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, ketchup; homemade 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!

Bacon; pear (farmer’s market); potatoes (CSA), onions (don’t remember); applesauce; bar (uneaten from previous lunch)

Sort of a bland lunch.

 Crackers, carrot shreds; pear (farmer’s market); chicken with sundried tomatoes; brown rice; bar (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 carrots; ketchup; kale chips (farmer’ market); tortilla chips; pumpkin 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 tortillas; mexican 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.