Food blues

We're struggling with a very tight budget and trying to get daughter through a long morning at school with no snack.

I haven't cooked much lately. 

So today, since I went shopping yesterday at Wegmans, I tried to make up for my recent string of pasta and hamburger.

Breakfast was half a peanut butter sandwich, papaya fruit salad (from a can, in juice), and Yummy Mummy monster cereal with protein fortified almond milk. (Did I mention daughter is having ear issues again so we've gone dairy free for her?)

I had a smoothie mid-morning of frozen strawberries, almond milk, vanilla yogurt and carnation breakfast essentials powder.

For lunch, I experimented with wedge salads for husband and I: wedges of iceberg lettuce, with Annie's lemon-chive dressing, sliced almonds, golden raisins and mandarin orange slices, accompanied by carrot sticks, a taste of tuna and a few bites of ham.

Getting on track

Trying... Trying... To get back on track with better food. Money is very tight so I bought things like salad, apples and carrots. 

Only one cup of coffee this morning because I had a job interview at someplace very special to me. Breakfast was half a tortilla shell filled with shredded Parmesan and iceberg lettuce with cabbage and carrots and lite goddess dressing.

Morning snack was a glass of sun-brewed unsweetened iced tea, half black and half apple cinnamon and a Kashi mocha almond granola bar.

Lunch is iced coffee, iced, unsweetened with half and half. Water. Morningstar vegetarian breakfast patty. Leftover sweet potatoes and green apples with caramel.

Cheesy flatbreads

We have a lack of bread products: no snack crackers, no bread, no buns, no biscuits, or no tortilla shells.

What we have are Wasa crackerbreads.

So I used those to make a hot flatbread. 

I used six total crackerbreads so each person had two like in the photo. I spread cream cheese on each one and sprinkled the cream cheese with garlic powder, fresh ground four color pepper, and Italian herb seasoning.

I prepared two Morningstar burgers. One spicy black bean and one Mediterranean chick pea. I crumbled them and spread them evenly among the crackers. 

Then I heated them about 5 minutes at 350. I switched the heat to broil when I got them out. I topped each one with half a slice of American cheese and a sprinkle of Parmesan.

Return to the oven until melty.

Lunches

Child packed a lunch today of last night's leftovers, cashews, apple and carrots.

I got home from shopping and wrapped myself this bread-less sandwich of ham, havarti cheese, turkey and romaine.

Breakfast for lunch

Ham, spicy cheddar omelet and parsleyed fried potatoes

Packing Wednesday

Today's school lunch is whole grain mini chicken corn dog nuggets.

Um, no.

I packed my daughter popcorn for snack, butter bread, unsalted cashews and vanilla roasted almonds, homemade fruit salad with gala apples, white grapes, strawberries and mango nectar/raw local honey sauce, and a V-8 fusion strawberry lemonade (a treat)

"Mommy, I want a sandwich."

My daughter requested a sandwich. A sandwich is not your run of the mill item in this house. I try to oblige.

The pasta is leftover pesto tortellini.

The fruit is something from the Easton Farmer's market. It has a skin like a peach, is shaped like a small gourd and has white interior. Daughter loves them IF I peel the fuzzy peach-style skin off them. They also have a pit like a peach. Last time, she picked something similar, but it had an orange interior and the texture and flavor of a plum.

The sandwich is my homemade honey oat bread, with a slice of cucumber, two slices of deli counter ham (another oddity in this house) and a squirt of Goddess dressing.

Emergency lunch

I'm not sure how much time we'll have at lunch today so I packed a small lunch for my husband.

- a Morningstar breakfast patty with ketchup on a homemade multigrain biscuit.
- an archer farms strawberry real fruit bar
- a 100% juice juice box
- pretzels with buffalo blue cheese dip

Daughter feeds the babysitter

Guest blog entry from my friend Gayle who watched my daughter for a couple hours yesterday:

From the mouths of babes ....

Today I child sat while mommy went to work.

As we were driving to Target the Angel mentioned that my car, Aretha, was very, very dirty. During the discussion the child mentioned she would make lunch. I thought, sure, right. She's six.

Our first stop on the way home was the car wash. She had never been to the drive thru kind. [Mimi] uses the the one where you do-it-yourself. We came out and parked at the vacs. I gave her a hose assuming she'd know what to do. She did. The middle of every area. I went and followed her and did the sides and corners.

Our next stop was mommy's other favorite store, Aldi. Her first favorite is Wegman's. Talk about extremes. I needed paper towels to do the car windows. Angel had mentioned her father-in-law makes a mean window cleaner. I usually use vinegar and newspapers. I knew Angel wouldn't have the paper. The child reminded me numerous times "that mommy didn't use paper towels, and that they were wasteful". "Yes", I assured her. "I don't use them as a rule either, but for some things they are best for the job". "But mommy says they are wasteful". And so it goes.

We get into Aldi and she asks for cereal. "No, mommy has very specific things you are allowed to eat. I don't want to buy the wrong thing. We came for cheap paper towels." They had started stocking up on the Christmas toys and she spied a doctor Barbie. Again I said "no". We get the towels and she says "I bet you'll say yes" and headed down the aisle for the fruit and veggies. She was right, I did. We bought tangerines to eat with lunch.

So we got back to her house and she starts making lunch. Calling out the nutrition play by play.

Cheese: We cut this into three squares each, 2 colors. It's protein and milk. Cheese is good for you.
Crackers: Pick those because all the colored spots are nutrition. Three one for each piece of cheese.
All on one plate. I tried to put it on our plates and she said no, you have to take it from the common plate, at the table.

Tangerines

Trail Mix in little plastic cups: Raisins and red things (strawberries) because they are fruit and they are sweet. And these yellow things (ginger) because they are spicy and that's good with sweet. And nuts because they are good for you. And chocolate covered raisins because they are yummy.[Angel's note: They were chocolate covered dried plums]

Plus I heated the thyme bread that Angel left out for us.

So it works. If you start young, they understand what's important. I wanted to mention it was a bit of a carb overload, but she's six. It wasn't PBJ.

Vegetarian Provolone Garden Club Wrap

I made yummy vegetarian garden wraps today with Morningstar breakfast strips (bacon) and extra sharp provolone. I layered in them:

• Romaine lettuce
• carrots
• cucumber (from the garden)
• one strip Morningstar vegetarian bacon
• extra sharp provolone
• sunflower seeds
• organic ranch dressing

Soup Lunch

Yesterday's lunch was a hit. I know because my daughter told me and a friend who volunteered in the lunchroom confirmed it. The other kids thought she was a little strange for bringing a drumstick, but she was thrilled.

Today's lunch requires some fine maneuvering to get it into the lunch box. One thermos filled with chicken rice soup (ah, my freezer reserves are getting depleted). Several Ritz crackers. One fruit punch 100% juice juice box. And the best part-- at least to my daughter-- is the watermelon for dessert. Even sent a reusable ice cube to keep it cold.

Second School Lunch

Yesterday my daughter was quite clear with what she wanted for lunch. Today she gave me leeway to surprise her. Today's lunch was strawberries and bananas in a thermal cup, one carrot (she likes them whole so she can eat them "like a rabbit"), one marinated chicken drumstick (that was still kind of frozen when it left the house, I hope it thaws in time), one organic raspberry lemonade juice pouch, and some mixed nuts. The mixed nuts are an emergency protein since I'm afraid the chicken might be frozen or even that I should have packed two.

Meatballs Fortano/First school lunch

Today was the first day of school.

For my daughter, we packed:
- peanut butter and blackberry jam on homemade cinnamon raisin bread
- banana
- white grape raspberry juice in a thermos with the same juice made into ice cubes to keep the thermos cold. They were Christmas tree ice cubes.
- About ten animal crackers
- a banana
- two Swedish fish

We packed something similar for my and my husband's lunch. Except we had cupcakes instead of Swedish fish.

For dinner, I got some tomatoes and basil from the garden and made bruschetta before I left for school.

When we got home, I got two everything bagels out of the freezer (last two). I thawed and toasted them, put the last of the cheddar cheese on them, and melted it. I stirred some grated romano into the bruschetta and piled the bruschetta on the bagels.

I got the leftover basil-mango-meatballs from the freezer and served them with the bruschetta bagels.

My daughter called this meal, Meatballs Fortano. She said the bagels reminded her of forts.

Packed Lunch

Okay, so once again days have evaporated with us eating boring things like pasta, take out hamburgers and lots of salad.

Tomorrow, I am 'working.'

I am helping answer the phones at my stepmom's business. Just as a favor.

8:30 to 4:30. Now I haven't worked a traditional eight hour day in more than a decade. I was a journalist. We don't sit in an office. We go OUT. And about.

I got the call last night. Asking me to do this tomorrow. With the anemia and the finances and dentist appts for the whole family, I knew there would be no stopping by the store.

So I scavenged to pack a lunch that would provide enough food. For me.

I packed my Sigg water bottle, empty, knowing they have a water cooler. Meanwhile, my husband mixed up one of his coffee drinks (mine's mostly soymilk). I also packed a raspberry leaf tea bag. And a juice box-- the Organic Kids Raspberry Lemonade.

Beverages done.

Next: breakfast and morning snack.
- cottage cheese and apple butter
- one of my homemade oatmeal-strawberry-molasses breakfast bars

Lunch:
- Zaatar bread from Forks Mediterranean Deli with Greek feta (a friend brought some cheese and meat the other day, hence last night we had a cheese platter with sage derby. The child loved it.)
- BIG salad with raspberry vinaigrette dressing
- a piece of cashew nougat candy from the deli

Afternoon pick me up:
"trail mix" of
- dried strawberries
- raisins
- dark chocolate covered expresso beans
- candied ginger
- mixed nuts

Celery kid lunch

Today's kid feature:

• 4 "ants on a log": celery, peanut butter with raisins on top
• one graham cracker
• baby carrots
• fruit cocktail
• one gummy worm
• apple juice
  

On the camera

Downloaded some photos of my bread and found these:

• A fruity daddy lunch with kiddo of apples and peanut butter crackers with banana AND leftover mac and cheese with cauliflower

• My dinner salad tonight
  

Scrambled eggs for lunch

Because we're having vegetarian crôque monsieur for dinner, I opted for scrambled eggs and peaches for lunch.

I made three eggs for my daughter and I, which I scrambled and fried in a hot skillet that I had melted about one tablespoon butter and mixed 1/2 teaspoon organic four-color pepper and 1 teaspoon parsley.

Hot Lunch Again

Okay, choke one up for the doofus category.

I thought I made the spring vegetables with the citrus sauce. I didn't.

I made the steam-in-bag stir-fry vegetables from Giant.

So, I opted to try and make my own citrus sauce. Totally off the cuff.

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon roasted sesame seeds
• 1 teaspoon flax seeds
• 1-2 teaspoons garlic powder
  
• 1 tablespoon slivered almonds

Toast seeds and nuts in skillet. In a small bowl, mix:

• 1/2 cup apple juice
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch

Stir until corn starch is dissolved. Add to skillet, raise heat, stir, and bring to boil. When sauce is reduced and thickened, add vegetables and reduce heat. Stir well. After about a minute, add rice (about 2 cups cooked brown rice) on top but don't stir. Stir after another minute. Then, serve with chow mein noodles.

It turned out well, some bites were very zesty and citrusy, others salty, others a nice blend.

Hummus lunch

Apparently my husband wanted hummus for the celery we had in the fridge, but didn't tell me until the stalks had gone limp. So, we're taking hummus (the roasted red pepper, parsley hummus I made yesterday) and Ritz crackers, pieces of everything bagels, and carrots.

Mystery Crustless Quiche

I've made quiche several times for this blog, including the crustless version and the mystery version. When I scanned my past entries, the original quiche entry did not appear under any of the logical tags ('French' and 'eggs,' though I'm not sure if I checked 'betty crocker' or 'cheese.') I've decided to retype the original recipe, from the Betty Crocker 25th Anniversary Cookbook, for ease of use.

Quiche in this house is a good way to use of leftovers. Today we have garden green beans, black olives and salsa/cheese dip in there. I also made today's quiche with farm fresh raw milk and brown eggs. And somehow, my family has managed to use TEN eggs since Sunday.

Quiche Lorraine
By Betty Crocker

One 9-inch pie crust
8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded swiss cheese
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
4 eggs
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Heat oven to 425. Press pastry into pie dish. Sprinkle bacon, cheese and onion in bottom. Beat eggs slightly. Beat in remaining ingredients. Pour into pie dish. Bake 15 minutes.

Reduce oven to 300. Bake another 30 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.

Today's Mystery Quiche
By Angel
note: I always include a vegetable in my quiche. I rarely use anywhere near the cream and cheese recommended, so my quiches sometimes require less liquid and more cooking time to gel. Honestly, Americans eat a ridiculous amount of protein, so three sources of protein in one dish (bacon, cheese AND eggs) is overkill. By reducing the amount of protein sources in a meal, you reduce the cost.

I oil or apply cooking spray to the pie dish and avoid the crust.

In the bottom of the pan, I arrange, in this order:
1 cup green beans, French cut
1/3 cup sliced black olives
1/2 to 3/4 cup American cheese/salsa dip I made for dipping the other night

In a separate dish, I whisked 4 eggs and 1.5 cups raw milk. Add to pan. Follow cooking directions above.