've been wanting to try for a while - 2 T ground flax meal + 3 T water whipped until that egg-like consistency. I really thought this would be too dense, especially tripling the amount to replace all three eggs. But zucchini was overrunning the crisper so I thought I'd give it a try. It was super good. The texture was perfect and while I can't claim this is the healthiest of recipes (there is a lot more sugar and oil than those banana muffins), I think the flax seed and unbleached flour help the recipe some and I might try cutting back on the sugar, because it's a great way to get Nora to eat zucchini. Nora, Jason and I ran though one mini-loaf in record time and I had to hide the other three in the freezer or else nothing else would have been eaten that day.

This week I also got the Vegan Lunch Box by Jennifer McCann. Since Nora will be going to pre-school two days a week, starting Tuesday, I've been trying to think about how I will pack lunches for her. This is also feeding my new bento obsession, that I really hope doesn't get out of hand, since I don't really have room in my kitchen for more things. VLB is very kid oriented and while it uses more processed vegan food than I would like, I totally see its place for helping vegan kids (and kids with food allergies) fit in in the lunch room. I also appreciate the suggestions for kid friendly menus at home. I bought this cookbook for two main reasons: vegan cheeze fondue and veggie corn dog recipes. However, just leafing through I'm finding some amazing new ones I want to try: apple tofu spring rolls and savory autumn leaf pies among others. So hopefully this along with this blog will help me make fabulous lunches that Nora will actually eat, which has been a challenge lately since she's stopped eating most of the things she used to love (Someone tell me just what is so offensive about peaches? I've even peeled them for her!).

Pick Up Sticks

We were eating sushi and dumplings the other night when Nora informed me that she would like to use the chopsticks. Actually, she calls them sticks, and she wanted me to put them down so she could pick them up. Here's some pics:


No food ever made it to her mouth while she was using them, but I'm sure all she needs is a little practice and some work on those fine motor skills.

Congratulations to Todd and Jason

While there has been a very brief mention on Todd's blog, you may not know that they have an essay in Star Trek and Philosophy, which is available now! Here's a few comments from Jason about the publication:

Well, I got an early copy of Star Trek and Philosophy today and it's been fun. Todd and I have an essay therein with the title "Recognizing the Big Picture: Why We Want to Live in the Federation". The anthology is part of a Popular Culture and Philosophy series that has had some fun volumes covering Seinfeld, the Simpsons, Buffy, Star Wars and a host of other topics. This one is edited by Jason T. Eberl and Kevin S. Decker who (1) have been great friends since we all met at SLU and (2) had kept their middle initials hidden from me up to this point.

The essays are very approachable, presenting whatever background would be needed. Authors bring up rival conceptions of death, ethics, politics, and time. These are related to particular episodes, or characters, or facts stipulated by the show. Todd and I are the only authors to mention Ricardo Montalban or cite Leonard Nimoy's explanation as to why the show has appealed so much.

The book will be out early in September, I think so get your copy now. Todd and I will sign them if you mind the tip jar.

Congratulations to you both!