Lunch Wrap Up: Week of October 10th

I never told you that I ended up planting a small, amateurish garden in July. May is when people normally plant in this area, after the last frost. But in mid-July I went ahead and planted pumpkins (far too late — they really needed the whole summer), sunflowers (looking great), carrots (small), and radishes (got a couple). I did it for my son. I wanted him to plant something and then see it grow.

Frankly, I was pretty stunned when I saw stuff sprouting from seeds I planted. And I’m pretty sure my son thought it was magic. We plucked a couple carrots out of the ground last weekend. My son was beside himself with joy. I’m going to write a little blog post about our teeny garden in the future. What did I learn? Not to be intimidated by basic vegetable gardening. It’s easy and it took virtually no time.

Charlie’s lunches

Peaches (farmer’s market); kale (farmer’s market)bagel, ketchuphomemade turkey burger (with sliced carrots). 

I’m embarrassed to say that I forgot to pick up an October menu so I have no idea what was served all week. Every day I meant to ask for one when I picked my son up, but I got distracted. My favorite part of the day is getting him from child care so when I see his face, all I want to do is hug him.

Potatoes (CSA), Bite of roasted acorn squash (CSA) peaches (farmer’s market) eggs kale (farmer’s market) breadsticks.

I roasted squash. I love that stuff — it’s like crack to me. But at dinner my son exclaimed it was “Yucky, yuck, yucky. Eww gross!” But he hadn’t tried any! I put some on his plate anyway. He complained, but I left it there and just raved about my squash (because I do love it).  Five to ten minutes went by and all of sudden the squash was gone. He tried it! He ended up eating another bite. So when I put it in his lunch, I just put a small amount.

 Applesauce in a package peaches (CSA) Turkey bologna and “cheese” sandwich carrots (from my mom’s friend’s garden)bar

This is a lunch packed when I had very little time. He didn’t eat the bar. But he loved having two carrots stuck together! He loves it when two things stick together!

Baconpear (farmer’s market)potatoes (CSA)onions (don’t remember)applesaucebar (uneaten from previous lunch)

Sort of a bland lunch.

 Crackers, carrot shredspear (farmer’s market)chicken with sundried tomatoesbrown ricebar (uneaten from previous lunch)

Charlie told me that he only ate a couple sundried tomatoes, but let me tell you — they were really good. He finally ate the bar — he must have been extra hungry that day.

  My lunches

 Homemade turkey burger with shredded carrotsketchupkale chips (farmer’ market)tortilla chipspumpkin hummus

Kale chips look terrible, but taste amazing! Oh yeah, I used Andy Bellatti’s recipe for pumpkin hummus as a guide. It was really good (I used too much pumpkin, but it was still great).

Roasted potatoes and onions (farmer’s market), acorn squash (CSA)corn tortillasmexican beef

The meat was leftover from a mexican restaurant. Amazing — wish I could do that at home. I love roasted veggies so I threw them in too. Random pairing, I know.

Hash (see below)plum (farmer’s market)acorn squash (CSA)

I had a lot of potatoes and so I decided to make a hash. While I boiled chopped potatoes, I sauteed garlic (farmer’s market) and onions in some olive oil. Then I added a red pimento (farmer’s market), green pepper (farmer’s market), and two Italian chicken sausages, chopped. When the potatoes were done, I drained them and plopped them in the pan with everything else. And I drizzled more olive oil liberally over everything. Then I took some leftover kale chips and crushed them and sprinkled them over everything (instead of parsley). The dish was really, really great. My son didn’t eat more than a couple bites though. Boo. Why is the plum sliced? Because when I was packing my son’s lunch I asked him to try a plum and tell me what he thought. He said, “Cold. Sour.” So I decided to put them in my lunch instead.

 Scrambled egg with carrots, bacon; pepita seeds; plum (farmer’s market); acorn squash (CSA)

I’m a fan of acorn squash. A big fan.

 Chicken with sundried tomatoes of brown rice; two plums; KIND bars; carrot (my mom’s friend’s garden)

Those are leftovers. I chopped chicken and marinated it in “sweet red chili” sauce. I sauteed garlic and onion in a olive oil and then added a chopped up yellow pepper (don’t remember where it came from). Then I added the chicken and then the sundried tomatoes (which came in a jar form Trader Joe’s). I thought it was a terrific lunch. Oddly, it was better the next day that it had been the night I served it.

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10 thoughts on “Lunch Wrap Up: Week of October 10th

  1. I love roasting veggies too =) I’ve never tried squash though. I did buy 2 today when I was at the grocery store, but those are earmarked to cook in the crockpot. Found a recipe I’m dying to try!
    I really enjoy your weekly lunch wrap up!!!!

  2. I love ANYTHING pumpkin. I will definitely be trying that pumpkin hummus recipe. Thanks for sharing!

  3. I love those meals that are better as leftovers. It’s a gift that keeps on giving. 🙂 My mom’s lasagna comes to mind.

  4. My brother made something recently he called “Flannel Hash”. It was basically the same as what you made, but he used sweet potatoes *and* white potatoes. We also had some blue potatoes from our garden so we threw them in, too. It was really beautiful and tasty!

  5. Funny how kids like things stuck together. Its always a bonus to them when crackers, cereal or anything that should come already apart is still attached. And of course they flaunt it like that just pulled $$ out of the box. I love it.

    I too love acorn squash. Or any squash for that matter. Just made squash potato soup. Perfect for fall weather. Simple: add cut up potatoes (i used red), squash (i used butternut), onion, your favorite seasoning (i like thyme and rosemary in the fall), salt pepper and chicken stock to a crock pot. Will cook all day and the potatoes will thicken up the soup. Yumm. My family loves it.

    I believe you mentioned that you are now in a school that allows recess. When the weather gets cooler, are you restricted to the classroom or are you able to visit the gymnasium with your students?

  6. I am so jealous that you are still getting peaches! They are like my crack – we ate so many from our farmers’ market this summer 🙂

    And as an aisde – I love it when two things are stuck together too! Only I am a 35+ year old adult!

  7. I just started reading your blog-love it! Thanks for doing what you do.

    Yay for you on trying a garden. I made my first attempt at an organic garden this year -lots of fun and lots learned. Can’t wait to do it again next year. And I planted my pumpkins seeds in June….the jack o’lanterns are just finally turning orange (although the baking pumpkins have done terrific!) 🙂 You can see my latest garden post here: http://saveliveeatlove.com/2011/10/eat-the-last-of-the-garden/ or just visit my site and check out my garden page (under Eat) and any posts that feature “eat and garden” in the subject line. Are you planting a garden next year?

  8. Thank you for your lunch pictures!! I really look forward to your weekly post. Now that you are “out”, do your co-workers pay more attention to your lunches than they did before? Do the daycare workers ever express interest in what is in your son’s lunches? Ask about some of the not so common foods you pack? And, do they ever ask you for the recipes so they can try at home? After your garden experience this summer, you will find yourself looking forward to seed catalogs in January!! Thanks for all you have done for increasing the awareness of school lunches.

  9. I’m new to your blog and am curious if your son is able to heat up his lunch or if he eats the meat and veggies you send cold. Thanks!

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