This lunch contains a special request from Chip: apples with peanut butter. It's not super different or special, but apparently Chip really loves them. Another Chip favorite: pizza. This is from Whole Foods; every Tuesday their fresh pizzas are buy one get one free. We got two gigantic pizzas for $10! And we're trying something new today too: red pepper. Chip says he doesn't love it, but he's OK with it. I blanched it, which usually makes veggies more palatable to him. I sprinkled the veggies with sea salt and black pepper, and I think he'll enjoy dipping them into the hummus.
After I took this picture, I threw in some dark chocolate that I didn't realize we had. He loves something sweet at the end of his lunch. I guess that could be the muffin, but a little chocolate never hurt anyone!
Leftover Whole Foods pizza (made with local cheese), organic Cameo apple with peanut butter, hummus, homemade vegan carrot spice muffin, and blanched vegetables (red pepper, asparagus, broccoli).
My goal with this lunch was to perk Chip up. The tart orange might do the trick, and he loves anything involving noodles and tomato sauce. And he's a raisin-holic lately, so perhaps they will help too. Work has been crazy and the weather has been crap, and we're both kinda in a funk. I hope this lunch puts a smile on his face. I'm more of an emotional eater than he is, but I definitely think that a healthy, well-balanced meal can put someone in a better mood.
Navel orange, organic edamame with sea salt, organic Thompson raisins, organic local applesauce, and organic whole wheat tri-color noodles with tomato basil sauce and asparagus.
I had to ruin the surprise of this lunch for Chip while I was preparing it. Usually he's off in Chip-land playing with his motorcycle, responding to work e-mails, working on the house, etc. while I am packing lunch. He loves surprises, so he often intentionally tries not to see what I'm packing. He walked in today while I was making it and I felt compelled to explain the ridiculous pile of lettuce in the top right corner. It was a messy attempt at a sort of lettuce wrap. I wrapped redleaf lettuce around a Boca black bean burger, a spoonful of organic salsa, and a tomato slice. There are three "wraps" in there, but it's pretty sloppy. I explained what I was going for, and how he could attempt to eat it. I'm sure it'll taste delicious, even if it is really sloppy.
Organic Cameo apple, lettuce rollups stuffed with black bean burger, organic salsa, and tomato, organic macadamias, organic almonds, organic Thompson raisins, organic roasted and salted sunflower seeds, homemade oatmeal cookie crumbles, and homemade white bean and spinach soup.
Another weekend full of greyhound events = another lunch on the run for Katie. Once again, packing this lunch saved me from stopping and stuffing my face at a restaurant nearby the greyhound event (this time, my restaurant of choice would've been Red Robin...so glad I didn't actually go). I like to make my lunches with as many finger foods as possible. I usually have a dog leash in one hand, so I only have one hand left with which to grab food.
As always, it has a peanut butter sandwich. It's just so easy and tasty! This time there are grapes though. I absolutely love green grapes, but I don't buy them often. Chip refuses to touch them (they feel like "eyeballs" and they taste too "tangy"), so when I do buy them, I have to make sure I'm prepared to eat all of them. So they're a special treat that I buy once every few months or so.
Oh, and the cookie crumbles...that's us trying to make the best of a pretty huge baking failure on my part. I made a double batch of clean oatmeal cookies, and even though I sprayed the pans with Pam, every single cookie got stuck. So I have a big container of oatmeal cookie crumbs that we've been munching on, and since it's kinda like granola, Chip mixed it in with some nuts.
And the Fruit Roll-Up...I got a big box of them at Costco and they're really tasty! They're not quite as simple as Stretch Island fruit leathers, but they're much cheaper, and fairly clean. They're a nice sweet treat.
Finally, in other news, Kendrick met a couple this weekend who fell in love with him. Their home visit went well today, and he'll be going to stay with them this Friday. He'll be an only dog, and we're not sure how well he'll do with that, but we're hopeful that this is a successful and forever placement. They are wonderful people, and they really like him. He's been returned to the rescue once for separation anxiety, and we're hoping this doesn't become a trend for him. Cross your fingers!
Here he is "roaching." He seems to be too big to hold this pose too long, but it's adorable when he does!
And of course, here's lunch:
Natural peanut butter on sprouted grain bread, organic macadamias, organic raw almonds, homemade oatmeal cookie crumbles, Fruit Roll-Up simply fruit, organic baby carrots, and green seedless grapes.
It's finally Friday! And apparently the weather has gone insane. Today it was 60 degrees, and now it is 33 degrees, and later this evening it will be snowing. Where am I? This is my first spring in Ohio and this is just bizarre! I'm reminded of the Lewis Black bit: "There was thunder, lightning, and snow, together! And I hadn't done drugs. 'Cause when you're lying in bed, and you hear thunder outside and you get up to look, you have an expectation. And it's not snow with lightning behind it. That kind of weather isn't even written about in the Bible."
So anyway, with this crazy snow and cold coming through, I figured some comfort food was in order. I successfully made an omelet, which was new...I've never made one before, ever. Chip's in for quite the shock.
Pastured egg omelet with cheddar, asparagus, and Parmesan, organic local applesauce (with organic cinnamon, organic vanilla, organic nutmeg, and organic allspice), organic banana, organic roasted and salted sunflower seeds, organic macadamias, organic Thompson raisins, organic raw almonds, and a homemade vegan carrot spice muffin.
Another day, another clean vegan lunch. I'm so glad I remembered that we had quinoa in the pantry. Our pantry is in the stairway down to the basement, so since it's not right in front of me all the time, I sometimes forget what's in there! We got a huge bag of organic quinoa at Costco for a wonderful price the first time we ever went, and we've been working on it ever since. Quinoa is something that's nice and easy to make in a small batch, just for lunch.
Organic quinoa (with vegetable broth and cumin, as always), homemade vegan carrot spice muffin, organic Thompson raisins, fair trade dark chocolate, organic raw almonds, organic steamed broccoli, and a whole organic Cameo apple.
So close! After I packed this lunch I realized it was almost vegan. If I went back and took out that slice of cheese, it would be the third vegan lunch in a row. Shoot!
Oh well. This one has a brownie in it, which I hope makes up for the non-veganness. It's made from a gluten free and vegan mix sent to me by one of my bff's from California. She's a celiac and has helped me understand this condition a lot more. While you'll never find me anywhere near tapioca bread or rice pasta, I do think these brownies are tasty. They've very crumbly, but the flavor is awesome.
Whole Navel orange, organic edamame with sea salt, organic Thompson flame raisins, organic raw almonds, gluten free and vegan brownie, and a sandwich on local whole wheat bread with hummus, organic salsa, organic redleaf lettuce, organic carrot, red onion, and local American cheese.
I think I've still got it! Today was rainy and chilly and generally gross, so I made some of Tasha's delicious white bean and kale (I used spinach, not kale) soup. This soup is just so satisfying, and I love that it's vegan, low fat, and full of protein. I threw in a few other vegan items and...another tasty and vegan lunch!
White bean and spinach soup, banana, fair trade organic dark chocolate, homemade vegan carrot spice muffin, and a Gala apple with organic cinnamon.
I think I'm back on my lunch-making game. This one is very colorful, full of fruits and veggies, vegan, clean, and really healthy. And Chip's going to love it. He walked in while I was taking the photo and he approved it.
We're trying new sandwich bread this week. We bought a loaf from the local Stan Evans Bakery here in Columbus. I hope it's as awesome as the price would suggest ($5.29 for one loaf...it's a big loaf, but still). Chip said that the bread from Crumbs Bakery was a bit crumbly and his sandwiches would fall apart.
Oh, and I made a batch of my favorite carrot spice muffins tonight. Chip finally tried them the last time I made them (in order to get over his carrot-phobia) and he loves them! They're a nice sweet treat that happens to be made with whole wheat flour, carrots, oatmeal, and flaxseed.
Natural peanut butter and banana sandwich on local whole wheat bread, Gala apple, organic fair trade dark chocolate, vegan carrot spice muffin (with local organic oats, organic carrot, organic local applesauce, and organic local whole wheat flour), and a salad with organic redleaf lettuce, organic carrot, Campari tomato, white mushroom, organic corn, and organic peas.
Another Saturday, another greyhound meet and greet. This time it was Heidi's turn, and I was very excited for her. Two applications came in to the rescue group this past week, and she's one of just three dogs available at the moment. I was so excited for her to turn up the charm. She's very sweet, and her fur is so soft, and her tail is so wiggly...she's irresistible. Except that instead of hang out with people, she did this the whole time.
So afterwards as we drove home, I snacked on the things below, so I wouldn't pull into the nearest Chipotle and stuff my face. She napped in the backseat, since she'd had such a hard day of napping already.
Natural peanut butter on sprouted grain bread, organic edamame, banana, and organic baby carrots.
So...Chip made his own lunch today. I put the broccoli and noodles in the little cups and meant to go back and finish it, but I never did. So he finished it up and almost escaped without a photo op. So I guess that this is what Chip would pack (and how he would pack it) if he had to make his lunch every day.
Tillamook cheddar cheese, Gala apple, Boca black bean burger, organic steamed broccoli, and organic Whole Foods mac n cheese.
Gosh, I'm just stuck in a creativity rut lately. The lentil and rice bit of this lunch was pretty inventive, but the rest just feels blah. I spent far too long agonizing over this lunch and trying to decide the perfect thing to fill each container. Rice was first, then apple, then banana. Chip requested pretzels, and then I debated what to put in the last container for probably 20 minutes. What is with me?
So despite how much thought I put into this, I think it's a bit protein-heavy. Lentils, brown rice, peanut butter, and nuts. Nuts are great for you, and have good fat and protein, but I think they were unnecessary. Oh well. Chip will love it.
Brown rice with lentils, organic peas, carrots, and spices, banana with natural peanut butter, pretzels, organic roasted and salted sunflower seeds, organic raw almonds, organic macadamias, and a whole Gala apple.
OK so lunch number 100 is nothing terribly special. Maybe it is, because it includes Goldfish. Haven't had those in a long time, and they are in Chip's top 5 favorite foods (along with grilled cheese, Snickers, pizza, and possibly ice cream).
Natural PB&J on locally made organic honey wheat bread, banana, organic fair trade dark chocolate, organic almonds, organic macadamias, organic roasted and salted sunflower seeds, whole grain Goldfish, and a salad with organic redleaf lettuce, organic baby spinach, Campari tomato, organic corn, white mushrooms, organic carrot, and avocado.
OK, I realize this is a bit boring, since it's not terribly inventive, and since it's pretty much what I pack myself any time I have weekend plans out of the house. Oh well. I think its colorful and fun and healthy, and makes 99 lunches on this blog. Wednesday's lunch will be number 100. What will I do to commemorate it?
Oh, and in other news...I am completely in love with Cameo apples. They can be found at the co-op down the street; the organic ones are only $1.49 a pound! I'm not sure what apples cost elsewhere in the country, but traditional apples at the grocery store here run about $1.50 or more per pound. So these are organic and a great price! They look and taste a lot like Gala, but perhaps just a touch mealier. We've been going through 3 or more a day in our house.
Organic Cameo apple, organic baby carrots, cranberry/raspberry fruit strip, more apple, organic almonds, organic macadamias, and a sandwich with natural peanut butter on sprouted grain bread.
Once again, we had such a busy day that I was a bit too tired to make lunch on Sunday night. And once again, I'm making up for it with a caprese! And some Morningstar Chik'n Nuggets. We were at the grocery store this evening when Chip remarked that he would pay good money to anyone who could make a vegetarian version of Burger King chicken nuggets. We both remember those from our childhoods. I think the secret is black pepper. They were so delicious. So...we picked up some Morningstar and will just have to pretend, I guess.
Organic tri color whole wheat rotini with organic spinach, mushrooms, garlic, Parm, olive oil, and spices, caprese with local mozzarella, Campari tomatoes, and pesto, Nature Valley granola bar, organic raisins, organic raw almonds, organic fair trade 70% dark chocolate, local Ohio honey, and Morningstar Farms chik'n nuggets.
It's finally Friday! To celebrate, I have included a *very* special treat in today's lunch. It's something we get extremely rarely, so that makes this lunch at least 50% more awesome than it already was. It was already awesome because it's all finger foods; no utensils required! This is Chip's favorite kind of lunch.
As usual, it's been a long work week and I hope that this lunch brightens his workday so he can make it to the weekend. Though also as usual, we have a weekend full of greyhound plans (picking up a new foster early Saturday morning, a parade later that morning, and a meet and greet that afternoon). Though I'm sure we'll miss an hour of sleep on Sunday, we will definitely enjoy the extra hour of sunlight on Sunday evening. Looks like the weekend will be warm, and not a moment too soon!
This is post number 100! There aren't quite 100 lunches here yet though; some of the posts were a bit off-topic. Maybe for lunch 100 I'll do something fancy. More likely is that I'll forget (just like until I started posting right now I forgot that this was post number 100) and whine about forgetting.
So...here's lunch. Chip Skyped me from work today at about 3:00 and told me he was a bit hungry. "Lunch suggestion: if there's a slightly empty container, fill it with chocolate. And nuts." So I attempted to do that here, and I hope he can stay satisfied til he gets home for dinner. I told him to save the nuts/chocolate/dried fruit for a mid-afternoon snack...we'll see if that actually happens.
"Chicken" a la king, steamed organic brown rice, organic Thompson raisins, banana, homemade clean oatmeal cookies, organic macadamia nuts, organic cashews, organic raw almonds, and organic dark chocolate.
So...I fell asleep last night before I could pack Chip's lunch. I woke up this morning and as I was coming downstairs, telling Chip about a crazy dream I had, I realized he was frantically packing a lunch for himself. I felt terrible! So I put some extra time into this one (the sandwich part) and hope it's super tasty. It's definitely healthy! And caprese is one of his favorite things ever. So I think I earned some brownie points (caprese points?) with this one.
Sandwich on organic locally made whole wheat bread with hummus, organic baby spinach, organic redleaf lettuce, organic carrot, organic salsa, and Cheddar, Caprese with campari tomato and local mozzarella, organic dark chocolate, organic cashews, organic almonds, homemade clean oatmeal cookies, and a whole Navel orange.
Oh, it's back to another work week. We had beautiful weather here in Ohio this weekend...and it was about time! We saw 50 degrees for the first time since probably late September. I went out for a run today and along the way I saw so many people out, working on their houses, riding bikes, running, walking, sitting on porches, etc. It's amazing what a little bit of sun can do for one's motivation. Chip spent the day working on his motorcycle; he needs to get it back into shape after winter in the garage. Soon enough he'll be moto-ing to work every day!
We spent the afternoon in the backyard with our dogs and our friends and their Lab, Moly (yep...just one "L"). Heidi really liked her and the two girls had fun running around while Cal obsessed over some tennis balls. In other Heidi news, she and Cal have officially decided to be friends. They played this morning for a while before I woke up (which is exactly what our first foster and Cal did...every morning they played around in our bed for a half hour, then spent a half hour scrapping in the backyard). Chip got some photographic evidence for me:
And this evening I made some clean oatmeal cookies. I'm not gonna lie: I added a little extra sweetener. We like things sweet. And I figure...cookies should taste amazing. Why make a bunch of blah cookies when you can make a bunch of awesome cookies? Right? They turned out really well. I like oatmeal cookies to have tons of oats; I love the texture and I feel like they're good for me.
Organic Golden Delicious apple, steamed broccoli with butter and sea salt, clean oatmeal cookies (with organic local oats!), and organic tri color whole wheat rotini (the colors come from spinach, beets, and carrot) with local pesto and fresh chopped tomato.
Pizza again! This pizza was so good last week and we were both in the mood for something healthy that tastes unhealthy. We got some beautiful Campari tomatoes and I made a double recipe of the dough so I could freeze half and save it for later. I felt very old-fashioned when I was kneading the dough!
This is another lunch I threw together really quickly. This has been a long, busy week, and we're both just wrecked. We can't wait for the weekend!
On a related note (related to the 'long, busy week' part), one of our fosters is being adopted this weekend. Sweet Roxie has been waiting 3 years next month for her forever home, and it seems she's finally found it. I will miss her dearly (I've been crying since Saturday), but her new home is absolutely perfect and I know she'll be so happy there. We love you, Roxie!
Here she is tonight on her throne:
Yawning, because her life is so difficult:
And of course, here's lunch:
Homemade Margherita pizza (with organic whole wheat flour, organic yeast, local mozzarella, Campari tomatoes, and organic basil), Whole Foods organic vegetable crackers, Nature Valley granola bar, organic flame raisins, organic raw almonds, organic cashews, organic fair trade dark chocolate, and a whole organic Golden Delicious apple.
Breakfast for lunch again! This time it's because I made extra breakfast this morning and threw it in the lunchbox. I stayed up too late last night watching "American Idol," so lunch didn't get packed until this morning. And just for the record, I'm extremely disappointed in Idol this year; no one seems terribly talented, and some of them are actually really bad (*cough* Tim Urban *cough*).
Anyway, here she is. I wish I'd had more fruit on hand; if I had, I would've packed more fruit instead of the sausage patties. We are completely out of Chip-approved fruit in this house (that means apples, bananas, and oranges). So...this lunch packs more protein than usual, and isn't technically clean.
Bob's Red Mill creamy wheat cereal with a sprinkle of organic brown sugar, Morningstar organic sausage patties, one pastured egg scrambled with mushroom and organic spinach, and a whole organic Gala apple.
Things are busy in our house these days! Our latest foster came home on Saturday evening. Due to a mixup, we actually got Where's Raw Hide, whom we are calling Heidi. I'll save the spiel on greyhound racing, but I will say that she came from the track filthy, covered in ticks (we found 5 and counting), 16 pounds underweight, with tufts of hair falling out, and with a UTI. After a bath, a trip to the vet, and plenty of rest and love, she is doing wonderfully. She's a wiggly little thing, and very sweet. Her little tail has a white tip and it goes a mile a minute.
So because I've got my hands full with all these animals (at the moment, we've got 3 cats and 3 dogs), I was a little short on time to throw this together. So it was a very quick lunch, but it's got plenty of fruits and vegetables, is clean, and is vegan. Yay!
Oh, and we decided to try natural peanut butter. I won't say what we've been eating, but this new stuff is SO much better! On a whim, I bought Peanut Butter & Co's Smooth Operator. It is so much better than we expected it to be! It is sweetened (though with evaporated cane juice instead of sugar), but not too much. I think we might be converts.
Salad with redleaf lettuce, organic spinach, white mushroom, organic carrot, and Campari tomato, homemade vegan lentil soup, organic flame raisins, organic roasted and salted sunflower seeds, organic dark chocolate (Green & Black's), and a natural peanut butter and banana sandwich on local organic whole wheat bread.
I hesitate to post this picture, because it looks a lot less delicious than it actually was. Mac and cheese is one of those things that looks good when you first eat it, but when it cools off and has been sitting in the fridge...not so much.
Last night for dinner we had clean mac and cheese (recipe here). I added some black pepper and garlic powder to the recipe and it was amazing. Next time I might add some sauteed chopped onion too (that's how my grandmother used to make her mac and cheese). I tend to be a purist with mac and cheese; I want it plain and comforting, with no extra stuff added in. But I think this would be really good with some broccoli or asparagus mixed in. I used organic whole wheat vegetable rotini from the co-op down the street. Green is spinach, red is beet, and orange is carrot. I think we'll definitely be having this one again!
I threw in a half sandwich, but decided to skip the PB&J. I feel like we've been eating too much of it lately, and Chip always loves any kind of vegetables I throw on a sandwich for him, so I just invented a sandwich from what was in the fridge.
Clean mac and cheese, organic banana, sandwich on local organic honey wheat bread with organic spinach, salsa, white mushroom, and cheddar, and a whole organic Golden Delicious apple.
Although it seems like winter may finally be on its way out, we've been enjoying some hot wintry soups for the past two weeks. Last night I made lentil soup (same recipe as always), and added a cup of chopped organic carrot and about a half cup of chopped celery. I like to load this soup up with veggies, because they add nutrients that we can hardly even taste.
The creator of the recipe for this soup notes that it is really inexpensive per serving. I estimate that even with all organic ingredients (including the spices!), this costs about $.50 per serving (assuming 8 servings). We buy things like lentils and spices in bulk from the local co-op, so we don't end up paying for things like packaging and marketing.
Whole Navel orange, organic banana, pretzel snaps, organic flame raisins, organic sprouted almonds, organic roasted and salted sunflower seeds, organic dark chocolate, and homemade organic lentil soup.
