catchup and musturnip greens

After
my
husband
was
away
last
week,
I had
to catch
up on
stuff...
like
getting
away
from
the
house,
kids,
and
computer
for
some
hikes,
grocery shopping, and yard work. So time to play catch up!

Before Dada arrived home, Ryan sold cookies and cider on sunday. We have these red dragonflies in the area, and I think this one was waiting to purchase something from Ryan's stand, hanging out right under the menu.

On monday I was out of
food and motivation, so I
grabbed some crescent
rolls out of the drawer, some
of those cinnamon apples
I'd frozen in ice cube trays
last month, a handful of
frozen spinach, and a quick
grate of soy cheese...

These disappeared FAST.
Ryan got a cinnamon apple
roll and a spinach-soy cheese
roll in his lunchbox, along
with a soy yogurt, a side of
watermelon, and a drink of
rice-almond milk.

By tuesday I was a little more organized...and I skipped a fall themed bento in favour of something quick in one of the new bentos my husband picked up at Daiso in San Jose...

Ryan's
lunch:
grilled
nutri-
tional
yeast
cheez
sand-
wiches;
canta-
loupe;
red bell
pepper;
peanuts;
green
beans
dressed
with
soy
sauce.


This slim 510ml bento
fit well into his lunchbox
and held just the right
amount of food for a
6 going on 7 year old's
appetite when densely
packed, along with a
bottle of chocolate almond
milk.

Turnip Green Fried Rice

2-3 cups cooked rice
2 T. peanut or canola oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 cup raw turnip greens
1/2 cup corn, fresh or
frozen
1 T. soy sauce
1 tsp. salt

If you have leftover rice, great! If not, cook some and let it sit for a bit.
Wash and chop a bunch of turnip greens. Lay them in a pile and slice of chop into strips.
Heat oil in large skillet or wok.
Add onion and cook for 2-3
minutes over medium-high
heat, stirring often. Add rice
and stir to combine. Add corn
and turnip greens, soy sauce
and salt. Cook until heated
through and turnip greens
have wilted. Serve hot.

The kids will eat almost
any veggie in a fried rice
dish! And we are getting
tons of greens in a huge
variety from the farm
right now.

First day of fall, and
I spied the first red
maple leaf on our lawn.
Lots of raking is in my
future for sure.


And now we're up to today's bento...

Ryan's lunch: rice with a
nori Pikachu face; green
& purple grapes; steam
broccoli; bean salad; a
side of black raspberry
applesauce.



I made the bean salad,
along with some more
apple cinnamon crescent
rolls, for the teacher
appreciation luncheon
at the boys' elementary
school. Hopefully some of
the staff enjoyed it. With
600 kids there are a lot
of teachers!

SpongeBob

Ryan's lunch: 4-bean salad; snap peas; blue rice w/rice cheese Spongebob Squarepants...with embellishments of white soy cheese red bell pepper; nori pupils; bread crust "pants"; edible ink marker for the blue eyes and blushed cheeks & title.

So Ryan got stung by a wasp last night after dinner! You would've thought he'd been separated from an appendage with all the noise he made.
Ryan: (screaming) "I'm so ashamed!"
Dada: "Why are you ashamed?"
Ryan: (teary-eyed) "I don't know what it means!"

LOL. He never did come up with the right word. But a Nemo ice pack helped. And a bath with the new spider soap we got as a gift from a chicken pox visitor.

Sleep sucked last night. They're doing more water & sewer construction down the street, and they pile the dirt in the town land across the street from us. Apparently last night was one of their night shifts (it's a busy street, so big stuff often gets done third shift).
The lights and beeping, clanging dump trucks apparently woke up AJ. I heard the pitter patter of 5yo feet enter the room. He stopped and looked at the clock..."Only 1:50!" WAAAAHHHH!!!
So I sent Dada in to calm him down. Poor guy thought it was time to get up and was devasted to see it was still the middle of the night.

And a few leftover kid meal pics from the weekend and the past few days...












The boys have been
eating at their new
picnic table often.

Sometimes I have to
figure out acceptable
food for the neighbor
kids or friends too...
not always easy!

When we were out of
regular jam, I pulled
out some homemade
rhubarb jam my MIL
made for us, and some
vegan marshmallow
creme. Whew!