My lunch: June 15, 2011

Similar to Chip's from the same day, with a few little tweaks. We've tried kiwi twice, and he just can't like it. So I guess I'll have to eat all the kiwis in the family! I found out recently that I'm no longer allergic, so I've been trying to make up for lost time. Yes, kiwi allergies exist, I swear.



Salad with organic local redleaf lettuce, organic local salad mix, organic corn, and spiced black beans, organic carrots, raw almonds, organic kiwi, homemade guacamole, and salsa.

Chip's lunch: June 15, 2011

Chip and I had homemade Chipotle-style burritos the night before this lunch, with some spiced black beans (cumin, garlic, lime, and chili powder) in lieu of meat. I couldn't figure out a way to get a burrito in these lunchboxes. It was the first time I'd been really stumped, and I started to get really frustrated! Eventually I gave up and turned it into a sort of southwestern salad. Similar to the original ingredients, with more lettuce, and no tortilla. I whipped up the guac myself for dinner. It turned out really well this time...it's always different since I just throw ingredients together and cross my fingers. As usual, it was just avocado, red onion, tomato, a small amount of garlic, salt, pepper, and lime juice. It got a little brown while waiting for lunch time, but that was to be expected.



Salad with organic local redleaf lettuce, organic local salad mix, spiced black beans, organic corn, and Tillamook Cheddar cheese, banana, Kashi trail mix bar, organic applesauce, homemade guacamole, and salsa.

Chip's lunch: April 6, 2011

I was running short on time and ideas this morning, when I remembered that I'd made a trip to Trader Joe's earlier in the week. Chip loves their fake meat, and the "chicken-less stuffed cutlet with black beans and corn" is always a hit. It's an easy way for me to up the protein in his lunch by a lot.



Organic Fuji apple, steamed asparagus with Parmesan cheese, pecans, dried cranberries, Kashi oatmeal dark chocolate chip cookies, and Trader Joe's chicken-less stuffed cutlet with black beans and corn.

Chip's lunch: March 9, 2011

We're back in action! We've been doing a lot of traveling over the past few weeks, and things have been so busy. First, we spent a long weekend in Chicago with my brother, and we finally got to meet his girlfriend of almost a year. We had an amazing time with them, and it was so fun to finally see Chicago. I can't believe I'd never been there! A few days after we got home, Chip headed to Italy for the Milan-San Remo bike race. He ate some amazing Italian food, and saw a lot of beautiful sights. Italy is on my list, and I can't wait to get the opportunity to visit once we're living in Europe!

In Chicago, we went to Friends Sushi, and I ate an actual bento box (teriyaki tofu, tempura vegetables, rice):



And we checked out the Chicago River, dyed green for St. Patty's Day:



I packed this lunch a few days before we left for Chicago. The rollups were a great way to use up a few things before our trip.



Whole wheat rollups with hummus, organic black beans, organic quinoa, local alfalfa sprouts, Campari tomato, organic spinach, and organic Boston lettuce, banana, organic flame raisins, raw almonds, organic dark chocolate chips, organic applesauce, and homemade tomato saffron soup.

Chip's lunch: March 8, 2011

Who doesn't love quesadillas? We had some red onion and green pepper on hand (which we don't usually have; usually I use a whole onion or whole bell pepper when I have one), so I made them into a quesadilla. Some local pepper jack cheese added some spice, and black beans added lean protein. Topped off with some Newman's Own salsa..yum!



Quesadilla on whole grain tortilla with local pepper jack cheese, reduced fat Colby cheese, organic black beans, organic green bell pepper, red onion, Campari tomato, and organic corn, banana, organic flame raisins, homemade vegan tapioca pudding, and salsa.

Chip's lunch: February 17, 2011

For the past few days, I've been trying to plan our garden for the summer. I know what worked (tomatoes) what didn't (not a single strawberry grew), and what failed miserably (zucchini + squash bugs = disaster), and am hoping to bring some experience and effort this year to make our garden really awesome. All this thinking about veggies made me really want some summery produce! I picked up some watermelon, plus some beautiful lettuce and bell pepper. This looks like a really summery lunch, no? The weather has been teasing us lately (it's supposed to be 65* today, and not one week ago we were seeing 3* overnight), and I'm so ready for summer now!



Salad with organic Boston lettuce, organic corn, organic black beans, Campari tomato, organic red bell pepper, and organic avocado, homemade vegan peanut butter cookies (Tasha's recipe), raw almonds, dried cranberries, and watermelon.

Chip's lunch: February 4, 2011

I invented this pizza for dinner last night, and kept calling it "Mexican pizza"...until I looked up what Mexican pizza actually is. This isn't it. But it's modeled after the Southwestern Pizza from Whole World Natural Restaurant. I haven't actually been there, but since it's a vegetarian restaurant, and it's so close by, we are hoping to go soon. Chip and I have a deal that every time one of our fosters is adopted, we go out to dinner. So as soon as Hendrix is adopted (I picked him up last night), we'll be headed up the street to Whole World!

I made this crust with the usual recipe, with whole wheat flour. This was the third time I'd made it, and it turned out better than ever! I made a double recipe, and used half right away while freezing the other half for later. I cooked up some black beans with cumin, garlic, and chipotle, then mashed them and used them as the sauce. I topped Chip's half with local pepper jack cheese, and then added some organic corn, Campari tomato, and chopped organic yellow bell pepper. We topped it all off with salsa and avocado and YUM! We both enjoyed it, and are glad that we have plenty of leftovers for both of our lunches.



Homemade southwestern pizza with local pepper jack cheese, spiced organic black beans, organic corn, Campari tomato, and organic yellow bell pepper, banana, organic Sultana golden raisins, organic dark chocolate chips, avocado, Newman's Own salsa, and an organic Jonagold apple.

Chip's lunch: November 17, 2010

It was really gross here on Tuesday: foggy, misty, rainy, icky, chilly. Chip and I both wanted some dinner that would keep us warm and fill us up. I surprised Chip with quesadillas...quesadillas that I attempted to make as healthy as possible. Whole wheat tortillas, reduced fat cheese, black beans, and veggies, plus plenty of salsa and avocado. It hit the spot perfectly, and fortunately, these quesadillas warm up pretty well, so in the lunch they went!



Quesadilla with whole wheat tortilla, reduced fat Cheddar Jack cheese, organic black beans, organic corn, green bell pepper from our garden, and Roma tomato from our garden, Newman's Own salsa, Navel orange, raw organic cashews, and a banana.

Chip's lunch: October 27, 2010

When Chip goes away on business trips (the most recent one was 12 days), I almost never cook, and I find it really difficult to eat healthfully. It's easy for me to munch on an apple or banana, but I never feel like cooking or eating vegetables. So once he got home, I was ready for some serious rabbit food. I was browsing Tasha's blog, and saw all her mouthwatering photos of salads. The woman eats a salad EVERY day for lunch! I was totally inspired, so I ran to the grocery store to get some lettuce. I threw in a few other veggies, and made it into sort of a Southwestern thing. I threw some BBQ Fritos on Chip's salad (for Tuesday's dinner), and he thought it was the best thing ever!



Salad with redleaf lettuce, CSA corn, organic black beans, organic avocado, and Roma tomato from our garden, pita chips, organic Thompson raisins, organic raw cashews, and organic blackberry applesauce.

Chip's lunch: September 1, 2010

I hate being the guy who says obvious and boring things, but I can't believe it's September. Last September here was beautiful: low humidity, cool temperatures, and little rain. This September appears to be opposite, considering today is supposed to be 92* and humid. This weather makes me want fall to get here now, but I know we'll be missing the summer food soon enough.

Tonight's dinner was Southwestern egg rolls, from a recipe recommended by a friend. Back in the day, I worked at the Hard Times Cafe and couldn't get enough of their Santa Fe egg rolls. Chicken, black beans, corn, cheese...yum! I haven't yet found a tasty vegetarian substitute...til now. This recipe was so satisfying! Easy to make, ridiculously tasty, reasonably healthy, and plenty of leftovers. We both enjoyed these for dinner, and are both looking forward to having more for lunch. We will definitely make this again (though we may reduce the salt...it was a bit much).



Southwestern egg rolls with organic black beans, organic spinach, organic corn, and organic cheese, banana, Clif Z Bar (S'mores flavor), local salsa, guacamole, and a CSA apple.

Chip's lunch: July 20, 2010

Another Clean Eating Magazine lunch left over from dinner...yum! (recipe here) The latest addition to Chip's diet is grape tomatoes. He has insisted for years that he hates tiny tomatoes. We went out to basi italia last week and had a caprese salad. It was made with pea sprouts, pesto, housemade mozzarella, and...grape tomatoes! And Chip loved it. He housed tonight's dinner that was covered with grape tomatoes, and even said they tasted good. It's ridiculous how happy this makes me. Later this week we'll be trying kiwi again. It didn't go over so well last summer.

Also, speaking of basi italia...I haven't yet mentioned fudha. Fudha (pronounced like "buddha") is an organization that launched in Columbus, Ohio, earlier this year. They partner with locally owned restaurants, particularly those that focus on local ingredients. Twice a week, they offer a "fudha:" a coupon to one of these local restaurants. Each time someone purchases a fudha (i.e. pay $10 and get a $20 coupon to Betty's), $1 is donated to the Mid-Ohio Food Bank. It's awesome all around: I save money, some money goes to a good cause, I get to go out to dinner, and I get to vote with my wallet by patronizing cool local places. If you are in the area, you should definitely sign up! Chip and I have been able to go to a lot of cool places: Betty's, basi italia, Tip Top, Mozart's, Haiku, and Late Night Slice (which we both agree is the best pizza we've ever had...we had a long discussion about it during one of our fifteen hours in the car this past week).

And since this post is long enough already, check back tomorrow and I'll introduce Frank, our latest foster.

Here's what tonight's dinner looked like as dinner:



And crammed into the lunchbox:



Whole banana, half of an organic Fuji apple, oganic corn, organic spiced black beans, raw almonds, organic Sultana golden raisins, organic dried cranberries, grape tomatoes, organic redleaf lettuce, whole wheat pita, and salsa.

Chip's lunch: April 29, 2010

Yikes...this lunch is low on fruits and veggies, but I guess that goes along with the whole, "needing to go grocery shopping" thing. I made these quesadillas for dinner tonight, and Chip said, "this is why we never go out to dinner. Because this tastes better than going out, and it's cheaper and it's in reasonable portions." I took that as a request to make it again, so here it is!

Also, by request, here's how I made this guac:
2 large avocados
1/4 red onion, chopped
5 or 6 Campari tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 large lime, juiced
salt and pepper to taste



Quesadilla with cheddar jack cheese, organic black beans, and red onion, homemade cornbread, organic fair trade dark and milk chocolate, raw almonds, organic Fuji apple, Newman's Own salsa, and homemade guacamole (avocado, Campari tomato, red onion, garlic, lime juice, salt, and pepper).

Chip's lunch: April 8, 2010

One of my friends from California mentioned a burrito in her facebook status yesterday. It wasn't just any burrito, though. It was a burrito from Super Taqueria (or "Super Taq"). These burritos are not very good for you. But...they are extremely cheap, they're full of good stuff, they come with all the fresh salsa you can eat, and they are authentically Mexican (as approved by some visiting co-workers from Mexico last year). I used to eat one for lunch often: pinto beans, cheese, tons of avocado, and lots of salsa for under $3!

So I decided to make some burritos for tonight's dinner. I sauteed some garlic in olive oil, then added about a tablespoon of cumin, a teaspoon of chili powder, some sea salt, and a can of organic black beans (rinsed). I simmered til the beans started to fall apart. We put the beans on the tortillas and added some local cheddar/jack cheese. Then we microwaved for a few seconds so it would all be nice and melty. We threw in some veggies and YUM! These were amazing. This is a lunch of leftovers, but I know Chip is really going to love it.

Also, I took this photo on the deck this evening while it was still light out. I think it looks much better than a photo taken with a flash at 11 pm in my kitchen.



Organic medium salsa, avocado, two flour tortillas, organic black beans, organic fair trade 55% dark chocolate with almonds, organic flame raisins, organic Michigan applesauce, local Cheddar/jack cheese, organic redleaf lettuce, and diced Campari tomatoes.

Chip's lunch: January 27, 2010

This lunch was tough to put together. We went to CostCo this Sunday instead of the grocery store, so we didn't have all of the usual stuff around. We don't have many vegetables around, and this apple is the last of our fruit. So it's off to the grocery store for me today, and off to work with a creative lunch for Chip!



Flatout wrap: 1/2 with PB&J and 1/2 with lettuce, black beans, cheddar, salsa, and mushrooms, organic granola with chocolate chips, Trader Joe's organic apple raspberry fruit strip, saffron rice, and a Gala apple

Chip's lunch: January 22, 2010

This lunch happens to be particularly fruit/veggie-heavy. I cut up the orange before deciding what else I'd put in the lunch, and since the sweet potatoes and asparagus are leftovers that have to be eaten tomorrow, it just happened that there's a lot of rabbit food in the box. I was at a loss as to what to include for protein; I considered a meat analogue of some sort, but then decided that it would be nice to keep it "clean," since the rest of the lunch was clean (for more on clean eating, check out this link). So I scrambled up some eggs and threw in some black beans, broccoli, and cheese that was laying around. One of Chip's favorite things ever is eggs with a bunch of stuff thrown in. I've never done black beans and eggs, but I'm pretty sure I can't go wrong.



Navel orange, roasted sweet potatoes with rosemary, salt, pepper, and garlic, scrambled local pastured eggs with organic black beans, broccoli, and local cheddar jack cheese, organic salsa (for the eggs), and Parmesan crusted asparagus.

Chip's lunch: August 24, 2009

This lunch is nice and pretty, and marks the first time that one of our lunches includes TWO components that were locally-grown! The weekend before I made this lunch, Chip and I paid a visit to the Clintonville Farmers' Market. It's only about a mile from our house, and we had a beautiful walk there and back. This market isn't huge, but it definitely had a variety of local and organic items. Some of my faves from last season included green beans, sweet potato pie (from an adorable grandmotherly woman who makes all her pies at home by hand), tons of apples (especially Winesap, Gala, and Jonagold), broccoli, habanero jack cheese (SO much heat but SO good), and raspberry jam.



Farmers' market green beans (prepared "Outback-style*": steamed, then tossed in margarine, brown sugar, and Season-All), homemade brownie, peanut M&Ms, farmers' market Gala apple, and homemade Haitian-style brown rice and beans.

*Yes, I worked at Outback Steakhouse for 4 years while in college. Yes, that is why I'm a vegetarian.

Chip's lunch: August 20, 2009

More leftovers in this lunch. I heavily adapted a recipe for Haitian style rice and beans. It was just OK...neither of us really loved it. We had tons of leftovers and were eating it for days. I liked that it was packed with good stuff (protein from the brown rice and the beans, whole grain in the brown rice, good fat in the beans, etc), but it just wasn't that tasty. Bear with me though, because the next few lunches are really pretty and delicious!



Homemade Haitian-style brown rice and black beans, homemade brownie, Quaker reduced sugar granola bar, organic apple, and half of a whole wheat bagel with peanut butter and grape jelly.