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 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 27: 30 degrees celcius in may…

they went to the mini-olympics this week with other 5 daycares/kindergartens. jon won his first medal for relay-running. it is proudly hanging on his bedroom wall.

the weather continues to be absolutely fabulous which means another day at the beach.

the lunchboxes come back empty every week.

monday

box 1: mixed salad with corn, lettuce, tomato and cucumber box 2: pita bread box 3: rye bread with beef salami and a mini-babybel mini box: crème fraîche box 4: falafel

tuesday

they went to the mini-olympics and competed with other 5 institutions. they had a blast, or so jon tells us we packed sandwiches in a paper bag, with some babybel and fruit. no picture available.

wednesday

box 1: 2 pastes/dips: red humus (chick peas blended with olive oil, lemon juice, roasted red peppers, salt and a bit of crushed cummin) and burta (an afghan delight: blended one roasted eggplant with yoghurt, fresh garlic, fresh cilantro, olive oil, lemon juice and salt) box 2: naan bread box 3: carrot and cucumber sticks box 4: fresh strawberries

thursday

box 1: kidney beans in a tomato sauce spiced with a bit of chili and crushed cummin with a spoon of crème fraîche box 2: raw broccoli box 3: rye bread sliced turkey breast and cucumber slices box 4: sweet corn

friday

box 1: greek yoghurt with peaches and strawberries box 2: sweetcorn box 3: rye bread and beef salami box 4: cucumber slices

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 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 14: why go sugarfree

am quite late in posting this week… but we had an activity packed weekend, where we took full advantage of the gorgeous sunshine and spent as little time as possible indoors. now the madness of the work week has started… anyhow, excuses will not get me far

some have asked why we restrict the sugar intake of our toddler. the reasons are many. first of all, there is no nutrition in sugar. none whatsover. i crave sugar, but that is because i am aware of its taste and when i see a richly decorated cake or apple pie… it is the pavlov instict kicking in. but if a child is not introduced to sweets then he/she will not miss having it and will certainly not salivate when spotting a chocolate glazed doughnut! jon has had cakes or biscuits, but only on special occasions like birthdays… etc. the second reason is that jon is already a very active toddler. what i mean by active is that he is always on the move. he collapses when his head hits the pillow at night. now, imagine if i gave him sugar or had him on a high energy diet with canned foods, foods with additives, among others; jon would be bouncing off the walls! at the end of the day, it has been widely agreed that what a child eats in his first 3 years of life will have a lifelong impact in his life (i will do some online research and post some links in my next post). we are not claiming to be self righteous in the way we feed our son, but we certainly put a great deal of effort in trying to find the best way to provide him with a balanced diet.

at home, we are mostly vegetarians (not vegans – which means we incorporate dairy and eggs in our diet) and occasionally we have some salmon (on a rare occasion some cod) and white meat (chicken or turkey).

monday

box 1: steamed cabbage wraps: filling made of chicken seasonned in paprika and onions and red peppers box 2: tomatoes box 3: boiled potatoes with remoulade box 4: plum outcome: empty box

tuesday

box 1: boiled potatoes + olives + olive oil + parsley box 2: arroz doce/risengrød (rice boiled in vanilla milk and powdered with cinnamon) box 3: guacamole (ripe avocados, tomatoes, garlic, crème fraîche) box 4: bread cut with cookie cutter outcome: empty box

wednesday

box 1: lentil stew (with tomato concentrate, a spoon of red pesto, onions and garlic) box 2: tomatoes box 3: cucumber sandwiches with vegan paté box 4: clementine outcome: half empty lentil stew box

thursday

box 1: tomato sauce with zucchinis and carrots on a bed of spinach ravioli box 2: sliced cucumber box 3: local danish cheese with green olives box 4: rye bread cut with a cookie cutter outcome: jon left some of the raviolis at the bottom of the box

friday

box 1: onion quiche (we had not made this quiche in some 4 years and yet it is one of my favourites… – some 6 onions, cream and eggs, nutmeg, cheese) box 2: salad with boiled broccoli, corn, tomatoes and for lack of real portuguese black olives… the green cheap version would have to do box 3: home made croissant outcome: empty box!

week 12: grey and grey

the weather has been grey and grim this week. a lot of indoor activities. swimming, playing hide-and-seek, puzzles, book reading, drawing, Lego, hopping on sofas and dancing wildly around the living room.

 monday

box 1: boiled potatoes (danish potatoes are some of the best potatoes i have ever eaten – no bias whatsoever) with boiled veg (carrots, peas and red peppers) drizzled with olive oil and herbs box 2: spelt crackers (without the vitamin C crystals…) box 3: carrot sticks + humous (chick peas blended with olive oil, garlic, sesame seeds, lemon juice and pinch of salt) box 4: nuttolene slices outcome: some carrot sticks left – surprising as jon is the nr. 1 carrot lover in our house.

tuesday

box 1: rice with aubergine sauce (aubergine, tomatoes, onions, garlic, balsamic vinegar, spices and herbs) box 2: spelt crackers box 3: soya meatballs in tomato sauce box 4: cucumber slices outcome: jon did not eat all of the rice.

wednesday

box 1: whole wheat bread with vegan paté and cucumber box 2: sweet corn and tomato box 3: rice and alaska smoked salmon (it was a christmas gift all the way from seattle!) box 4: fresh plum outcome: empty box

thursday

no lunchbox today as the daycare provided a nice warm lunch for the kids today. they ate pita bread with bell peppers, feta cheese (which i am told jon overdosed on).

friday

box 1: crêpe with sugar free peach jam box 2: boiled peas box 3: boiled potatoes with black eyed peas and herbs box 4: carrot sticks outcome: the crêpe was for sure gone (jon calls it “panqueca-ca-ca” ) , but some peas and a potato were left behind.

week 8: last lunchbox of 2007

this was jon’s last week at the vuggestue in 2007. a short sweet week with more activities than usual though.

on wednesday the daycare staff threw a julefest (christmas party) for the kids where they ate ris à l’amande. in the afternoon, they celebrated jon’s 2nd birthday with songs and a carrot cake we had brought from home. he was thrilled with all the singing and partying, he came back singing the føldselsdag (happy birthday) song for most of the evening

the daycare centre was closed as of thursday morning, so he came with mamajon to work and we participated in a farewell party for one mom’s colleagues.

the last week of december will be busy with jon’s birthday party at home, christmas and new year dinner!

we would like to wish you a happy 2008.

monday

box 1: home made lasagna with fresh pasta sheets + tomato quorn mince sauce, cheese sauce, peas, bay leaves, garlic, parmesan + mozarella cheeses box 2: sundried apricots box 3: hard boiled egg with yellow and red cherry tomatoes box 4: walnuts outcome: some boiled egg left behind.

tuesday

box 1: soya nuggets (will have to write down the brand next time – one of the best on the market in my opinion) box 2: red peppers box 3: rye bread slices + cocktail tomatoes box 4: mango in cubes outcome: empty box!!

wednesday

box 1: tomato rice + peas + carrots box 2: sundried apricots box 3: mini babybel cheeses box 4: carrot salad with raisins drizzled with lemon juice and olive oil outcome: amazingly the apricots were left intact and he loves apricots and most of the rice as well. but they had birthday cake and ris à l’amande at the daycare centre… so no room left for real food