- homemade pizza with red peppers, quorn bits, mozzarella, tomatoes & oreganos
- pine nuts (so healthy and delicious)
- grated raw beetroot & carrot salad
how clever is this??
a friend of mine from vancouver shared this link and of course i thought it was so genius that i had to try it. i used vegetarian sausages. check nancy wu’s post for the step-by-step on how to make “jellyfish” 
- “jellyfish” with vegetarian sausages, tomato sauce and parmigiano
- red peppers
- grapes
12-hour-lamb
we attempted to recreate a greek recipe at home and it turned out to be the-most-tender-lamb-ever-attempted. lamb cooked for 12 hours in a 100C oven with garlic, feta cheese and wine leaves. i am not one to eat red meat but i will say for the record that it was simply delicious.
- home made rye bread with left over lamb with baked potatoes, mayonaise and thyme
- frugtstang: fruit bar with stawberries and dates
- fresh cucumber
falling asleep with head on keyboard
- rice + green cabbage + carrots + parmigiano
- tomatoes + sweetcorn (jon loves the sweetcorn but not so much the red stuff)
- cucumber sticks (jon’s favourites at the moment!)
- egg noodles + broccoli + carrots + tofu + soy sauce (he intends on having chopsticks, and because the ones we have don’t fit inside the lunchbox, we decided to chop a pair in half…)
- home made fudge (jon and i attempted fudge with a can of condensed milk, hazelnuts and dark chocolate. we do try to avoid sugar on a regular basis, but when he was the main chef, he certainly deserved to have some as a treat!)
- almonds and walnuts
business as usual
it was pure utopia to think that my toddler 6 year-old would now be packing his lunchboxes on a daily basis. ok, wishful thinking on my part. he was well intentioned, mind you. but at 7am, a 6-year-old is barely able to gobble down his oatmeal, let alone make a conscious decision about what to have for lunch. not that his mother is any more alert at 7am… but hey… i am allowed to have coffee (make it espresso double shot) — he is not!
so, the idea that the title of this blog is “my toddler’s lunchbox” can seem irrelevant, considering i have a first grader at home. but before 2012 is over, i will start packing lunchboxes for a toddler again: my daughter, little-bundle-of-sunshine-sister-to-my-6-year-old. therefore, we keep the blog title.
- walnut form bread with chicken
- greek olives (so goooood!)
- cucumber & carrots
- spanakopita (our own spin of the original greek version) on top of some whole wheat spaghetti + pesto
- applesauce made by grandma with apples from her own backyard with a few raisins just for show
- crunchy red peppers (or as they call them in Denmark-landia: snack peppers)
out with the birth water
it is official. mommy’s creativity went out with the birth water. forever gone. in fact, we agreed at dinner time tonight that as of tomorrow jon will start preparing his lunchboxes. fair deal in my opinion. he is turning 6 years old before new year’s eve, so i think it is a good time to get started. he knows to combine protein, carbs and vegetables. so i think he will be fine. i just need to stock up the fridge.
- home made bun with boiled eggs, fresh oregano and mayonnaise, tomato and cucumber on the side
- dates and walnuts
- fresh green peppers
- carrot bread with turkey slices and red peppers (gulerodsbrød med kalkun pålæg)
- risengrød (rice pudding served traditionally around christmas time in denmark – well, we eat it throughout december…)
- root vegetable chips: beetroot, parsnip and carrots) (rodfrugtchips)
i need help!
jon’s lunchboxes these days are all similar to the one below. when i try to add something new, it does not get eaten… we still stick to a piece of carbs, protein and vegetables. fruit goes along in a separate container…. and a water bottle. he gets milk for breakfast, lunch and supper. and water in between. juice occasionally on the weekends. chocolate milk…. once in a blue moon. yeah, ok, maybe twice a month… with some luck so, any suggestions on how to get jon to eat like this or like this? or is this really just a phase? when will i get my eat-it-all jon back? or should i just stop complaining and be happy that he is eating at all?
- Pågen bread with turkey slices and red peppers + carrot
- sweetcorn
- cucumbers
phases in a child’s life
children go through different phases; in their sleep routines… in their eating habits… in their behaviour patterns and we as parents just need to accept that. but sometimes i have a hard time with the acceptance. the trouble is that we have been spoiled when it comes to our son’s eating habits. he has usually eaten everything we have put on his plate. very seldom is he picky. these days, i feel like he has put himself on a detox diet… or some sort of cleansing diet. or that he is protesting and going on strike. he usually loves rugbrød (rye bread), but these days regardless of the pålæg (the stuff you put on top of the bread), the rye bread comes back home untouched! WHY?? so, when i ask him if he prefers other types of pålæg, he just states that he does not like rye bread anymore. so, for those living outside of denmark, i need to underline that a lunchbox without rye bread is seriously frowned upon. rye bread is great for the digestive system. it is practically scandalous that we put white bread or carbohydrates depleted for fuldkorn (whole grain). we are trying to find ways around the rye bread for now, hoping that this phase will pass and that he will fall madly in love with rye bread again. otherwise, i can expect social services to knock at my door for depriving my son of his daily intake of fiber.
foods that jon used to like and now refuses to have them on his plate (in random order): tomatoes, cheese, apricots, butter, sundried tomatoes, artichokes, avocado… and a few more that i can’t seem to recollect right now.
- Carrot rye bread with vegetarian pâté (Nutana’s sandwichcreme/ vegetariske postejer)
- dried apricots
- sliced cucumbers and tomatoes from our garden
- Gebis Guf, considering it was Halloween…. scary monster bag with peanuts, hazelnuts and raisins
- Pågen subs, our current substitute for rye bread (with allegedly 7% of fiber…) with pålæg of fresh mozzarella, red peppers and fresh oregano
- apricots and hazelnuts
- sliced cucumbers
food revolution now
who has heard of jamie’s food revolution? in the uk or in the us? well, i tried to check the outcome on both sides of the atlantic, and basically the state of affairs of what children consume these days is sad. ok, it is tragic. let’s say it like it is. check this clip out if in doubt… let’s stop being in denial. it is our duty as parents to educate and ensure our children get the best nutrition possible. if we want to binge on junk food, it is our prerogative, but we should not fail our children because of our own bad habits. am i all preachy today? you bet i am. maybe if enough of us are, more people will make an effort to change.
- makizushi with fried egg and carrots (with soy sauce)
- almonds and dried apricots
- cucumber
- rye bread with chicken breast and hazelnuts
- delicious dried mangoes (can i hear a YUUUM?)
- grated raw beetroot and carrots
- pipe rigate with ratatouille
- red peppers
- peanuts
school. already?
my toddler son started school 3 weeks ago. WHAT? yeah, school. they grow up so quickly. too quickly in my opinion. but he loves it. he is a curious one. he loves to learn. he is inquisitive. he devours information.
we still make lunchboxes on a daily basis. in 12 months time, we will be making 2 lunchboxes every morning.
i am currently working on a book based on this blog. more info to come and further updates soon.
- spinach and mushroom risotto with sprinkled Parmigiano-Reggiano
- cherry tomatoes from our garden
- fresh, crunchy and juicy yellow peppers
