"W"your appetite

It's the final week of alphabet bentos!Ryan's "W" lunch: wafer cookies; waffles (w/maple syrup, separated from the cookies by a weiner dog baran); welsh rarebit; watermelon; water chestnuts w/snap peas & chik'n strips.

The weather over the weekend was great. Though I spent much of saturday at an event indoors, sunday was spent almost entirely outside. So I made a "picnic" dinner:
top row: strawberries; snap
pea crisps; smoked Tofurky
slices; yellow bell pepper
strips & snap peas.

middle row: baby carrots;
mini bagel quarters with
peanut butter; gherkin
pickles; raisins & dried
apricots.

bottom row: roasted almonds; cucumber slices; purple grapes; popcorn.

My friday food:
7:30am- smoothie: 1/2 banana, 1/2 pear, 1 T. almond butter, liquid DHA, water.
9:30am- carrots & yellow bell pepper w/cauliflower dip.
12pm- salad: romaine & bib lettuces, tomato, onion, purple cabbage, avocado, olives, lime juice.
4pm- maki sushi: sprouted quinoa, avocado, ginger, vinegar, nori, cucumber, scallion, shoyu.
5pm- small bowl of raisins, date pieces & sliced almonds.

I tried another permutation of raw sushi filling, this time with sprouted quinoa. It tasted fine, but didn't hold up that well...back to the drawing board on that one.

Luckily on saturday, I was at a potluck event, and there was plenty of fruit and raw veggies, so I didn't even touch the snack I had stashed in my backpack just in case...
7am- smoothie: 1 banana, 1 pear, 1/2 an apple, 1 T. almond butter, liquid DHA, water.
10am- a banana.
12pm- bowl of fruit: grapes, strawberries, pineapple, cantaloupe, honeydew melon.
2pm- bowl of veggies: baby carrots, broccoli florets, grape tomatoes.
6pm- marinated broccoli & tomatoes in balsamic vinegar, olive oil, shoyu; 1/2 an avocado.

And sunday:
7am- soaked steel cut oats w/sliced strawberries & walnut-cashew creme.
9:30am- a pickle; a banana.
12pm- smoothie: 1/2 banana, 1/2 mango, 3 frozen strawberries, 1/3 starfruit, liquid DHA, water.
3:30pm- 2 dozen baby carrots; 6 olives.
6pm- 1 avocado.

Not just junk

Somehow August has ended up as a birthday heavy month in our family. I never intended to have summer babies (actually, I wanted a spring baby, but ended up with an autumn, winter, & 2 summers instead). My husband, aunt, and nephew all have August birthdays, as did my father. So I'm trying not to let cupcakes rule the cuisine for the summer, as tasty as they are!

Nate had a special visit to grandma's house the day after his birthday so they could do birthday stuff without his big brothers crowding the attention. Here is Nate's lunch: blueberries & cherries; flat pretzels; 1/2 wheat english muffin; edamame; tiny pickles; carrot sticks; green bell pepper strips.

For dinner, a nice muffin
tin meal on the picnic
table with organic
limeade to drink. Tops
on drinks are a must for
our yard with so many
mosquitos and other
bugs...luckily the food
disappears quickly!
Row 1: edamame; flat pretzels; smoked Tofurky; cashews.
Row 2: frozen strawberries; green bell pepper strips; Craisins; pickles.
Row 3: round tortilla chips; smoked almonds; cucumber slices; cantaloupe wedges.

Maia still does not care
for any beverages besides
breastmilk, except for the
occasional sip from a
brother's water bottle. But
she adores juicy melon diced
and served within easy
reach in her own Hello Kitty
bowl that I found at the local
supermarket of all places!