the rat race continues

back from the dead winter hybernation… with the packing, the relocation, the unpacking (still a great deal of boxes to unpack, but we can function, so we are getting lazy to unpack the remaining ones…), hubby starting a new job, jon starting at a new pre-school, getting used and enjoying our new surroundings, quick trip to zimbabwe, all of these factors limited my blogging time. but we continue to put together lunchbox on a weekly basis. same procedure as last year

monday

box 1: greek yoghurt with sugar free jam from norway (thanks to SIL+BIL) box 2: physallis (some of us are addicted) box 3: walnut bread from our local bakery with slices of gouda cheese and cucumber box 4: boiled egg (you can never go wrong with boiled eggs)

tuesday

box 1: portuguese rice (i call it portuguese rice, because i grew up on this stuff) – rice boiled with peas, onions, carrots box 2: cucumber slices box 3: soya sausages (from nutana) box 4: yellow pepper slices on the side: physallis

wednesday

box 1: tri-colour fusili pasta with aubergine tomato sauce and mozzarella box 2: red pepper slices box 3: tomato wedges with gouda cheese with sprinkled oregano box 4: organic raisins

thursday

box 1: spinach omelette box 2: red pepper sticks box 3: rye bread buns with organic beef salami (free of colourings and similar nasty stuff) box 4: physallis

friday

box 1: boiled broccoli with sweetcorn (seasoned with fresh raw garlic, olive oil and lemon juice) box 2: goat cheese with sugar free apricot jam box 3: potatos sautéed with zucchini (courgettes) and carrots box 4: organic raisins

week 38: cooking together

jon is helping a great deal in the kitchen. he helped mamajon make the pumpkin pie and papajon in making the lasagna. he also layed his toppings on top of pita bread to make some mini-pizzas. we have a great time together and jon enjoys being/feeling helpful around the kitchen.

we watched fast food nation last weekend (jon was already sleeping), and we were completely grossed out. the docu-film reinforced our commitment to homemade food. at least i know what i am eating…

monday

box 1: vegetarian lasagna made with fresh pasta sheets box 2: cucumber box 3: pumpkin pie (made with freshly cut pumpkin – we would not be able to find canned pumpkin in denmark anyways…) box 4: red peppers

tuesday

mamajon had to attend a meeting in brussels and was not able to take a picture of jon’s lunchbox. papajon put vegetable toppings with cheese on top of pita breads and created mini-pizzas

wednesday

box 1: honeydew melon box 2: red peppers box 3: oat bun with philadelphia cheese and økologisk spegepølse from hanegal box 4: cocktail tomatoes

thursday

box 1: potato salad with peas, carrots, olive oil and lemon juice box 2: raisins box 3: baked potatoes with baked salmon and onions box 4: tomatoes

friday

box 1: greek yoghurt with sugarfree pomegranate jam box 2 + 4: corn on the cob boiled decorated with tomatoes box 3: rye bread with sunflower seeds and philadelphia cheese

week 34: headless chicken

the headless chicken is mamjon, or at least i am running around like a headless chicken these days. days should have 25 hours. or maybe i should look into reducing my work load to part time…

we had a long weekend. spent the weekend at farmor and farfar’s place (papajon’s parents) – jon loves running around in their backyard. jon loves the proximity to beach and forrest. so we all took friday off and enjoyed hanging out

monday

box 1: spinach pasta with butter beans in tomato sauce with fresh basil, garlic and onions box 2: cucumber and tomato box 3: sunflower seed bun with økologisk beef chorizo (all local stuff, no additives, no colourings, no funny business in this chorizo…) box 4: norwegian crisp bread (knekkebrød) with babybel

tuesday

box 1: falafel (chick pea goodness) with a mini-box of crème fraîche and dill box 2: mixed salad with white and orange carrots (white carrots!!!), sweetcorn and tomatoes box 3: knekkebrød (see link in monday’s lunch), with slices of dill flavoured arla havarti box 4: dates from an exotic land far away outcome: jon finished the lunchbox, but he did not dare eat the dates. mystery yet to be solved.

wednesday

box 1: mexican salad (as we call it at home) with boiled green beans, green peas and fresh red peppers – drizzled with olive oil and lime juice box 2: vegetable chips (parsnips, beetroot and potatoes) box 3: økologisk lamb sausage (lamb, paprika, onions, garlic, and other-that-i-can-not-remember-now and that is it!) – i don’t eat meat (i grew up vegetarian and eat fish once in a while and white meat once in a blue moon) but papajon said that it was the best sausage ever! i was diagnosed with anemia a month ago due to lack of iron, so we want to avoid jon getting iron deficiency by being purely vegetarian. if he eats meat, we are very careful to chose meat directly from the butcher, and papajon will then prepare it all at home. box 4: mashed potatoes with cheese, butter and milk (bring on the comfort food!)

thursday

box 1: pizza made with a tomato base spread on a large focaccia bread and topped with onions, beef chorizo and cheese. sinful. but homemade. box 2: cucumber sticks box 3: egg soufflé – eggs with left over mashed potatoes and feta cheese. delish. mini-box: homemade mayo with dash of cervera ketchup (sugarfree/aspartamfree/nonesensefree)

week 29: one week to go

we fly to seattle tomorrow the 12th and will be back to posting in one month! enjoy the summer sun!

monday

box 1: potato salad (boiled potatoes, shredded lettuce, peas, spring onions, olive oil and lemon) box 2: tomatoes box 3: chicken sausages and ketchup (one of the best around, no added sugar, no aspartam) box 4: pita bread

tuesday

box 1: homemade pizza (tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, onions, oregano), box 2: dried apricots box 3: cucumber slices

wednesday

box 1: penne pasta in a spicy bean sauce with cheese slices on the side box 2: tomatoes box 3: mini pita breads box 4: cucumber

week 26: summer came early

we have had sun all week long. sunshine and warmth. we are loving it! we had a picnic on the beach today. jon loves to play in big sandboxes

monday

box 1: roasted chicken with garlic and herbs with baked potatoes box 2: sliced cucumber box 3: yoghurt au naturel with raisins box 4: sliced yellow peppers

tuesday

left side of box: wholeweat soft bread with lettuce, egg salad (egg, curry, økologisk mayonaise, dill, pickles) + 1 babybel box 2: boiled egg box 3: tomato

wednesday

the daycare took the kids out to a farm nearby. we prepared a lunch in a gag for jon. we put in rugbrød (rybread) sandwiches, some dried figs, babybel cheeses.

thursday

box 1: rice boiled with fresh tomatoes and chicken box 2: apricots box 3: cucumber + tomatoes box 4: crostini with black olives

friday

box 1: penne pasta with basil pesto + fresh tomatoes + parmesan box 2: sliced green peppers box 3: filo pastry filled with feta cheese and oven baked box 4: spinach soufflé

week 25: terrible two’s indeed…

it was a hard week for parenting… a great deal of tantrums. but that is all part of growing up. part of being two years old. pushing boundaries. but he is eating better than ever. he asks for porridge (oatmeal) every single morning with raisins and powdered with cinnamon. he can finish two big plates all by himself. and no, i do not exaggerate.

monday

(no picture available)

tuesday

wednesday

thursday

friday

week 24: lunching at the library

this was an exciting week for jon. after spending the long weekend at a summer house in the northern part of denmark, it was back to the daycare centre. he had missed hanging out with mathias, adam and omar. on tuesday, they took special lunch packs because they were going to the local library to see a puppet show.

monday

box 1: fresh tagliatelle with tomato sauce and grated parmesan box 2: deep fried Camembert (oh, how healthy is that?!) box 3: mixed salad with lettuce, grated carrots and tomato with a simple dressing of olive oil and lemon juice box 4: orange slices

tuesday

lunch at the local library – we packed some rye-bread with babybel and some physallis in a zip bag. we were told we were to pack a lunch that would not require fork nor spoon.

wednesday

box 1: gouda cheese sticks box 2: physallis box 3: rye bread with spread cheese and chicken breast box 4: cucumber + carrot sticks

thursday

box 1: rice cooked with carrot slices, peas, onions and 2 spoons of tomato concentrate and sprinkled with grated parmesan box 2: physallis box 3: chinese spring rolls (the best are made the filipino way by my best friend – but she is currently living in Canada… a bit hard to get hold of her spring rolls) + box of soy sauce box 4: carrot sticks

friday

lunch provided by the sweet ladies at the daycare centre. once a month they make a big pot of food for the whole bunch.

week 21: another short week

it was another short week at the vuggestue (daycare) and it was inevitable. 6 out of the 12 kids in jon’s daycare group had had chicken pox in the past month… it started with fever on saturday but we did not pay attention. by thursday morning, papajon spotted 2 small boils on jon’s belly. papajon stayed at home on thursday, mamajon on friday.

monday

box 1: boiled potatoes with roasted turkey and mushrooms (herb and olive oil dressing) box 2: compressed dates, figs and peanuts box 3: homemade milk buns with gouda cheese box 4: cocktail tomatoes

tuesday

left side of box: spinach and garbanzo beans quiche with bechamel sauce + 2 boxes of fresh strawberries

wednesday

box 1: tagliatelle in tomato sauce (made with tomatoes, onions and celeri sticks, blended with raw garlic + olive oil) and roasted salmon box 2: emmental cheese cubes/rectangles box 3: cucumber sticks box 4: orange slices

week 20: back from procrastination mode

after one week in portugal and one week of business work related travel (where we did prepare lunchboxes for jon, but they were never photographed…) we are back to business as usual.

on friday, jon did not have a lunchbox because we had to spend lunch at the hospital – nothing serious – it was a scheduled appointment.

a big thank you to WORDPRESS for making even easier to post and upload pictures!!!

p.s. jon emptied the lunchboxes every day this week.

monday

box 1: vegetable (zucchini, aubergine, tomatoes, red peppers, onions) quiche with some stincky yummy cheese box 2: greek yoghurt with fresh rasperries (they were picked last summer by grandma and frozen) box 3: cherry tomatoes

tuesday

box 1: spinach tagliatelle with tomato sauce + fresh parsley box 2: cooked zucchini in tomato sauce and onion and parsley box 3: cucumber sticks box 4: fresh strawberries picked this very spring!

wednesday

box 1: grilled tortilla wrap with kidney beans in spicy tomato sauce and cheddar cheese box 2: fresh strawberries box 3: long winter cupcakes (they have p-l-e-n-t-y of sugar, but they are delicious… jon does not usually eat sugar, but once in a blue moon….) on the side: celeri sticks

thursday

box 1: greek yoghurt and raspberries box 2: soya pølse (sausages) box 3: broccoli and tomato quiche with the quintensential cheese ingredient (we could not survive without dairy products in this house – that much we have established!)

week 18: jon in the kitchen

jon loves to help in the kitchen. from peeling onions, to decorating cupcakes with icing and winnie the pooh add-ons to throwing salt in the boiling water, to helping us with the menu for dinner. if he sees that we are about to start cooking, he will drag his chair over to the kitchen counter, climb up and get busy. as long as he stays away from the knives… so we encourage him and praise him, because even if it takes double time to cook dinner, i would rather have him around and feel like he is being helpful.

on sunday, jon helped me make some sugar-free cookies. we did not follow any specific recipe. we just threw stuff in, he mixed all ingredients with his little hands and made them into what looks like meat balls rather than cookies. i put them in the oven to bake and he was excited about the outcome. he ate them throughout the week as a snack or in his lunchbox.

monday

box 1: creamy potato soup with peas box 2: sliced red peppers box 3: rustic bread with cream cheese (philadelphia…) box 4: odd shaped cookies made by jon himself! (contain oats, fig paste, cinnamon, nutmeg, honey, flour, butter and hazelnuts) 0utcome: empty box

tuesday

box 1: fresh salmon cooked in a rich tomato sauce (thyme, garlic, oregano and spices) box 2: cucumber sticks box 3: rice and peas box 4: delicious crostinis (old italian recipe) outcome: empty box

wednesday

box 1: cucumber and bell pepper slices box 2: peixinhos da horta (green bean tempura) box 3: oatmeal/dates sugar-free cookies box 4: gouda sticks outcome: empty box

thursday

box 1: fresh pasta with mixed veg tomato sauce (zucchini, mushrooms) with havarti cheese slices box 2: cucumber box 3: raw cawliflower box 4: cherry tomatoes outcome: needless to say, he ate everything except the raw cawliflower. papajon loves to eat raw cawliflower, mamajon is not so keen on the idea. we found out jon and mamajon have similar taste buds.

friday

box 1: fusili pasta with fresh pesto and peas box 2: sun-dried apricots box 3: cucumber slices box 4: soya nuggets (still the best on the market) outcome: emp-TY