It was a weird week. For two days the three of us were stuck inside with the dog because of the snow. But I was thrilled to be cocooned in the house, nice and safe.
All week long my son was sick with a cold and by Friday he had spread his germs to me. You know that feeling when you are getting sick and with every passing hour you get worse? That was me on Friday — at work no less. I’m feeling better now after getting a ton of sleep overnight.
When my son gets sick, he stops eating well…I’ll tell my tale of woe below…
I organized our lunches by day since we ate some meals together! (for new readers, it’s all gluten-free/dairy-free because of our tummies)
MY SON — MONDAY
Corn pasta, salmon (baked with salt and olive oil), peas, sliced pears, applesauce, chocolate coconut milk yogurt, bar
His caregivers told me that he didn’t eat everything. I know that when we made the salmon on Sunday night, he couldn’t stop eating it. Oh well. The daycare menu was ground beef, hash browns, diced pears, diced carrots with fruit and cheese and crackers for snacks. I don’t object to those foods, but since I have seen them I know that the hash browns are not fresh, but oval-shaped and the fruit and veggies come from cans lined with BPA.
ME – MONDAY
Leftover chicken in a onion/tomato sauce (from my mom & her Silver Palate cookbook) with rice and lentils, passionfruit/mango yogurt with blueberries and an orange.
How lucky am I that my mom comes to visit with a meal every now and then over the weekend? One of you suggested that I look at the menu to see what my students are eating to contrast the meals. I can’t do that. I avoid passing glances at the cafeteria food. I ate it 162 times and towards the end it felt like school food prison. I can’t look at even look at it now 🙂
MY SON – TUESDAY
Chicken noodle soup, passionfruit/mango yogurt with blueberries, sliced avocado, snackTAXI with crackers (rice vegan cheese not picture), sliced apples to the far right.
I sent soup with him because he was sick and he normally loves pasta soup. They have a microwave at daycare. Again they said he didn’t eat much. Boo. The other kids at daycare ate cod nuggets, mac and cheese, applesauce, peas with fruit and ice cream as snacks.
ME – TUESDAY
Half a can of chicken noodle soup (“gf” brand), half an avocado,
crackers, apple and a KIND bar
I poured my soup into a microwaveable container at work (The “fuel” container is not microwaveable). I bet it would hold the warmth inside for a few hours, but I don’t have time in the morning to heat up my soup before I leave for work. Little known fact — keep the pit in the avocado because it slows its browning! At work, I just dug out the avocado with my spoon.
MY SON – WEDNESDAY (snow day #1)
Bacon (not pictured), hard-boiled eggs, fruit salad (blueberries, apples, pomegranates)
My son was sick and so he didn’t eat much again. He ate a lot of bacon, but declared that he didn’t like yolk, only wanting the white part. Then he refused to eat his apples or blueberries, just pomegranate seeds.
ME – WEDNESDAY (snow day #1)
Fruit salad, hard boiled eggs, bacon
After he declared he didn’t like his yolks, I ate mine and left the egg white out — just in case he wanted it. Do you do that too? I stop eating parts of my meal when I think he might be interested in eating some later on. He also ended up with most of my pomegranate seeds!
MY SON – THURSDAY (snow day #2)
Chicken hot dogs (brand pictured below), cheese and crackers, bread with honey on it (not pictured), green beans.
I made chicken hot dogs. My husband told me, “You know, he won’t eat those. He doesn’t like hot dogs. I don’t know why you bought them.” And our son didn’t even take one bite. His lunch consisted of a little bit of cheese and a few crackers with a piece of bread with honey on it.
Here’s what I tried to feed him.
ME – THURSDAY (snow day #2)
So I ate a hot dog, peanut butter/honey bread, and green beans for lunch. I used my bread machine to make the bread (Bob’s Red Mill gf/df brand)
MY SON – FRIDAY
Mac and “Chreese” with lima beans, chocolate yogurt with blueberries,
egg & bacon, sliced apple, pretzels
Again he didn’t eat very well, but it sounded like he did better than he did at home. Even though he’s eating different food than his friends, he has always eaten better there than at home regardless of illness. Never underestimate the power of peer pressure. His friends at daycare ate ground beef with pasta and tomato sauce, diced pears, peas, with snacks of fruit and ice cream.
Here’s what we like — it doesn’t take like mac and cheese.
It’s different, but I find it pleasant.
ME – FRIDAY
Homemade pizza with kalamata olives, anchovies,
roasted piquillo peppers (from a jar), egg, apple, and a KIND bar
I made pizza on Thursday night. My husband said it was good, but he missed the cheese… We’re big into anchovies on pizza ’round here. My husband and I discovered this when we traveled to visit some of my relatives who live very, very far away. They put anchovies on their pizza. To get rid of the overly saltiness the fish, soak them in a little milk before putting them on the pizza. I did that for a long time, but I stopped when I realized that I liked them salty. My son was not terribly excited by the pizza, only eating the crust, so I didn’t send some in his lunch.
that is the kind of GF/DF mac&cheese that I eat too, its so good! they have an alfredo version that I havent tried yet thats still GF. another good, interesting & high-protein mac&cheese alternative is by Namaste Foods:
http://www.namastefoods.com/products/cgi-bin/products.cgi?Function=show&Category_Id=2&Id=9
It's not so much leaving the pit in an avocado (or in guacamole) that keeps it from browning as it is wrapping it airtight. Avocados are like (most) apples and potatoes in that their cut surfaces brown when exposed to air.
You can also rub a pit-free cut avocado with lime or lemon juice before you wrap it to keep it from browning.
I love, love, love that you are now posting real food that you are eating and packing in your son's lunch! This is a great reminder for us all on how simple and nutritious a homemade lunch can be.
-Ali 🙂
I would love to pack things like apples, pears and avocados, but they really do brown nearly immediately… yours are beautiful. HOW?? Even when I serve those items, sliced, at the dinner table right away, they are typically beginning to shade brownish by the time the hot foods are served too- within 5 minutes. I don't get it! Browning fruits and veggies just aren't appealing. Do you have any tips for me?
Aellwynde, Kathy is right! A bit of lemon juice goes a long way. Apples and pears can be tossed in a teaspoon or two of it, or you can just squeeze a fresh lemon over top.
As per cheese-free homemade pizzas… Try the following combination: pesto (make it yourself with basil and olive oil) OR homemade caramelized onion jam (not really a jam… Easy to make), leftover grilled chicken (cut into thin strips), julienned red bell pepper, and tomatoes if you like. Scrumptious… You won't notice that there is no cheese.
Also, this is a great no-cheese pizza: http://nice-weather-for-ducks.blogspot.com/2010/06/potato-leek-and-mangoldwurzel-pizza.html. In general, potato and leek make a great pizza base… You can add bacon or mangoldwurzel or etc…
Your son's lunch-pail is a rainbow of foods! He's lucky to have a mom who puts that much thought into what he eats. I clearly need to do a better job 😐 The pizza looks especially awesome. I've tried making it for my son and each time it's come out horrid. He's been asking me to try again, but since he doesn't like sauce and can't have cheese, I'm at a loss.
By the way, bacon and avocado sandwiches on wheat with alfalfa sprouts were a staple of my diet growing up. 🙂
Hope everyone's feeling better.
I meant to include these links for organic chicken hot dogs and rice pasta that are allergy-friendly and that my son loves :):
http://www.applegatefarms.com/products/chicken_hot_dogs.aspx
http://tinkyada.com/
I thought you might find the report the Cornucopia Institute did on the use of hexane in the processing of organic foods, since I saw you sometimes include KIND bars in your lunch. I don't know if the variety of bar you eat is on the survey results, but the one I (used) to is so I made a switch. At any rate, I found it interesting reading.
http://www.cornucopia.org/2010/11/hexane-soy/
Pamela's gf bread mix is amazing. Not sure if it's dairy free though. My girls (& husband) don't even let the loaf last a day.
See, I could never eat this. I don't like eggs, don't like milk, don't touch any kind of seafood (seeing "cod nuggets" made me gag). Don't like oatmeal, sour cream, cream cheese, squash, avacado, peppers, peas, lima beans… this kind of diet is NOT for me.
So what foods DO you like, Anonymous? You don't think that we'll let you get away with only complaining, do you? 🙂
Mrs. Q can I ask where you buy the coconut yogurt? I've looked at my co-op and Trader Joes and can't find anything except soy.
Whole Foods is the only place I have found coconut milk yogurts!
I use Fruit Fresh on my kids' cut fruit to keep it from browning. While yes, you can use the juice of a lime or lemon to prevent browning, my kids will complain that that method leaves "flavors" behind on the food.
It was so fantastic to meet you at Blissdom and have dinner (can't believe we didn't get a pic lol). Finally getting a chance to really check out your blog. I love it – and will be adding it to my lunch and healthy eating favorites!
I look forward to staying in touch and hopefully collaborating in the near future.
All the Best and Yummiest,
Lori
I just wanted to comment about the sliced apple and pear browning challenge (and I guess with avacados too – although I have no experience with avacados), there's a method called "Aussie Apple" where you cut your apple (or whichever fruit) into 4 slices and then reassemble it using a clean and wide rubberband to hold it together. You could probably slice smore pieces using an apple corer or something like that but that might make it a little less stable.
I found the idea from here
http://www.anotherlunch.com/2010/09/snack-idea-how-to-make-aussie-apple.html
Your lunches have such variety – I usually pack mine in a hurry. I usually eat chocolate or jam sandwiches. Not the most nutritious… but then again, I have an extremely sweet tooth so I don't mind.
The fruit & yogurt combo looks so yum. 😉
I, too, am curious about the yogurt. At the regular grocery stores, the most I can find is greek style yogurt. At the health food store, I found coconut yogurt, but it was 17 grams of fat in a little single serving cup, which seemed extreme. What brands should I be on the lookout for?
My Italian grandmother also used to soak anchovies in milk before she put them on her homemade pizzas. Maybe that's why we liked them even as kids. She also often made cheeseless pizzas with just homemade crust, tomato sauce, toppings, dried herbs, and olive oil. As much as I've always loved cheese, I adored those pizzas without cheese.
I was vegan for a few years, and made my own pizza with whole wheat dough, tomato suace, and mushrooms, bell peppers, olives, shredded carrots, and cooked broccoli. It was lovely. Even though I now eat dairy, I still think this pizza tastes better than any pizza with cheese.
Delivering newspapers today I was scanning the paper as my son was running to the various mailboxes… and I came across this story about a little 6 year old and his school lunch! Thought you'd like to read it!
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/Sandwich+gets+excluded+from+class+contest/4199546/story.html
The yogurt is "So Delicious" brand coconut milk yogurt! 🙂
And thanks for the story link — I just tweeted it and shared it on facebook! 🙂
For what its worth, the layout is definitely amazing. You know how to balance writing and images/videos. However, I can’t get over how little you actually bring to light here. I think that everyone’s said the same thing that you’ve said over and over again.