Disposable Lunch Bento

Yes, that's right. Disposable. I'm not happy.

A note was sent home to all second grade parents last week requesting that a disposable, yes, a disposable, lunch be provided to all children attending the field trip. I stopped in my tracks as I read and then re-read the letter, which, by the way, was from the principal.

My son is a follower. If the teacher tells him to solve a math problem differently than how I have shown him how to do it (and believe me, I am well qualified to teach the kid math), then he'll do it her way, even if it's longer and cumbersome and despite knowing how to solve it more quickly and efficiently. He argues, "That's the way our teacher wants us to do it!" It's maddening. I get it, but it's still maddening.

Needless to say, when I said, "This is going to be a problem. We don't do disposable lunches," he whined, "But mommy, it HAS to be disposable! The principal's letter said so!" My response was, "Well, I guess I am just going to have to talk to her because I have an issue with this." Unfortunately, with many other things going on this week, I did not get a chance to pursue this with the principal.

In my annoyed state of mind, however, I did the resourceful thing and came up with a satisfactory compromise of recycled and recyclable items for an appropriate outdoor picnic style lunch bento. I reused a recyclable plastic take out food container for the outer box. Inside is a smoked turkey and white american cheese rolled into a tortilla, an apricot, some dried pineapple wedges, edamame, Ritz Bits cheese sandwich crackers, two Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies, two mini peanut butter cups, and a Horizon chocolate milk. He picked out most of the items to be packed, so hopefully he will eat it. I have packed little bentos like these for myself for flights and situations when it's not practical to carry around containers.

The crowning glory didn't make the picture because we were running late for school. I didn't have a paper bag, so I used a page of the Sunday cartoon pages for an inner wrapper that he can use as a placemat and an outer wrapper from a larger spread of the cartoon pages. I taped it all together and fashioned a rolled handle for his lunch "bag", put his name on it, and sent him on his way. As I dropped him off I reminded him that the outer plastic container and the newspaper are both recyclable and he should look for the appropriate bins wherever they have lunch.

Waste generated: one drink box, two small foil and paper wrappers, and a paper napkin. Recyclables: outer container and newspaper wrappers. Although this lunch generated more garbage than I am usually comfortable with, I am sure that it is still far less than most of the other kids. Even if he isn't fully on the bandwagon, at least the kid knows to think about these things.

Breakfast for lunch

My husband's breakfast this morning provided the inspiration for M's lunch/snack for preschool. When it comes to mass marketed boxed cereals, we are very uncomplicated, opting for Cheerios, Rice Krisipies, and either corn flakes or bran flakes. Sometimes I buy organic Amaranth flakes, but I have to buy several boxes because my husband will finish half a box of those at one sitting. We were recently introduced to Quaker Oatmeal Squares by a fellow skating coach and mom who included them in a lunchbox for herself and her daughter one early spring morning. I tried one and fell in love instantly, thus breaking me out of my breakfast cereal routine for the first time in years. My husband tried them and loved them as well, and both kids like them dry, so they are a winner all around. They are lightly sweet, crunchy, and have a bit of cinnamon and brown sugar flavor. They are tasty dry and stay crunchy in milk and are tasty with regular milk, soy milk, and rice milk (which I don't buy very often because I'm the only one who likes it).

Today she got a container of Oatmeal Squares, some fresh strawberries, and some whole wheat and multigrain crakers with vanilla soy milk in the reusable drink container. Not pictured are the Tinkerbell cloth napkin and the Backyardigans lunchbox and a note from me. No waste (except for the note), yummy cereal, juicy berries, and some crackers. Gotta love it.

Wasted Food

I subscribe to the New York Times Learning Network. Each weekday I get an e-mail with a link to a current article from the New York Times and links to lesson plans, vocabulary words, geography links, etc. The topics range from politics and religion to science and art. It's interesting, it's relevant, and it's something different.

Today's article was about the increase in worldwide food shortages and wastefulness in industrialized nations. Most of us grew up with moms who said that there were children starving in India (or Africa if you were my mom). My smart-mouthed reply was to not give me as much and Fed Ex it to them. While there are logistical challenges to that scenario, the harsh reality is that starvation and malnourishment continue to plague many parts of the world while in others wastefulness is the norm.

The article makes some suggestions on how to minimize waste and one important one is portion control. One of the principles of my blog is properly tailoring portions, so I was glad to see that this was mentioned. Not only is managing portion sizes better for nutrition, it's less wasteful. As much as I loathe those 100-calorie packets of cookies and crackers, at least in theory, they are starting to get it right, nutritionally and economically. There is a link to a photo essay on Time magazine's web page from a book called Hungry Planet. It is about what families around the world eat and what their weekly expenditure is. It's interesting and astonishing, at both ends of the financial spectrum.

I'll forgive the writer's comment "frugal mommy blog" comment because the article points out just how widespread the problem of waste really is.

Local Artisanal Cheese

M's preschool went on a field trip today to the Valley Shepherd Creamery, a local sheep farm, for a Spring Lambing Tour. The sheep farm produces a number of sheep's milk and related products including artisanal cheeses and yogurt. The drive was a bit further than we anticipated, a good thirty minutes away. The creamery is nestled in a beautiful area with mountains and rolling hills in Hunterdon County called the Black River Valley. It is way off the beaten path, at least half an hour away from anywhere, but the scenery is postively breathtaking. A world away from the Newark Airport, the Jersey Shore, and the Garden State Parkway, it's hard to believe that such a scenic and pastoral countryside exists about an hour away from Midtown Manhattan.

The tour began a video about the farm and the cheesemaking process. Then they saw the ewes, the milking parlor, and the cheese room. After that, they went into the area where the lambs are kept and M and her classmates got to hold a one month old lamb. I held it too and it was so cuddly and cute.

This is all that remains of a small wedge of cheese an aged romano style cheese which we thoroughly enjoyed. This variety is called Black River and was amazing. It was sharp, nutty, and rich but more fragrant and pungent than the imported aged romano cheese we normally buy. It's the kind of cheese I would buy and eat with a baguette and a glass of wine at an impromptu outdoor picnic. I would have bought more, but it was kind of expensive at $19.00 per pound. I will keep it in mind if we ever want some really good cheese for a very special occasion.

On the ride home, after stopping at Dunkin Donuts for my free promotional iced coffee, we stopped by a farm and store called Alstede Farms, which is a well known local farm. We went into the store and bought some of their home grown asparagus. I was bit disappointed to see that their store offered only a small selection of locally grown produce and a fair amount of not-so-locally grown items. However, they regularly have stands at local farmer's markets throughout northern NJ, so their products are getting out to the larger market.

It was a fun and interesting outing for both of us. I'm going to do some research and plan a day trip to the area for the summer since it's relatively close and do a really nice picnic lunch. There are a lot of historical sights in the area to see, not to mention the gorgeous views.

Thermos lunch... again!

My son has not had much of an appetite lately, at least not at lunchtime. This is inconvenient considering I write a food blog. Not much fodder if you have a kid that won't eat! Plus he's kind of a skinny thing too. My mother in law already thinks I starve the poor kid.

Today's lunch is mostly last night's dinner:

Rice and my not so pretty tamago in the thermos, strawberries and kiwi spears (a requested shape from him while I was cutting the kiwi this morning), multigrain crackers and alphabet cookies, and chocolate milk made with homemade chocolate syrup in the reusable straw container.

Everything is sitting on the Transformers napkin with a reusable fork. I'm just hoping he eats SOMETHING because we have a busy afternoon of a music lesson and track practice. Dinner won't be until 7 and there's not much time for a snack after school.

About the chocolate syrup.... I have been doing some experimenting in the kitchen, which is scary because I don't cook. Anyway, I found some recipes for chocolate syrup that were insanely easy so I made them with the politically correct fair trade cocoa and even more correct organic sugar. It's stupid easy to make. If I can make it and not mess it up, anyone can. It's sooooo good.... I have been known to just have it straight up from the container. I'll post the recipe soon.

There is more to life than plastic

Poor stretchy Plastic Man is so two (or is that three?) decades ago. I remember this guy from Saturday morning cartoons - he could reshape himself, stretch out like a rubber band and roll up into a ball. Personally, as far as stretchy superheroes, he's got nothing on Elastigirl. She's a superhero and a cool mom who wears spandex. She packs a heck of a punch. I'll bet she packs a good lunch too.

Ah, but I digress... I am always on the lookout for eco-friendly (and economical) products and solutions for food storage and portability, preferably BPA free. I'm not an alarmist. I still use plastic, although I try to use it less than I did a few months ago. My kids have probably been exposed to quite a bit of BPA thanks to me. Sorry for that, guys. Who knew? I don't necessarily believe in the hype, but at the same time, better to be safe than sorry.

One of my good friends is expecting a baby in June and has been concerned about the recent publicity about BPA leaching out of baby bottles. I used Avent bottles, but with the concern about BPA exposure, many parents are looking for BPA-free alternatives. Enter glass bottles, circa 1970 that my generation, and most of the current generation of new moms grew up on.
Some good options are the classic Evenflo glass bottles, which are available at my Amazon store, as well as the big box retailers like Target, Wal-Mart, BabiesRUs, and BuyBuyBaby. If you're a little more modern, these Weego bottles from Shopbabylife.com are pretty cool too. They're not cheap, but the outer cover makes them quite safe. There are also some other BPA free plastic bottle and cups made by BornFree and Momo, both of which are available at Amazon. BornFree Also has a glass version available on their website.

I am also sharing this information that I received from my Ideal Bite daily e-mail about a boy from the NYC metro area who has created some fun and kid friendly products that are environmentally friendly. Hunter Gross, a 7th grader, was inspired to create eco-friendly lunch sacks and totebags, among other things as a way to reduce the number of plastic bags. Check out the ProjectKool website and products here. Way to go, Hunter! Keep up the great work!

(picture courtesy of these folks http://www.hyperarts.com/pynchon/gravity/alpha/images/plasticman.jpg)

Spring Lunch

Zachary's lunch today contained egg noodles with broccoli sprinkled with pecorino romano cheese a thermos, some spectacular sweet strawberries, Teddy Grahams and alphabet cookies, and on the right, some Trader Joe's multigrain crackers and some mozzarella cheese chunks. In the reusable container is some soy milk.

Talk about a tasty waste-free mostly vegetarian lunch. He had several bites of the noodles and broccoli before I packed them, so I know he'll like them. All of this went into his Transformers lunch box with a reusable plastic fork and his Transformers cloth napkin. See? You can be waste-free, veggie-friendly, and still fun.

The best laid plans...

Not that I am the best by any stretch of the imagination, but I am pretty good, usually.... This weekend we had a really long day of activities and sports. I packed a substantial lunch and snack for Zachary, which included a Clif Bar and a container of yogurt for myself. Mackenzie and I had to leave the house a little earlier for skating and Zachary was going to his track meet with my friend and her husband whose son is also on the track team. In the haste of getting out the door, Zachary forgot to take his lunchbox.

Fortunately he had his tote bag with his number for track and his sweats, but no lunch. My husband called me shortly after he left feeling bad that he had sent him off for the day with no food and no money. I reassured him that my friends would not let him starve and that I would make sure that Mackenzie shared her lunch and snack with him when we arrived later. I always pack more than what they will eat, not to be wasteful, but to give them a choice, to have enough to share (usually with me!), and enough just in case there is a delay in getting home, which happens from time to time. I would rather overpack than go through the infernal drive through.

Our day on Sunday was pretty long, but not unusual for us. M and I had to be out the door by 9:30 to be on the ice at 10:30. On mornings like this breakfast is almost always to go since we have a 40 minute ride to the rink. Since Z wasn't being picked up until 10:15, Daddy took care of breakfast for him.

I made a microwave cheese omelet and wheat toast with butter and jam for M. Normally I am not for prepackaged convenience foods, but I bought these from a school fundraiser for her preschool, so we'll eat them. I can truly appreciate the appeal of convenience foods; it took 30 seconds to remove the omelet, nuke it, and put it into a container for her. It's fast, it's nutritious, I get it.I put it into a Rubbermaid sandwich container and gave her a Light My Fire spork and a cloth napkin for breakfast in the car.

My kids spill. It's sad and sometimes annoying, but true. Finding suitable non-spill tumblers for them proved challenging indeed. The straw style containers are fine for clear liquids, but I am wary of them for milk products. There is something about dairy going through a straw that is icky to me. Don't ask. I have a few quirky food issues like that. The adult style travel mugs work a bit better, but many of those are not truly spill-proof. They will minimize spills, but not eliminate them altogether. Enter the Playtex Coolster Tumbler Sippy Cup. It has the sippy style silicone valve to prevent spillage but the profile looks like a grown up coffee cup. I have read that the valves are not good for older children, but I'm not worried about it too much. My kids take the lids off to get the last little bit out of the cups. At some point soon I they will graduate to grown up reusable non-spill travel mugs, but for now this is what they have.

Sunday wasn't a complete bust. Mackenzie shared her snack, although there wasn't enough fruit or drinks for both of them. During the track meet Zachary asked for some money to get something from the snack bar and I let him. He wanted a soft pretzel, but they were out of them, so he got some Gatorade instead. He could have easily gotten candy or chips or something else that I wouldn't have preferred, but he didn't. He's learning to make good choices and it makes me proud.

Animal Farm

This was M's preschool snack the other day. I made onigiri (Japanese rice balls made from sushi rice) for the first time using my Williams Sonoma ice cream molds. They turned out awesome. M is even starting to like the nori (toasted seaweed used in sushi). Also included in the snack are some animal crackers, a big strawberry, a piece of broccoli, and four mini cracker sandwiches made from Trader Joe's mini sesame crackers and some goat cheese. Not pictured is her apple juice in a reusable container and a cloth napkin. The only waste generated was one small piece of waxed paper used to separate the strawberry from the cracker sandwiches. I think George Orwell would approve.

After School Snack

My kids like raw vegetables and have never complained about having them in their after school snack. That is not to say that they don't reach for the cookies or fruit snacks first. They're weird, but not that weird. However, they happily munch on veggies or fruit knowing that dinner is often hours away.

This is the afternoon snack I put together for Zachary the other day before track practice. Raw green beans, carrot sticks, red bell pepper slices, cucumber spears, and strawberry yogurt in the middle. Not pictured are whole wheat crackers, a granola bar, some graham crackers, and some apple juice, all in reusable containers of course. When packing their snacks, I load them up on protein and vegetables, particularly when we are en route to sports practice. On the way there they have a few bites, but on the ride home will finish everything in sight. I don't mind them filling up on this stuff before dinner because it's healthy and buys me the 20 minutes I need to get dinner ready for them upon returning home.

Happy Birthday, Happy Earth Day!

I love Earth Day, perhaps even more than my birthday. That might seem strange, but it's true. Earth Day was started on April 22, 1970, the day after I was born. Do the math; I am 38. Sad, but true. I have friends that are ok with their age and darn proud of it. I am ok with my age, but I don't wear it like a badge of honor like they do. If someone calls me ma'am I still cringe. But I digress.

In addition to celebrating my 28th birthday for the tenth time, I made a point this year to really play up Earth Day. Truth be told, this is the first year that I have ever given much thought about Earth Day. I have friends who have been all about Earth Day for years. These are the same friends who are ok with their age. They are also much healthier and skinner than me, so they must be doing something right. Again, I digress. Anyway, being mental is nothing new for me, but being environmental is relatively new. For me, being "eco-" means making choices that are both economically and ecologically sound.

To that end, I have some thoughts on the eco-friendly choices that we make as a family that hopefully are trickling down to our children. They are, in many ways, lifestyle choices that are vastly different from when I was growing up, some of which are harder to incorporate than others. For this generation of children, being eco-friendly is not just trendy or normal, it's a societal necessity.

1. Minimize waste. By packing foods that are nutritious in proper portions, we waste little food. Buying in the largest and most practical quantities for our family avoids the markup for packaging convenience items. Likewise, by using reusable containers, we are minimizing the amount of waste that goes into landfills. To be fair, I still buy drink boxes, juice in pouches, and small packets of crackers and snacks, but very rarely. Convenience packaging is a personal choice which I can appreciate. However, doing it yourself is relatively easy, although it does require a bit more time. On a scale of 1 to 5, the difficulty for us to adopt this strategy has been a 3. Not easy, but not impossible.

2. Waste-free or minimally wasteful lunches. Since lunch is the meal that most school-age children eat outside of home on a regular basis, families that choose to do this are doing the right thing. On a larger scale, schools that have adopted waste-free lunch programs are on the leading edge. Waste-free school lunches is still in its infancy. With the exception of some schools on the west coast and a few other environmentally forward-thinking schools, it's virtually unheard of. The parents of the preschool my daughter attends have agreed to adopt a waste-free lunch policy starting the next school year. My prediction is that it is a matter of time before waste-free cafeterias and on-site composting is done on a large scale. For more information about waste-free lunch programs at your school, this EPA website is a great place to start. On a scale of 1 to 5, this has been a 2 for us.

2. Using reusable canvas or recycled, post-consumer waste bags for groceries. Getting into the habit of remembering to put the reusable grocery bags in the car has been the biggest challenge about this habit. Likewise, remembering to bring them into the store with us has also been a bit challenging. Our local supermarket has been selling some really nice bags made of 100% post-consumer waste, so I bought four of them. They are large, very sturdy, and their bright colors and vibrant graphics are very cool and are being sold for the Elizabeth Haub Foundation. I must admit that I am a little annoyed that their are more designs available than the four our store has.... Grrr.... Seriously, though, using reusable bags is a no-brainer. This one is a 1 out of 5. Plus our store gives us a $0.02 credit per bag. Not that 0.02 is going to get you anywhere, but it's one or two fewer plastic bags going into a landfill.


3. Unplugging our electronics when we are not using them. This one has been hard. I am guilty of leaving our computer, tv, and many household electronics 24-7. I have recently begun unplugging the coffee pot and toaster oven when they are not in use. I also unplug the nightlights in our house, all three of them, when we are not using them. Admittedly, I should turn off the computer, but the power strip is so out of reach. It's a lame excuse. I should just buy some new power strips, one with a longer cord for the computer and one for the tv, cable box, dvd player, etc.

4. Composting and recycling. Composting was somewhat challenging at first, but we have gotten used to it. I have a ceramic canister with a tight seal and latching lid that I keep on the kitchen counter for fruit and vegetable scraps, eggshells, and coffee grinds. Initially the ick factor kept me from doing it, but a few heaping spoonfuls of baking soda in the bottom of the container eliminated the odor factor. It is about a quart-sized container and once a week I take the contents out to our compost pile and with my rake, toss it in, and cover it up. Recycling is not even a question. Our town has a schedule to pick up recyclable plastic, glass, cans, cardboard, paper, etc. Composting was about a 3 in terms of difficulty to do and recycling is a 1.

Living in a more environmentally friendly way is definitely more mainstream than it was a few years ago. My prediction is that many things that seem trendy now, like waste-free school cafeterias and solar panels, will become de rigeur in the very foreseeable future. Some things, like reducing the amount of packaging, plastic, and paper products people use are easy things to do that take some time, but cost very little to do. Other things, like getting solar panels on your house or heat exchangers instead of hot water heaters, are still largely out of reach for the average consumer because equipment and installation costs are so high. At the moment, the $16,000+ investment in solar panels for my house is much to exorbitant for me, even with a state-sponsored and funded rebate. However, my hope is that if everyone wants solar panels and heat exchangers, then the basic economics of supply and demand will bring the prices down so normal people with kids and dogs, minivans and mortgages, can afford them. You can bet that I will be first in line when that day comes.

Happy Earth Day, everyone!

Photo credits: Microsoft Windows sample images

Warm, cozy, and chocolate

Despite being mid-April, it is still quite chilly here in the northeast, particularly overnight and first thing in the morning. There are few things that warm one up more than a nice, hot steamy cup of hot cocoa. I am a big fan of hot cocoa. This past winter I discovered Dunkin' Donuts white hot chocolate. Good stuff. Those product developers knew what they were doing. It's a little sweeter than it needs to be, but I don't mind because the velvety texture and just the right amount of froth make it taste like a giant marshmallow that you can drink. Mmmm....

Hot milk based beverages are a classic evening treat for children before bedtime in India. Every child in India knows Bournvita, although whether you get it depends on your family's income level. My mom's family, for example, rarely got Bournvita but got Horlicks instead, also a malt based product, whereas in my father's family that's all they got. When I was growing up, Bournvita was hard to come by in the United States. Occasionally you would see a tin at the Indian store or at someone's house that they brought back from India. Most Indian families settled for Ovaltine. There simply was no American equivalent to Horlicks, so for people who grew up on that, there was nothing.

Fast forward to 2008 and rows and rows of Bournvita and Horlicks, as well as their competitors, line the shelves of the Indian grocery stores, which are starting to look more like American supermarkets each year. My daughter loves Bournvita almost as much as I do. My son, however, is not as keen on it and prefers traditional instant hot chocolate. My husband is not a fan at all and prefers Ovaltine as his chocolaty-malty milk mix in.

I love Bournvita on cold nights before bed, or first thing in the morning, or right after coming home from shoveling or playing in the snow, or when I'm cold, which is quite often since I am a figure skating coach. Seriously. Don't laugh. I swear it's a real job, although my husband might disagree.

Aside from being really good, it warms my heart to share something comforting with my kids that their grandparents enjoyed too. There's definitely some value in shared experience across generations and around the world. Drinking Bournvita makes me feel very Indian. Giving it to my kids connects them to their ethnic roots, even if they don't see it.

Bagel Box, take two

"Mommy," my seven-year-old began quite seriously, "if you won't let me buy a bagel bag at school, at least make one that has the same stuff in it."

This is another attempt at the now infamous bagel box. Upon extended discussion, Zachary pointed out that the bagel bag at school did not include fruit, crackers, or cookies as packed in the first bagel box a few weeks ago.

"Fine," I retorted, "then you will have neither cookies nor crackers. I hope you don't starve"

So this is what we wound up with: half of a plain bagel, carrot sticks in a silicone diamond shaped cupcake form, a schmear of cream cheese, and a brownie. I felt bad not giving him anything sweet, so the brownie was a bonus. Apple juice is in the reusable box and I included a small kiddie knife and a Transformers cloth napkin.

The kiddie knife is a relic from a preschool cutlery set made by The First Years that used to go back and forth with him to school. It has a little fork and spoon also and a durable plastic covered case. I wish I had bought two of them back then, but with only one child at the time, there was no point. On a recent trip to buy a gift for a friend, I looked for them at Buy Buy Baby, but they seemed to only have the reusable disposable cutlery sets. Oh well.

Waste generated: zero

When I emptied his lunch box in the evening, I said, "Oh, wow, sweetie, I'm really sorry you got a brownie in your lunch. You weren't supposed to. I know they don't have brownies in the bagel bag, so I'll remember next time." Needless to say he chirped up, "No! I like brownies in my lunch!" I responded, "So what are you saying, then? What I pack is better than school?" Conceding defeat, he gave me one of those cartoon looks when the smart-aleck character is outwitted. Hee hee....

Score another for mommy on the bagel box: Mommy 2, Daddy 1

After school snack

My kids, like many, have activities every day after school each week which run the gamut of music lessons to sports. My son is usually starving after school and on some days he will munch on the remains of his lunch, but like most of us, he likes to dig into his packed snack to see what I packed. Typically on these nights, it is well after 7PM before we get home, so I pack something substantial enough to hold him over until dinner. I tend to pack more than they will eat so there is enough for me to graze a bit as well.

This is a typical snack before athletic days: Air popped popcorn; mini fruit bento consisting of half a sliced kiwi, sliced strawberries, and red grapes, sandwich bento containing a mini corn muffin, tuna salad wedge - solid white tuna, mayonnaise, salt, pepper, and a bit of horseradish on whole wheat bread and a bit of lettuce, sliced red and yellow bell peppers and cucumbers, and a mini corn muffin; homemade trail mix containing walnuts (great vegan source of Omega-3's), raisins, and milk chocolate chips; chocolate soy milk in a reusable drink container.

When I make after school snacks, I make a point to include a healthy dose of protein, whether it's some tuna or peanut butter. I also include some whole grains as either bread or crackers. Air popped popcorn is a great choice because it has a fun texture and flavor and it's quite filling without saturated fats found in many other salty snacks. Fruit, in some form or another, is a must and in the warmer months I make sure there is a bottle of water, reusable, of course.

Sometimes I throw in a fruit bar, such as the ones available at Trader Joe's because my son doesn't like raisins. My daughter, on the other hand, picks them out of the trail mix with the chocolate chips and leaves behind the walnuts. While some parents might question the chocolate chips and chocolate milk, my feeling is that a little bit of chocolate is ok in moderation. I don't want my kids to feel deprived of treats, so a few chocolate chips and some chocolate milk a few times a week goes a long way.

One treat that they get once a week at most on skating days is a drink box of Horizon Organic Chocolate milk. It's sooooooo good. I started buying it as a healthier alternative to the nasty, sugary sweet hot cocoa at the concession stand at the skating rink. Normally I avoid drink boxes in favor of reusable containers, but when it comes to this chocolate milk, I just don't have the self discipline to let a half-gallon container sit in the refrigerator, lonely, dejected, and sad among the juice, soy milk, and regular milk. Out of pity, guilt, I could polish off a gallon of this stuff at one sitting. It's that good. So in favor of my budget and my waistline, drink boxes it is. Exercising the restraint not to drink those is tough enough. Our rink is so cold, however, that occasionally I give in and let them have cocoa, although I split the contents into two cups and add a bit of milk to cut the sugar factor a bit. Having the really yummy chocolate milk, however, has proven to be a tasty alternative for them and now they rarely ask for cocoa.

Thank you, Shushi Masi, for the lovely hand-loomed and handpainted napkin brought back from India. Profits from these homemade textiles can support an entire family in rural India for a month. We are very lucky to have a set of six of them!

Bread, fruit, and cheese

When I was an undergrad, there was a campus non-alcoholic pub that had a very shi-shi platter called bread, fruit, and cheese. It was half of a baguette, a small tub of Boursin or Alouette garlic and herb cheese spread, an apple and some grapes. It wasn't exactly fancy, but a nice departure from the cafeteria fare.

I made this snack for Mackenzie as a modern mommy interpretation of bread, fruit, and cheese:

I made mini cracker sandwiches out of goat cheese and mini sesame crackers from Trader Joe's. In the middle are graham crackers and on the left are some strawberries and granny smith apple slices. I made a little wax paper wrap to surround the fruit and contain any seepage into the other items. I also gave her a reusable drink box with apple juice and her Tinkerbell cloth napkin.

Review: Pretty good. She ate two of the mini cracker sandwiches, one strawberry and one graham crackerShe forgot that she likes goat cheese and turned her nose up at it at first (while I was making them). Then she tried one and remembered that she likes goat cheese, so all was well. Waste generated: one small piece of wax paper.

Pittsburgh lunch

Around once a year or so I get a hankerin' for some good old Pittsburgh style grub. Ok, I don't really know what a hankerin' is, but according to Schoolhouse Rock, one can hanker for a hunk o' cheese. Or was that a PSA? Usually it's in the midst of football season when the weather is chilly and some stick-to-your-ribs stuff is just what the doctor ordered.

Football season is long gone, and the next one is still months away, but I was in the mood for good, old-fashioned Pittsburgh-style Ham Barbecue sandwiches the other day. I made them for dinner the other night with pierogies, complete with sour cream on the side. Feeling guilty about stuffing my kids with calories, carbs, and cholesterol, not to mention processed meats and not a whole grain in sight, I made some steamed broccoli on the side.

There were no pierogies leftover because that would be wrong. There is a law about that in Pittsburgh. Thou shalt not leave uneaten pierogies at the table. They must all be consumed - no matter what. Waistline and diet complaints will not be tolerated.

I made enough of the Ham Barbecue concoction for Zachary's lunch the next day and sent him off to school with a potato roll and two mini corn muffins on the side. I don't even want to contemplate the fat, sodium, sugar, and carbohydrate count on this lunch, but it sure was good.

Ham Barbecue Sandwiches
1 12-oz can of Coca-Cola - use Classic Coke, not diet
1 cup of Heinz ketchup
1 lb of Isaly's chipped ham *
6 hamburger rolls

Combine Coke, ketchup, and ham in a saucepan over medium heat, simmer. Serve on rolls.

* Chipped ham is product found in western Pennsylvania and surrounding areas. I used a similar product available in NJ called Smithfield Chopped ham and had it shaved. Even turkey ham will work.

If this sounds cloyingly sweet, it is, but it's also really, really good. There are other versions of this recipe that are more involved with cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, and mustard, but this one is quick and easy. You can also make this with your favorite bottled barbecue sauce. Ham barbecues are a Pittsburgh classic, served at picnics, potlucks, tailgates, and lunch counters for years and years. Potato chips and a pickle are the classic accompaniment. I like the rolls toasted and coleslaw or potato salad on the side. This also works really well in a slow-cooker, the longer it cooks the better.

Contain this!

I went to The Container Store on Saturday for the first time. I have driven by this store hundreds, perhaps thousands of times. I have friends who are neat freaks and compulsively organized who love this store. Since I do not share their affliction, I have never needed to go there. After dropping Zachary off with a friend for a sleepover, Mackenzie and I headed over there to see what all of the fuss is about.

My squeals of glee upon finding the kitchen section must have been loud because at least one passing customer gave me one of those looks like I had just landed from another planet. They have a small selection of Rubbermaid containers, including both the rectangular and round style reusable juice boxes.

They also have an impressive selection of containers with locking or latched lids, including these from Sistema, similar to Lock'n'Lock from no fewer than three different manufacturers. The latched containers ranged in size from 100ml and up. There were some nice ones that would make nice grownup size bento boxes, complete with adjustable food dividers inside.

Although I could have bought many, many nice things at this store, inlcuding some perfectly lovely lunch sacks and 9-can coolers from Milano at very reasonable prices, I exercised restraint. I bought two small latched containers from a manufacturer from New Zealand called Sistema. I also bought a package of four 4-0z snack sized rectangular containers from an Australian manufacturer called Decor. And, drum roll please, they had the Guateplast lidded dip container that I had found for my daughter a few months ago. I have been looking everywhere for another one for my son, so I was thrilled. He was equally thrilled to see it when he got home yesterday and immediately began contemplating what I should put in the middle.

It was definitely a worthwhile trip. I didn't necessarily need more containers, but I will definitely use them. I have quite a few of the reusable Gladware small rounds which are 4-oz as well, but the rectangular ones are better for efficient packing. The locking containers are especially good for fruit since they have a silicone seal and won't leak in their lunch boxes.

You're having....twins!

Relax, everyone, I am not pregnant, and definitely not with twins. That ship has sailed! Zachary and Mackenzie, who are three years apart, get on these kicks every now and then of pretending to be twins. In honor of their fun, I made them matching twin snack bentos after school yesterday.

Each of them got some wheat crackers, cubes of mozzarella cheese, some gala apple chunks and green grapes packed into 180ml Lock 'n' Lock containers. In addition to the containers they got some apple grape juice in reusable juice box containers and some graham crackers. Waste: zero!

Lunch Buckets, Lunch Pails, call 'em what you want

One of my favorite blogs is Lunch Bucket Bento. The author is an exceptionally witty and talented writer who makes very cool lunches for her family. Anyone who makes hot dog curry is a fun person in my estimation. The title of her blog brought back a term that I had not heard in years - lunch bucket. My caregivers when I was very young, five or six years old, would use this term, and its close cousin, lunch pail, to refer to my Snow White lunch box or their husbands' large, black steel or aluminum manly man lunch boxes, much like this one.


I grew up in western Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh to be exact, where coal mining and steel making were once a vital part of the local economy. My caregivers and many of my parents' patients came from mining and steelmaking families. Over the years, we became very close with many of these families, and remain so today. These were women whose fathers, brothers, uncles, and husbands worked in the mines or the mills for generations. Long before OSHA, these men endured long hours, unspeakably dangerous conditions, and meager pay.





They were working class families, who made enough to get by and maybe send their children to college, if they were lucky. Their wives and loved ones would send them off to work with trepidation, praying that they would not be hurt or injured, or worse, killed, on the job. The physical demands of their jobs aged them rapidly; men of forty would look old and haggard from years of hard labor. It was a hard life for everyone. Injuries were financially crippling, which is often how we got to know them as my father was a doctor. It was a lifestyle; not an enviable one by any stretch of the imagination, but reality for thousands upon thousands of families. I sometimes wondered why they would call them lunch buckets, but never questioned it. I accepted that it was an old-fashioned term and that older folks were set in their ways. I grew to appreciate the care with which they would pack chipped ham sandwiches on Town Talk bread with mustard, a plastic bag of chips, and some Ho-ho's or devil dogs, with some napkins until they came home.





It turns out that there is such a thing as a lunch bucket or a lunch pail, not surprisingly something that is associated very closely with coal mining, and likely steel making. I came across these on Ebay the other day (while I was looking for something else entirely) .











This one is a three piece aluminum lunch bucket or lunch pail which the seller dates around the late 40's or early 50's. The seller bought it from a woman who said it belonged to her grandfather, who was a coal miner who had a mine right on his farm. What surprised me about this, and other similar specimens, is how similar they look to tiffin boxes and bento boxes, complete with removable inserts. I can just picture a wife in her housecoat 40 or 50 years ago packing this up with sandwiches or maybe a hearty stew. I doubt very seriously if she obsessed over making things cute or packed rice or curry, but I would think that the meals, probably simple, humble comfort foods, were packed with the same care and love.

Shapes for lunch

My daughter, now fully on the bento and cute lunch bandwagon, has begun making requests. Today she said, "Mommy, I want shapes today," and promptly removed the little tin of Pampered Chef mini cutters out of the drawer. "Here," she proclaimed, "I want a heart, a star, and a flower."

Well, by golly, little lady, then that is what you shall have.

Munchkin 4-year-old's snack/lunch consisted of three miniature shape sandwiches made in the aforementioned heart, star, and flower motifs from whole wheat bread and cream cheese. Grapes and sliced strawberries are in the cupcake holder, a few animal crackers, and some walnuts and raisins to fill the empty spaces. I also gave her some grape juice in a reusable juice box.

Review: One very satisfied 4-1/2-year-old. She ate one and a half of the sandwiches, 1 strawberry slice, two grapes, one of the animal crackers and a few walnuts and raisins. She's not a big eater and has yet to finish her whole snack at school, so she usually has more after school. Waste: zero.