week 35: taking in suggestions

lots of play at kindergaten (yes, you have now officially graduated from daycare to the next step…. you are now a pre-schooler…. i still can’t believe you are 2 1/2….), we keep thinking that we need to bring the lunchbox concept to the next level and start making it more exciting, but at 22.45 hrs… our creative juices are low non-existant. we just want to go zzzzzz…… and you ask, but why not pack the lunchbox a bit sooner? it would be a good question but one that would require another post.

since it is hard to get fresh and new ideas at 22.45 hrs, i am going to ask the readers to drop ideas in the comments box. do you have healthy suggestions for a toddler’s lunchbox, ideas…. i am also taking requests (we don’t use pork, nor shell fish in our cooking though)

monday

box 1: white and orange carrot salad with raisins box 2: box of raisins box 3: fusili in tomato sauce with soya meatballs and peas box 4: italian inspired snacks (thyme and cheese)

tuesday

box 1: greek yoghurt with blackberries box 2: fresh red peppers box 3: ryebread with beef salami (not my idea of a healthy meal…i am not going to mention any names, but there are 2 of us packing that lunchbox ) box 4: cucumber sticks

wednesday

box 1: boiled potatoes with the traditional danish brown gravy/sauce (papajon’s version) box 2: red peppers box 3: quorn fillet box 4: cucumber

thursday

box 1: pinto bean (with red peppers, tomatoes, onions, garlic, cumin, coriander seeds) fajita with sweetcorn and greek yoghurt box 2: fig + date paste (jon used to love to eat this paste but this paste ain’t cool no more) box 3: juicy peaches box 4: cucumbers

friday

lunch provided by the kindergarten – pita bread and vegetables.

week 32: fast food nation

we live in a fast food nation, a fast food society. it is alarming to see children and even toddlers already overweight. children constantly snacking. children eating oversized ice creams… children feasting on large portions of oily and saturated french fries. who am i to judge, i like to feast on french fries once in a while my self, but the health of my child is another matter altogether.

we want our son to have the best start in life, and we really prioritise nutrition at home. it is a huge responsability to teach your child to eat right, to get him to love eating vegetables and fruits, foods that will make him grow healthy and have the energy to be active. when he’ll be older, he will make his own choices about foods, but now, it is our duty to set him on the right path.

monday

box 1: supposedly a spanish tortilla (except the frying pan gave up on me and it became scrambled eggs with diced potatoes, onions, garlic and olive oil! ) box 2: homemade frikadeller (these ones made by papajon with minced lamb) box 3: tomato and sweetcorn salad box 4: rhubarb and strawberry yoghurt (sugarfree) with blueberries

tuesday

box 1: cucumber and red peppers box 2: 2 babybel cheeses (it was the week of babybel!) box 3: quorn and peas in a coconut sauce and curry box 4: grilled tortilla with grated cheese and tomato

wednesday

box 1: tagliatelle with an tomato, aubergine and zucchini sauce box 2: whole wheat crostinis box 3: organic raisins box 4: mozzarella with red pesto outcome: for the fist time in a long time, the lunchbox was not empty… jon left the mozzarella behind

thursday

box 1: rugbrød (ryebread) with nutana sandwich cream and sliced cucumbers box 2: babybel and some homemade mayonaise as dip to the quorn fillet box 3: mini cucumbers and tomato box 4: 1 boiled egg with half a quorn fillet

friday

box 1: lentils with onions and masala spices box 2: cucumber and tomato salad box 3: 1 apple from the garden box 4: white and wild rice outcome: jon scrapped all boxes as usual, except the lentils – we know he does not like it, but we still try to introduce it in his diet now and then, hoping for a breakthrough

week 31: grill fests

this was a week very few lunchboxes – they had summer grill parties at the vuggestue (daycare). on friday, i was told that jon ate 3 grilled sausages and an ice cream cone with soft ice with chocolate sprinkles. we are not in a habit of feeding him sugar at all, but we can not really control what he eats at daycare. we have indicated that we would prefer for him not to eat sugar, but what do you do, if all kids are enjoying ice cream on a hot day…

this past week, we have received some comments (mailbox, referrals or in the blog) regarding the refrigeration of jon’s food (considering we serve meat, dairy etc…). i am not sure how it works in other daycare centres around the world, but in denmark, it is the norm for vuggestues to have refrigerators available for parents to store their toddlers’ lunchboxes. the boxes are kept refrigerated from the time we drop jon in the morning until he gets served his lunch at 11:30 am. then, one of the educators will warm up the box that needs warming up.

wednesday

box 1: basmati rice with a tomato sauce with quorn, green peas and carrots. box 2: salad: lettuce, tomato and sweet corn box 3: natural yoghurt with fresh raspberry box 4: 2 babybels

thursday

box 1: sliced red peppers and tomatoes box 2: falafels box 3: homemade spinach puff pastry “envelopes” box 4: dried apricots

week 23: at last the spring

a whole week full of sun and average temperatures of 12-17 C; i can live with that with spring comes some of my favourite fruits – featured this week we have strawberries.

papajon and mamajon had a forældreskonsultation (parent talk with the nice ladies at jon’s daycare) and they told us that he is doing just fine. they are amazed at how well he eats, and how varied his diet is. they commented that most children at the daycare tend to be a bit fussy. they said: “keep the lunchboxes coming“.

monday

(no picture available… but jon ate pasta with soya meatballs)

tuesday

box 1: soup with carrots + green cabage box 2: strawberries box 3: french bread with sliced gouda box 4: physallis on the side: baby corn

wednesday

box 1: mild curry with quorn pieces box 2: plain rice box 3: fresh strawberries box 4: cucumber slices

thursday

box 1: baby corn and cucumber sticks box 2: carrot sticks bottom box: slices of pizza (onions, cheese and black olives

friday

box 1: couscous with spicy vegetable sauce (tomato, onions, carrots, peas) and quorn pieces box 2: physallis and strawberries box 3: baby corn box 4: ryebread with peanut butter

week 17: colourful lunches

there was a virus roaming at jon’s daycare, where 8 of the 12 children in his daycare room were sick – jon was one of them. it was a combination of tonsilitis, fever and some coughing. jon did not eat much this week… we hope he will recup soon enough. he is healthy and running about but his apetite is not at the usual level yet.

monday

box 1: rustic olive baguette slices drizzled with virgin olive oil box 2: soya sausages box 3: lentil stew box 4: crunchy salad with pineapple, raw white cabbage, celeri, raisins and natural yoghurt dressing outcome: jon ate all except for the lentil stew - half of it was left behind note: the contents of this lunchbox were cooked up by grandma

tuesday

box 1: fresh tagliatelle with boiled broccoli, garlic, olive oil and feta cheese box 2: cucumber sticks box 3: smoked salmon on a bed of lettuce sandwiched between 2 slices of rustic bread box 4: fresh red peppers outcome: this box was eaten at home and it was eaten throughout the day. most of it was left behind though. i have noticed that when he is sick, he prefers to eat raw foods than to eat cooked meals…

wednesday

box 1: quorn fillet in a bed of roasted veg (aubergines, peppers, onions, tomatoes and zucchinis) box 2: cucumber sticks box 3: risengrød/arroz doce (cooked rice in milk and vanilla) drizzled with cherry sauce box 4: grapes

thursday

box 1: smoked salmon and vegetables quiche box 2: cucumber circles box 3: home made apple sauce box 4: dried apricots outcome: mamajon in her wisdom forgot that it was that day of the month; the day where the nice ladies at the daycare centre cook for all the little ones and there is no need to bring along a lunchbox… so jon snacked on the apple sauce and apricots when he got home

friday

box 1: spinach tagliatelle with mixed vegetables (zucchinis, aubergine, tomatoes, garlic, onions) and sprinkled parmesan box 2: soya sausages box 3: sugar free cookies (oats, flour, coconut oil, dates, raisins, honey – will upload the recipe soon…) box 4: dried apricots outcome: empty box

week 7: our first review

it is a first for us and we are amazed and honoured to have been featured in blogolandia and gotten our first blog review! You can read Alice’s review at Balancing Motherhood over here – thank you for highlighting our lunchboxes in your blog! There is also another review here by Nomad Mama. Tusind tak (thousand thanks) as they say here in Denmark

this week went by so very fast. mamajon was gone to brussels for some meetings at the beginning of the week; jon baked some  luciabrød (photo by sagte) at the vuggestue with his daycare mates to be eaten and shared at the daycare’s luciafest (albeit it being a swedish tradtion…)

papajon made pizza for dinner one night and jon was the one that spread the ingredients on top of the pizza (the tomatoes, mushrooms, peppers, onions and cheese) . he is going to make a great chef one day

this past summer in portugal, we discovered that jon loved to eat physalis (cape gooseberry) – my parents have a small shrub in their front garden, and jon knew how to pluck them and take the cape off and eat them! they were on sale at the local supermarket this week…. so we could not resist buying a few…

monday

box 1: whole wheat spaghetti + minced beef tomato sauce with zucchini and garlic + sprinkled with parmesan and black olives box 2: tomato + cucumber sticks box 3: oranges box 4: physalis outcome: half of the spaghetti box left.

tuesday

half box: calzone with left-over sauce from the previous day (zucchini tomato sauce) box 2: physalis box 3: cucumber slices + raw red peppers + tomatoes outcome: half of the calzone was left.

wednesday

box 1: salad with lettuce + tomato + cucumber box 2: rice + sweet corn box 3: soya sausages + ketchup (sugarfree and E-number free and conservatives/other-evil-substances-free! from Beauvais and no, i don’t get paid to do marketing on their behalf)+ remoulade box 4: physalis outcome: 2 sausages left – he usually loves the sausages….

thursday

box 1: penne pasta with red peppers and zucchini tomato sauce box 2: babybel box 3: meatless meatballs box 4: fresh banana + frozen rasperries + frozen mango smoothie outcome: 1 spoonful of smoothie was left behind.

friday

half box: home made pizza (ingredients spread on top of dough by jon himself!) box 2: cucumber slices box 3: juicy orange slices outocome: empty box!

week 6: colour me orange

last sunday afternoon was spent baking. we have not done much baking as we try to avoid to introduce sugar in jon’s diet. but it is almost christmas… and i had always wanted to try making cookies with jon… we made cookies with a christmacy touch: vanilla, cinammon & cardemom. we used shapes of all sorts: hearts, angels, hearts, christmas trees, dogs… jon loved to get his hands into the dough – we had a blast!

monday

box 1: smørbrød (typical danish open sandwiches – økologisk bread with gouda cheese + slice of cucumber and gammeldags smoked salmon with dill) box 2: one of our home baked cookies – dog shape box 3: thick cucumber slices with yellow and red cocktail tomatoes box 4: farmor’s (grandma’s) hytteost (cottage cheese) roast outcome: a bit of bread and a corner of cottage cheese roast were left in the box…

tuesday

box 1: peixinhos da horta (traditional portuguese recipe: boiled green beans dipped in egg and flour batter and fried in olive oil - these are not truly originals because i added a bit of curry seasoning to the batter… the japanese serve a similar dish called tempura, but it seems that it was the portuguese that brought it over in the mid-16th century!) box 2: green bean salad (with the left over green beans that i had boiled for the peixinhos, i decided to make a salad with tomatoes, onions and olives box 3: rice and freshly grated parmesan box 4: babybel outcome: most of the green bean salad was abandoned.

wednesday

box 1: mixed salad with crème fraîche (lettuce, tomato, cucumber + red pepper) box 2: freshly sliced carambola box 3: falafel box 4: pita bread outcome: empty box!

thursday

box 1: boiled and mashed broccoli with olive oil and raw pressed garlic box 2: red and yellow cocktail tomatoes box 3: home made pizza (tomatoes, black olives, raw garlic, mushrooms and drizzled with red pesto and olive oil, grated gouda) box 4: sliced cucumber outcome: EMPTY lunchbox!

friday

box 1: whole wheat pasta (penne + fusili) with a quorn mince tomato sauce box 2: sundried apricots box 3: sliced orange box 4: juicy carrot outcome: empty box! (i had to ask the daycare assistant who supervises lunchtime: “when the box comes empty, does it mean jon ate everything?” – “yes” she replied “he eats very well“)

week 5: marmite fan

as i write, jon is having his afternoon siesta. we have been home for the past 3 days because he was diagnosed with hand-foot-and-mouth disease (viral infection that generally affects pre-schoolers) and his fever has been up to 39.7 C with no clear signs of it coming down. at least his appetite is not altogether gone, he still eats very well, and has been more active today than he was yesterday. hope it will all clear over the weekend.

we still packed his lunchbox every night, hoping that the following day he would feel better. but we ended up eating its contents at home.

we discovered this week that jon is absolutely mad about marmite. after his cereal/oatmeal breakfast, he will usually have a toast with marmite. and if i forget he will quickly remind me to get him one.

monday

box 1 & 3: little rustic buns with home made burgers (papajon’s skills), box 2: left-over pasta from the previous night – tasting even better box 4: tomato, cucumber and a few lettuce leaves. outcome: gone with the wind. empty box.

tuesday

box 1: marmite rectangles: butter and marmite spread on økologisk bread box 2: tartelettes aux champignons (pastry bottoms filled with fresh mozzarella and portobello mushrooms with a drizzle of pesto oil) box 3: mango and rasperries (again… frozen) box 4: carrot + cucumber + tomato salad (lemon and olive oil dressing) outcome: half of the fruit box was left… defrosted fruit is never as exciting as fresh fruit.

wednesday:

box 1: potato salad (boiled potatoes, a whole lot of crème fraîche, sliced radishes, dill) box 2: fresh radishes box 3: 2 chicken sausages and 1 sojapølse (soya sausage) with remoulade and ketchup box 4: baby carrots outcome: he only ate the sausages – the night before he feasted on radishes. you can tell papajon put the lunchbox together, because that is the only time jon enjoys treats like remoulade and ketchup…

thursday

box 1: quorn fillet with roasted green beans and sliced tomatoes with herbs (thyme, rosemary, oregano) box 2: fresh papaya swirls (emphasis on the word “fresh”) box 3: risotto with herbs box 4: champignons farcis (portobello mushroom roasted upside down with  fresh mozzarella and a spoon full of parmesan) outcome: another meal eaten at home, despite the fever, he still ate a great deal of the risotto and all the green beans and half of the quorn fillet.

friday

box 1: whole wheat pasta with spinach sauce (spinach, leeks, onions, garlic, fresh salmon and cream) sprinkled with freshly grated parmesan box 2: rye bread in winnie the pooh shapes box 3: fresh papaya strips box 4: cheese and økologisk bread “stars” outcome: ate most of the pasta and 3 strips of papaya but did not eat the bread. thought it was cute and kept saying peter plys (winnie the pooh in danish) but did not touch them.

week 3: introducing quorn

we were not able to do too much shopping last sunday (we try to stock up for the whole week). that meant going to the supermarket every other evening to get vegetables or fruit. we managed to get hold of some  quorn (which comes in different shapes and tastes) at Brugsen - which is pretty exciting considering we eat mostly meat-free at home.

monday

box 1: lasagna (fresh lasagna sheets with a minced quorn tomato sauce + white sauce + peas + sliced aubergine. box 2: sesame wasa runda (crisp bread) box 3: tomato and corn salad (dressing: olive oil + lemon + oregano) box 4: raisins + apple sauce outcome: the lunchbox came back completely empty. licked clean…

tuesday

box 1: rice with green pesto and peas box 2: juicy orange box 3: “mexican” salad (tomatoes, boiled green beans, green olives + drizzled with olive oil and lemon) box 4: cucumber sticks + corn outcome: some corn and a couple of green beans were left alone in the box…

wednesday

box 1: pita bread box 2: roasted quorn bites box 3: salad (lettuce, tomato, cucumber and corn) + spiced up crème frâiche box 4: home made humus (chicks peas, olive oil, 1 garlic, juice of 1 lemon blended) outcome: empty lunchbox!!

thursday

box 1: wasa runda - sesame box 2: cucumber box 3: spinach cannelloni (made with spinach + peas + garlic rolled into fresh lasagna sheets covered with a tomato sauce) box 4: cottage cheese outcome: the runda crispbread did not go down as usual today, and he did not touch the cottage cheese. but there was no trace of the cannellonis…

friday

box 1: sliced yellow peppers mini-box: home made mayo (got the recipe from a spanish friend of mine: blend at high speed 1/2 cup of sunflower oil with 1/2 cup of soy milk + 1 clove of garlic, if you can stomach it, salt to taste – creamy and tasty semi-healthy mayo!!) box 2: penne pasta with spinach and tomato + grated cheese box 3: potato grossly mashed + oeufs farcis (yolk of egg mixed with mayo) box 4: greek yoghurt with swirls of jorbær grød (strawberry sauce) outcome: we are coming to the conclusion that jon no longer likes mash. a month ago, he was wild about mashed potatoes, in fact his favourite food… but his tastes must be changing. he left the mash behind. a few pennne were also left behind.