Fall!

Well, it's the first full day of autumn. And our first day ever with all 4 kids in school where we could leave them for long enough to actually do something!!
I did brunch bentos for the boys today...

Ryan & AJ's lunches: tofu broccoli mini quiches; home fries; apple tart; raspberries; oranges.

We have a ton of local apples right now from Autumn Hills Orchard. So last night I whipped up a quick tart for after dinner...

I completely forgot
to photograph Maia's
snack before school
(and Nate asked for
a Zbar so no pic needed
for that)...so I quickly
opened her snack up at
school over her hook
and snapped a quick
pic. Maia's snack: mini cucumber slices; baby carrots; raspberries; Annie's gluten-free bunny cookies.

Then it was off for a quick hike up to Tippling Rock with my husband...
If you enlarge the picture
above you can see the
Hancock and Prudential
buildings in Boston in the
background.














We snacked on some
sheep sorrel growing
at the top. It's very
sour and I've enjoyed
it since I was very
young.


We got back to preschool as Maia was eating. They gave her a juice box, which explains why she wasn't eating very quickly, and why she didn't want lunch later. I asked that they please stick
with a small cup of water in the future, which is why I don't pack a drink. Kids tend to fill up on any drink you give them and then many parents wonder why they don't eat a healthy meal.












Next week will be
my first time packing
a lunchbox for Maia!
I doubt it will be much
bigger than her snack,
since the purpose of
school lunch is routine,
socialization, & self-help
skills...not eating, LOL.

it was Mother's Day

Can't let another day go by without sharing last Sunday's Mother's Day meals!
Clockwise from top left: broccoli cheddar crescent rolls; asparagus mushroom tofu quiche; honeydew melon & strawberries; homefries.





















I got a new Mosquito Magnet and poison ivy spray, LOL, and cards and a marigold. And Ryan carved a stamp for me...












Cauliflower and chick
pea curry over basmati
rice with my favourite
extra hot pickled mango
relish.

second breakfast

No school today--Veterans' Day--so I had the kids out the door early for an 8 o'clock "second breakfast picnic" outside the Grist Mill and a hike. Lovely sunny crisp morning...





















second breakfast picnic: broccoli tofu mini quiches; crescent rolls; dried apricots, apple slices, orange slices; mango pear juice (not shown).

We walked around the mill, watched ducks, swans & geese at the pond, and AJ sketched what he enjoyed most...

boys brunch bento

Ryan's lunch: Top tier - Terra Exotic Harvest Sea Salt chips; cantaloupe; damson plum (pit removed); pitted kalamata olives; mini apple cherry muffin. Bottom tier - mini asparagus mushroom tofu quiche; steamed broccoli florets; leftover macaroni casserole.

Nate's snack: mini
banana blueberry
muffin; Terra Exotic
Harvest Sea Salt
chips.

We've been fortunate
to have so much local
melon so late this year
due to the slow start this spring. The farm food is still pouring in, and I can't wait for all the autumn goodies. Maia's breakfast of cantaloupe and lentil vegetable soup was almost all local, with the exception of the red lentils...and that kettle corn she got a hold of...not sure where that corn is sourced, LOL.

The following is the mini quiche recipe. I usually make crustless quiches, because I just don't feel the need for any extra bread products. But feel free to add a crust to the base if you prefer. Also, experiment with other ingredients...if you don't have asparagus on hand, try small chopped broccoli florets, and don't forget to dice the stems too! Or if you don't like mushrooms, add some extra onion or leeks.

Asparagus Mushroom Tofu Quiche

1 lb. firm tofu
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. soy sauce
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 T. nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp. turmeric
1 small onion or 1/2 medium onion, diced
12 spears asparagus, washed, trimmed, and cut into 1/2-1" lengths
12 button mushrooms, washed and sliced (or an equivalent assorment of other mushrooms)
1 T. olive oil
1 T. margarine
spray olive oil

In a food processor, break up tofu, then add salt, soy sauce, garlic powder, nutritional yeast & turmeric. Blend until smooth.

In a saute pan, heat olive oil and margarine over med-low heat. Add onion and cook, stirring often, until onion begins to soften. Add aspargus and cook for 1-2 minutes. Remove onion and aspargus to a separate bowl.

Add mushrooms to saute pan, adding a little extra margarine if pan is too dry. Cook until mushrooms have softened. Remove from heat (drain any extra cooking liquid if necessary).

Mix onion & asparagus back with the mushrooms. Then stir together with the tofu mixture.
Spray a non-stick muffin tin with olive oil (or wipe lightly with a small wad of waxed paper dipped in margarine or olive oil). (If you'd rather make one large quiche, prepare a glass or ceramic pie or quiche plate. ) Spoon mixture evenly into muffin tin.

Bake in a 375F degree oven for about 35 minutes.
Allow to cool for a while before trying to remove the individual quiches.
You could also line the muffin tin with silicon baking cups instead, so they'll be ready to pop right into a bento or lunch box.
Makes 10-12 mini quiches, or 1 regular quiche.

Teacher conferences in pajamas!

Yes, I wore my pajamas, Hello Kitty pajamas, to two parent-teacher conferences today. There was a reason--my 5 year old's pajama breakfast (or brunch really) at preschool--but ya' know I'd have probably done it anyway as I often don't get dressed til the afternoon anyhow, if at all. Four kids will do that to a person.

I sent vegan equivalents
of bagel w/cream cheese
(Tofutti cream cheese),
scrambled eggs (broccoli &
onion tofu quiche), pancakes
(just basic vegan pancakes
made with Vitasoy soymilk),
and real maple syrup versus
corn syrup sweetened fake
syrup. I tossed in some raisins too.
For the class we provided sliced oranges, and a bag of oranges so the kids could learn to squeeze their own juice. There were also banana slices & strawberries, cut by the kids. This was a huge amount of food, but AJ ate all but a few crumbs plus some of the class fruit, and a full size drink box of Rice Dream rice milk!
Instead of allowing the leftover fruit and class bagel pieces to be tossed in the trash, we brought them home and made fruit smoothies with coconut milk, and spread some peanut butter on the bagel pieces.

Just beforehand we met with
Nate's teacher for spring
parent-teacher conferences.
Maia came along and played on
the floor while we chatted with
his wonderful teacher. She is
just so great with the toddler
age. I wouldn't normally consider
sending a 2 year old to preschool,
but when we visited the school for
Ryan when he was 3 and found
out about the toddler class, we
just had to send AJ too. It's been a great experience for everyone. The boys have all loved going to school, never a complaint!

So this is AJ's third and
final year in preschool. I
think he will miss it!

Since he was having
breakfast for lunch, I
just gave the other boys
the same food in their
lunches...



Nate's lunch: pancakes w/maple syrup; sliced strawberries; piece of broccoli & onion tofu quiche; bagel w/Tofutti cream cheese.

Ryan's
lunch:
same
as his
brothers'
lunches,
with the
addition
of some
dried
apricots.

At Ryan's
parent-
teacher
conference
today,
one of the
assisant
teacher's who apparently ends up on cafeteria duty commented on his awesome lunches. And his teacher said he is "very ready for 1st grade" and is doing so well in all areas of school.