Rice and Veggie Salad with Raw Stuffed Mushroom Caps

December 16, 2009

Jackson’s Lunch:

• Rice and Veggie Salad (Mixed baby greens topped with rice [I used red and brown rices cooked in veg broth], diced veggies, and garbanzo beans and dressed with vinaigrette)
• Raw Stuffed Mushroom Caps (Mushroom caps filled with a feta cheese, sour cream, and thyme mixture)
• Diced Apple
• Cubed Cheddar Cheese
• Graham Crackers

Having items like boiled eggs and cut up veg on hand make lunch prep quick and easy.

December 10, 2009

Jackson’s Lunch:

• Deviled eggs on shredded carrots (To make super simple deviled eggs, I make the filling the same way I make egg salad minus the white part.)
• Grapes and dried apricots
• Edamame with soy sauce
• Whole-wheat graham crackers

By now you know I like prepping things ahead of time so that when it’s time to make Jackson’s lunch, I have items on hand.  Some basics I always have lurking around the fridge are cut up veggies, washed fruit, boiled eggs, and pre-washed lettuce.  Having these items ready to go in the morning is a real time saver.

Take vegetables for example.  We all want our families (ourselves included) to get as many veggies as possible everyday.  Cutting up veggies can be time consuming, though, and it’s definitely not something I want or have time to do in the morning.  So, I take care of cutting up what I call “snack veg” when I have a little time (like while dinner is baking in the oven or simmering away on the stovetop).  But don’t leave the cut up veg in the fridge for more than a couple days since cut up veg lose nutrients more quickly than uncut.  My thought is this, though: veg with a little of their nutrients diminished is better than no veg at all .  And no veg at all is what it would be if I had to chop it all every morning. 

With cut up veggies on hand, we have many lunch options.  There’s always the veg themselves.  Add a little dip and it’s a party!  Kabobs are very popular with Jackson.  Just alternate veg with chunks of cheese or chicken or roll up and slice lunchmeat into pinwheels for alternating with the veg.  Diced veg is great in leftover rice or pasta with a splash of salad dressing, and if the veg is already cut up for snacking, then half the work is already done!  Add some meat, cheese or beans and you have a complete entree.  Possibilities are perhaps endless when it comes to prepped ahead veg.

This morning, I shredded some carrots that were already cleaned and trimmed, and used some celery that I had already cut up as an addition in the deviled eggs.  Since the boiled eggs were done ahead and the celery was already cut, all I had to do was mash the yolk, throw in the celery, and add a little salt, mustard, and mayo, and the deviled eggs were done.  The grapes were already washed.  The apricots and graham crackers were prepackaged.  And lastly, the soybeans were steamed a few days ago and waiting to be eaten.  Lunch was ready in less than 10 minutes.

Jackson adores pesto and many other things that surprise some people.

December 3, 2009

Jackson’s Lunch:

• Orzo with Edamame and Pesto
• Banana
• Carrots
• Drinkable Yogurt

Jackson was sick yesterday and stayed home; therefore, no packed lunch and no post.  Today, though, he was feeling great and ready to head out the door. 

I’ve had several people over the past few years comment on Jackson’s eating habits.  He’s a fantastic eater most of the time.  By this I mean he eats mostly what we eat as a family with the exception of very spicy dishes (though my husband looks forward to the day when he and Jackson can share a big dish of habanero laced anything!).  Also, he’s usually willing to try new things if they look appealing and are talked up enough.  We have, in the past, had periods of hunger strikes on his part, but he always eats when he’s hungry and he’s a good eater.

From the time Jackson started on solid foods, we’ve tried to feed him a wide variety of things.   We have been blessed with a good eater.  He has loved things like hummus and guacamole from the time he first tried them.  He begged for sushi for his third birthday (we held off on raw fish until he was four).  He loves eggs any way you can fix them, adores raw veggies, and thinks whole grain bread is the best thing since sliced bread.

If he’s given the choice, however, between raw veggies or potato chips, the potato chips win.  He is, after all, human.  He doesn’t yet understand the nutritional differences between the two and only knows which he thinks tastes better. 

We talk a lot about sugar grams and trans fat, though, and he knows Mommy pretty much avoids them.  Since he was two, if he asked for something at the grocery store, and I said, “No, it has trans fat in it,” he’d say, “Oh,” and drop it.  But if I’m not there to encourage healthier choices, he doesn’t always know which to choose.  That’s something I know he’ll eventually learn.

In the meantime, I’ll keep feeding him what I feed him (with the occasional treat—I’m not a fanatic; I’m all about moderation), and I’m lucky enough to have a son who will, for the most part, happily eat it.