week 36: more nori mom!

jon was madly in love with nori this week. he could not get enough. he would cut nori sheets with his small scissors and then eat them by small squares!

we tend to emphasise “homemade” and locally grown in our lunchboxes because we think that buying organic and locally grown has an impact on our health as well as taking the time to make good home made food. it tastes much better than canned or prepackaged foods

monday

box 1: calzone with minced soy in tomato sauce, red peppers and onions with cheese box 2: cherry tomatoes box 3: carrot soup (potatoes, carrots, onions and raw garlic, olive oil and fresh parsley blended in after cooking), box 4: cucumber sticks outcome: would you believe he did not eat the soup. he usually licks the bowl clean!

tuesday

box 1: home made apple sauce with a pinch of cinnamon (no sugar added) box 2: sweetcorn and green olives box 3: walnut bread from our local bakery with cucumber and chicken slices box 4: an odd combination but it had to fit in the box somehow: dried apricots and cherry tomatoes

wednesday

box 1: maki-zushi (cucumber and sliced omelette filling) with soy sauce in mini-box box 2: dried apricots box 3: onigri box 4:cucumbers from the garden of papajon’s aunt outcome: his favourite lunch this week by far! he had been begging for sushi since morning and feasted on nori sheets while mamajon was making the makizushi rolls.

thursday

box 1: natural yoghurt with homemade apple sauce and raisins box 2: fresh red peppers box 3: pita bread box 4: homemade humous outcome: lunchbox came back clean. when i picked him up, he went to pick up his empty lunchbox in the fridge at kindergarten and told me proudly that he had finished his lunch.

friday

box 1: oven baked fusili pasta with spinach, garlic, soy sausages, sundried tomatoes and cheese box 2: sliced red peppers box 3: soy sausages and cherry tomatoes box 4: tangerine basket (jon likes to peel his own fruit – be it banana, oranges or tangerines/clementines) but i found that peeling just a section helps to peel the rest.

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 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 33: red as running theme

our jon is a big boy now… tomorrow he will move from the vuggestue to the radisstuen (from 30 months to 4 year olds) with the big kids. he is really looking forward to it

when it comes to food, he is far more picky these days than he has ever been before. all of a sudden he does not like spinach… nor avocado… nor…. a lot of foods he is no longer interested in. maybe it is just a phase.

the running theme this week was red: lots of tomatoes and red peppers. (boxes came back empty unless stated otherwise).

p.s. we hardly ever put fruit in his lunchbox because he gets fruit twice a day while in daycare. they provide a wide variety of fruit for the kids.

monday

box 1: roasted potatoes with soya sausages box 2: cucumber box 3: fresh red peppers with some homemade mayo box 4: sesame and sunflower crackers

tuesday

box 1: spinach tagliatelle with an amazing tomato sauce made by papajon (home made pesto made with lots of roasted almonds, parsley, basil, garlic, salt, olive oil then added to the tomato sauce box 2: cucumber box 3: fresh red peppers box 4: babybel (a lot of babybel in our lunchboxes — one day i will write a thesis on why we use babybel over other brands — and no, i don’t get a fee for using the red-baby-cheeses!)

wednesday

box 1: boiled broccoli box 2: eggplant/aubergine rolls: a little treasure from Moldova that i discovered just 2 weeks ago while having dinner at a friend’s house – it is a must try (will have to upload the recipe on the “recipes” page…) box 3: ovos recheados (boiled eggs with filling of yolks and homemade mayo) box 4: walnut bread with gouda cheese outcome: the box came back intact. it was the mystery of the evening, papajon and i trying to figure out why he had not eaten anything that day. well, as it turns out, he had; he had gone for a special lunch of spaghetti and meatballs at the radisstuen.

thursday

box 1: fresh colourful red peppers box 2: sweetcorn box 3: green rice: cooked with peas and broccoli box 4: rice cake

friday

box 1: recycled green rice from previous day (delicious with freshly grated parmesan) box 2: sweetcorn and tomatoes box 3: spinach and salmon quiche box 4: cucumber slices outcome: was informed when i picked him up at daycare that jon told sarah (educator) that he does not like spinach quiche…” – that was news to me

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 30: back from a long break

in my wisdom i forgot the camera at my in-laws house a couple of weeks ago and was not able to upload the pictures from that week and take any pictures since. we came back to visit farmor and farfar this weekend and at last i am able to upload one week’s worth of pictures.

we have been feeding our toddler, rest assured; we just have not been able to take pictures… (i got a worried email from a friend in canada who was having some doubts…).

monday

box 1: fresh blueberries with natural yoghurt box 2 and 3: rye bread with gouda slices box 4: coloured  crips (parsnips, beetroot, potato, carrots) – deliciously produced by urtekram.

tuesday

box 1: fresh tagliatelle with tomato sauce and butter beans with sprinkled parmesan box 2: babybel box 3: carrot sticks box 4: fresh cherries

wednesday

box 1: natural yoghurt (unsweetned) with fresh raspberries and blackcurrants picked from our very own backyard box 2: cucumber sticks box 3: sunflower seed bun with nutolene slices, lettuce and tomato box 4: rice and cooked carrots

thursday

box 1: home made pizza with homemade pesto (pesto was made by papajon with 6 whole garlics – it is the pure truth – lots of olive oil, fresh basilico and broad leaf parsley, salt and roasted almonds) box 2: slices of chicken pålæg box 3: cucumber sticks

friday

box 1: fresh juicy pineapple (certainly NOT from a can/dåse!) box 2: cucumber sticks box 3: fusili pasta with spinach, garlic and feta cheese box 4: corn (unfortunately it was canned sweetcorn….)

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 28: counting down

back posting… one week before going on vacation…

monday

box 1 and 2: sour dough bread (one with philadelphia spread cheese and tomato and the other with turkey ham and tomato) box 3: mini cucumbers box 4: melon

tuesday

box 1: home made lasagna box 2: oat biscuits box 3: greek yoghurt and strawberry jam (sugar free) box 4: honey dew melon

wednesday

box 1: honey dew melon box 2: mini cucumbers and tomatoes box 3 and 4: sunflower seed buns (one with gouda cheese and one with sliced chicken.

thursday

bank holiday in denmark!

friday

box 1 and 2: fresh penne salad: penne, grated carrot, peas with a home made dressing (lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, 2 tsp mayonaise and 1 tsp light mustard) box 3: mini cucumbers box 4: fresh cherry tomatoes

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