little LADIES WHO LUNCH

Usually, the girls pack the same or very similar lunches  Today, however, they went in completely different directions:

Almond butter and a drizzle of local honey on organic oat bread; celery, carrot and cucumber slices with star fruit; slivers of fresh nectarine.  The pomegranate seeds are for snack time (along with a few cashews, packed separately).

(Leftover from dinner, from our freezer stash) - Organic brown rice, turkey & bean chili (made with antibiotic-free, humanely raised meat) and sliced plum packed in the tiffin container my husband scored while on a business trip in India. 

This is similar to what our tiffin looks like when it is stacked and locked for travel:

All said and done, 15 minutes was dedicated to lunch packing (veggies were pre-sliced).  Not bad.

As much as we love Gabby Douglas (and our love runs deep!), her beautiful face on a cereal box does not make us want to eat Corn Flakes.

They say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day.  How do you typically start off your morning?

Our favorite go-to quick and easy breakfast is typically plain organic yogurt, fresh fruit and locally made granola (organic rolled oats, toasted organic coconut, organic pepitas, organic sunflower seeds, fancy pecans, real maple syrup, extra-virgin olive oil, salt). 

Pure whole foods are the gold medal winners when it comes to a healthy diet.

Shout out to Brooklyn’s Early Bird Granola.

Here we have a tidy presentation of watermelon, honeydew melon (or use apple brushed with lemon juice to prevent browning), raspberries and blueberries on a wooden food pick.

Photo spotted on sparklingorstill.blogspot.com.

(Source: sparklingorstill.blogspot.com)

I have become known as “the classroom Fruit Fairy” over the years, so when the teachers announced an end-of-the-school-year breakfast potluck celebration, the requests for something “cool and fruity” started pouring in from the kids. 

One child, Max, specifically requested melon “this time,” so we happily obliged. 

Rather than using sharp wooden kebabs, we went with paper lollipop sticks.  The fruit was shaped using a melon baller and cookie cutters, then the
“fruit lollies” were held upright by a square shaped piece of Styrofoam that we painted and stenciled. 

Now you see it, now you don’t.  Those lollies were gone in a blink of an eye. 

Base that held 26 lollies upright, 10x10:

All day long, guests have been dropping by our Facebook page on behalf of Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution Day, from our friend Kristina (who we wrote about yesterday) to Applegate Farms.  It’s been a fun show of support, although I think this just may be the first “dry event” I’ve ever hosted.  We may have to fix that and end the day with a champagne toast or a boozy cocktail for good measure. 

When I first wrote about the Revolution last month, I committed to hosting a dinner party at home.  That idea changed when I found out from our friends at the Children and Nature Network that today is also National Kids to Park Day.  After a quick check of the weather forecast a picnic started to make a lot more sense, so we turned to our trusty tiffins to make life easier.

Here is what we packed:

pastured baby back ribs with homemade bbq sauce

red & golden quinoa salad (with crushed chickpeas, garlic, cumin, carrots, scallion, olive oil, lemon juice and parsley)

lemon-scented sugar snap peas (recipe here)

whole wheat pita bread triangles

hummus

toasted walnut lentil pate, aka Faux Gras (made locally by The Regal Vegan)

Bing cherries (welcome back — we’ve missed you!)

watermelon balls

homemade tapioca pudding

The Little Ladies love a good picnic, and relished in the opportunity to climb trees and hula hoop in the fresh air and sunshine at 500+ acre Prospect Park. 

The day has been filled with an avalanche of amazing advice on healthy eating, the summary of which is to eat “real” food and know its source.  For a recap of events all around the world, check out the Food Revolution Community page. 

In addition to fueling your body with good food, don’t forget to work in exercise, spend time in nature and take a moment to reflect on your inner self.  Be well, and remember that Food Revolution Day is really every day.

This was last year’s contribution to the holiday classroom parties:  a styrofoam craft store tree painted with green acrylic paint, wrapped in plastic and then decorated with organic fruit, cheese and whole grain crackers.  Not a morsel remained.

To add to the cuteness factor, fill the empty platter space that surrounds the tree with air-popped popcorn.

We’re thinking of doing something similar this year, but adding lots of honeydew and cantaloupe melon balls to make it even more festive and colorful. 

Pictured above:  Ghost shaped sharp cheddar cheese slices and whole grain crackers — great as an after-school snack, a classroom party offering or on a Halloween party buffet table.

Above:  Hand-carved clementine jack-o-lanterns, the ultimate in-classroom party treat.  Last year we made around 50 of these and they flew off their trays faster than a witch making a hasty getaway on her broom. 

Halloween bento:  Mini chicken pot pies (recipe to be posted Wednesday, October 12) and seasonal fruit (honeycrisp apple slices; hand-carved clementine)

Halloween dinner:  Individual shepherd’s pie (made from ground turkey and vegetables and a mix of yukon gold mashed potatoes and whipped sweet potatoes — recipe to be posted this Friday, October 14).  This idea was inspired by a post by Gina Homolka.

Delicious, moist whole wheat pumpkin muffins with added flax other healthy goodness…with dark chocolate chunks (recipe to be posted this Thursday, October 13).  Don’t underestimate the punch they pack in mini form!

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Ahhh….Halloween, an absolute favorite holiday of mine.  I love everything about it, except maybe the excess, and only then because I want the kids to indulge but not end up with tummy aches galore (plus there is that little dietary issue of ours, and lets face it — there are plenty of other holidays and birthdays right behind this one, so even kids who aren’t on a “restrictive diet” could probably do well with a gentle reining in). 

We *love* trick or treating, good candy and raging around the neighborhood for hours on end, but…  there has to be a method behind the madness in order for me to fully enjoy the beauty of it all.  Oh yes, my 5 point criteria before we rage is as follows:

• A healthy and filling home-packed lunch at school
• A nutritious after-school snack, and healthy party contributions should there be a classroom party
• A hearty dinner that is portable and easy to eat, because the kids are always way too excited to park themselves down at the dinner table and eat a full sit-down meal before heading out to trick-or-treat.  Otherwise, if they don’t eat before they leave the house, they’ll naturally want to devour everything in their path.
• An at-home high-quality candy stash for everyone to trade up to, should they wish (and my kids usually do prefer high quality dark chocolate over things like Snickers Bars).
• To have the “Switch Witch” (wink, wink — they’re on to that one big time, but still go along with it) come to our home at midnight and work her magic, switching up all the candy the kids don’t want for a much longed-for present wrapped in shiny black paper with orange bows.  The kids place their offering to her near the front door, and bye-bye goes the nastiness (or at least a good chunk of it).

In short, it is absolutely possible to enjoy all the fun that Halloween has to offer while still managing to maintain some semblance of sanity.

We ran into a few old friends at the green market today:  petite Seckel pears!  The kids love to eat them out of hand, and at a mere 2 inches in height (and maybe 1.5 inches in diameter) they fit perfectly inside a bento.  

If you want to get fancy, you could roast them with local honey and spices such as cinnamon. 

Also spied at the green market:  mini nectarines. 

We are suckers for fruit, but cute fruit?  All the better.

Tomorrow:  Back to school!

I love melon balls.  You’ll see them time after time on this blog in bento boxes, on party trays and in all sorts of fruit sculptures on various holidays.

In the summer my favorite way to serve melon balls is frozen, and here are 5 reasons why they excite me: 

• they’re a refreshing snack in and of themselves
• they can act as an ice pack for other perishables in a brown bag lunch or in a picnic basket
• they’re awesome when tossed into a smoothie to make the drink colder and the consistency more smoothie-like
• freezing fruit is a food-saving measure if you don’t think you’ll get around to polishing off a melon before it spoils. 
• frozen melon balls can be used in lieu of regular ice cubes in cocktails, seltzer, fruit juices, etc.

Also in the spotlight today are frozen grapes.  These little gems have long been a favorite summertime snack of my children, who also love any sort of food on a stick.  Voila!  Grapesicles (inspired by a photograph from the now-defunct veganfamilyinc.com).

Think about it:  what child wouldn’t want to come inside after sweating up a storm on a hot summer day and be greeted with a cool, refreshing (and healthy!) frozen treat? 

One word of advice:  if your children are on the younger side, opt for lollipop sticks (plastic or paper) instead of wooden kebabs with their pointy tips.