Oh, Canada...red white and GREEN lunch

I started with a red & white theme for Preciosa's lunch todayin keeping with her daycare's Canada Day theme...but I didn't feel right not putting something green in her lunch.  I couldn't do it.  So we've got vegan cream cheese and vegan "Canadian Bacon" on homemade bread, celery with sunflower seed butter and golden raisins, a white nectarine, salt & vinegar CheeCha puffs, and Glutenfrreda raisin flax oatmeal, with a little container of peas tucked under it.

Canada Day Lunch Box

Ever since the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, Preciosa has been randomly singing our national anthem  "Oh, Canada."  She's going to be very excited this week at daycare when she finds out the theme of the week is "Canada Day."

I thought it would be a fun suprise if her lunches this week were also inspired by this theme. I made her a Canadian flag sandwich with strawberries & vegan cream cheese on a slice of homemade bread. Next to the flag sandwich are some bright, juicy gem tomatoes, and above those are potato salad balls a la Vegan Lunch Box, and last but not least, soba noodles with a bunny filled with Bragg soy sauce.

Here's Preciosa's latest rendition of "Oh Canada":

Might as well have cooked green eggs and ham...

I made a big batch of hummus last night.  I love hummus.  Love it.  I'm going to end up eating all week in my lunch, along with a big pack of gum so my poor co-workers don't suffer the wrath of my garlic breath.  I also made a lentil rice pilaf which i thought was great, but Preciosa wanted no part of.  She ate a few grains of rice but if it was mixed with a lentil, there was no way it was going near her mouth.  The sweet potato mash was okay, but kind of reminded me of the baby food I used to cook for her.

The plethora of leftovers found their way into both of our lunches today.  Apparently Preciosa cried whenever they tried to get her to eat her lunch.

Blue Corn Tacos & Laptop Lunch #2

I bought these beautiful blue corn tacos (Whole foods 365 brand) because they are so pretty.  I baked some corn bread from La Dolce Vegan, chopped up a bowlful of peach salsa, and served them with refried beans.  It was a super yummy quick and easy dinner.

Unfortunately I used almond milk in the cornbread recipe, so I couldn't put any cornbread in Preciosa's lunch - there's a strict no-nut policy at her daycare.  I made her a little burrito filled with the peach salsa and refried beans, left yesterday's corn & beans in the hopes they would get eaten, a packet of oatmeal and some apple slices with a squeze of lime, and some gummy vitamins completed the lunch.  The corn and beans came home for a second day in a row.  Strange, because she has eaten them before.  I guess she just isn't in the mood this week.

Little girl, big appetite

Little preciosa is getting big - her appetite is too big for her poor little lunch kit so it's time for an upgrade.  I knew I wanted something that was going to be durable enough to last for a long time, it had to be environmentally friendly and of course, it had to be cute.

I ended up getting a Laptop Lunch; the BPA-free bento style lunchbox made famous on the Vegan Lunchbox blog.  I always enjoyed making Preciosa's lunch, but now it's even more fun.  Maybe it's the fact that her lunch actually fits inside the box, or maybe it's the cute pink containers, or the pink floral carrying case...or maybe a combination of all of those things.

Preciosa's first laptop lunch featured an English muffin with sunflower seed butter, a vegetable patty with green beans and corn, peaches & raspberries, gummy vitamins (vegan) and soy yogurt.  She wasn't interested in the beans and corn but everything else got eaten.

When life hands you eggplant...make Baba Ghanouj!

A friend came over for dinner recently before she left for a vacation,  and she unexpectedly brought over a huge bag of produce - she didn't want to throw it away but she didn't think it wouldn't last until she got back from her trip.  Among the goodies were asparagus, tofu, cilantro, fennel, and grilled eggplant.

I was almost finished making dinner (avocado rolls and tofu) when she arrived, but she insisted on making a fennel salad, which I had never tried before.  I can't remember exactly what she did - I think she just chopped the fennel, tossed it in some olive oil and sprinked on some freshly ground salt and pepper.  In any case, it was super delicious and I'll have to ask her exactly how she made it next time I see her.

I was originally going to make hummus but I wasn't sure how long this eggplant would last in the fridge so I decided to turn it into a dip which turned out to be absolutely delicious with my organic yellow baby carrots.  The meal turned out to be quite a clash of several cuisines but everything tasted so good we stuffed ourselves to the gills.

Eggplant Dip (baba ghanouj)

2 cups cooked eggplant (grilled and seasoned)
1 tbsp tahini
juice from 1/2 lemon
2 garlic cloves
salt and pepper to taste

Combine ingredients in food processor or blender and blend until smooth.