Lunch: Hard Boiled Egg in Cute Robot Container, Plum (moon), Croissant Moon Sandwich (Turkey Lingonberry Croissant - see previous post same), Star PB sandwich on homemade bread.
Snack AM: Chicken (Rotisserie Left Overs), Kiwi with cute Bento Picks.
Yum Lunch?
60% Yum...
Lunch-Egg wasn't eaten all the way. Turkey and Cheese left over - Boy said he didn't have enough time to eat all his lunch, and PM Snack. His mood was crummy too when I picked him up. Food-Mood Connection: his mood is typically bad when he doesn't get his protein.
Lunch: The lunch pictured is actually a birthday lunch I packed for my friend Sarah, whom I have not seen for ages, and whom I will get to spend the whole day with! Yay! Tamago Omelet Egg Hearts, Bunny Hard Boiled Egg Molds, Grapes, Carrots (under Bunnies) and mixed nuts in small container (under Tamago).
Lunch for Boy: Tamago (not in cute shapes). Hard Boiled egg inside robot / rocket container. PB Sam.
Snacks: Tamago, H.B. Egg Mold (Bear), grapes.
At the bean, with friends, family and
Sarah, on her birthday (yesterday.)
Happy Birthday Sarah.
Boy's Lunch. It's super protein day - because there is a birthday treat for a fellow student.
YumLunch?
Double Yum Good! Sarah and I had a delicious lunch, and the boy ate most everything, with a smidge of tamago left over (he was full)
Our son's teacher told us this is opposite week, and the kids would meet Ms. Wacky W. Today is wacky opposite hair day. My son is blonde, so we found a purple hairspray (purple is opposite yellow on the color wheel). Also, my son has not yet adopted any gender color bias yet.
We styled his hair in a purple faux-hawk. We shrouded him in towels and sprayed the purple stuff, then ran out of the bathroom because the smell was so noxious.
Lunch: Opposite sandwich - ham on outside. Cream cheese spread instead of mayo. Cut into wacky W.
Snack: Wrong Way Car on Carrot road. Wrong way sign cut out leftover from sandwich.
Snack: Hard Boiled Egg Car, some Rotisserie Chicken, Grapes.
Woke up early, and decided to try a Tamago recipe, that I found on YouTube.
Here is the recipe:
2 Eggs
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp mirin
50 ml (.21 cup) dashi (substitute chicken stock).
I watched the video a few times and decided to try chopsticks as my primary utensil.
It did not take long to make a thick, rectangle omelet that I could cut into cute shapes. As I cooked the tamago, I noticed that my first layer was a little brown, but that got covered as I added more layers and "rolled" them up. (Refer to video.) I let it cool only a few minutes, and had no difficulty cutting it into birdie and flower shapes. We ate the scraps with breakfast.
Tamago tastes a little sweet (like the tamago you get at sushi joints). This is OK with me - I consider this "strategic sweetness."
The mirin reminds me of vanilla extract, which I might try in the future. I'm not too worried about the sake / alcohol content - it's a small amount. Hey - maybe it will help my child sleep at nap time. JK.
Lunch: Tamago Birdies, Carrots, Grapes, and one Raspberry.
Snack AM: Hard Boiled Egg (Fish Shape with soy sauce detailing), Tiny Tamago Flower, Annie's Cheddar Bunnies.
Snack PM: H.B.Egg Fish Shape with Tiny Tamago Flower surrounded by Green Grapes.
Hurray! My hard boiled eggs turned out - See cute bunnies...
(Well, three out of four turned out... One got sort of mangled. Oh well, more egg salad.)
Snack AM: Annie's organic cheesy bunny crackers, carrot, and half a hard boiled bunny egg.
Snack PM: other half of bunny-egg, and grapes.
Lunch: whole avocado, rotisserie chicken.
Note: avocado does not work-it for the camera, or create a YumLunch glamor shot. Still, avocado is a fav with my boy. I cut the avocado in half, score it, but leave the pit and reassemble it. The pit helps to keep the avocado from turning brown. My son uses the skin like a bowl and scoops the avocado out with a spoon. He has been eating them like this since he was a baby.
YumLunch?
Yes. All Gone Mommy.
Also, here are some gratuitous baby pictures of my son conquering avocado when he was 14 months old. (Sigh. Sniffle. My baby is a big boy now. And now he's at school. Whaaaaa.)
As a follow-up to my last post, I got super excited about cute Hard Boiled eggs in adorable shapes, like bunnies, bears, fish, or cars.
My cute Egg Molds from Amazon finally arrived.
(Mon. Sept 10, 2nd week of school)
It's a school night, but I'm eager to try them out!
I have 4 molds, so I boiled 6 eggs in anticipation of some spoilage.
Sure enough, I could see a crack in one as he was boiling, so removed him.
The peeling is not as easy as the video would suggest. I'm wearing rubber gloves, using a tiny spoon to peel the egg, and holding the egg with a paper towel -- all flimsy protection from the heat.
I ruined one egg while peeling.
They tear easily while hot.
This egg won't work in the mold,
but not a total waste -
hello egg-salad-sandwich!
Boy these babies are hot! Normally, I give my HB eggs a cold bath - which makes them easier to peel later. Peeling them while hot, however, is a challenge. Note to self - must research and order some thermal kitchen gloves.
It took me a half hour to carefully peel 4 eggs and put them into the molds. The molds will chill over night.
Prior to this blog, I suppose I knew the term "bento box," but never in my wildest dreams did I imagine the crafty beaver moms out there making nut-ball cool lunches for their kids.
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There is no way I will achieve this level of perfection. And that's a good thing, because then my kid would grow up into an adult who expects his wifey to do weird fifty shades of perfect things in the kitchen. Uh-uh. No thank you.
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But how can I resist these cute animal eggs? And more importantly, how could my four year old resist them in his lunch box?
After being inspired by other people's bento boxes (OPB), and a little intimidated too, I decided to turn to my good friend YouTube, who has helped me learn how to do moderately difficult cooking things like make philo dough triangles and "fold an egg." Which have turned out to be completely do-able, btw.
So, how does one make cute egg animals? Watch the video above! (BTW - this is not me in the video - it was filmed in Japan, I think.)
AMAZING!! OMG! I've placed my order for these nifty gadgets on Amazon.
My kid likes hard boiled eggs enough, but this will definitely push him over the edge!
I cannot wait for them to arrive.
Happiness is a choice - at least that's what I believe. Striving to make and support parenting choices that increase joy and promote healthy growth within a family.
October 17, 2012
