Lunch box is back just in time for Halloween! Two photos today, one of the outside of the box all done up for the day...
And here's the spooky contents. Spider sandwiches -- made of homemade blackstrap carob graham crackers filled with peanut butter and pumpkin butter -- are creeping around on a bed of "mummy wrap", while "Goblin Fingers" wait to be dipped in some vegan Ranch. A crisp Asian pear from the final farmer's market of the year is on the side. Beverage: Witches' Brew, of course! (chocolate soy milk and cherries).
Verdict: A spooktacular success (bwaahaahaa), and a bit of nutrition on a day otherwise devoted to sugar. He gobbled down everything but two Goblin Fingers, which he ate when he got home. And yes! He brought home the candy he received so I could check it out before he ate it! Luckily, one piece was vegan. 5 blood-curdling screams.
Do you have trouble with the juice container leaking? I tried it one time and ended up with cranberry juice all over my carrying case? I haven't tried again, so I'd welcome suggestions.
ReplyDeleteHi, krista! No, our beverage container hasn't leaked at all. I would contact the company and ask for a replacement -- it's no good if it leaks!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful comeback after a painful week of nothing! What's on the carrots- I mean, goblin fingers? :)
ReplyDeleteHow adorable! this is extremely creative. what are the legs and eyes of those spiders, by the way? you are instilling such good judgment in little schmoo-- he actually brought home the candy to be checked! awesome :)
ReplyDeleteHow cute is that?! Too much fun for the first day back! You're such a good mom! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI'm so jealous of lil schmoo --
ReplyDeleteHi, Molly -- the spider legs are Chinese noodles, but I think pretzels would work well, too. The eyes are pine nuts, because raisins were too dark next to the carob cracker.
ReplyDeleteAnd hi, Miriam -- the Goblin fingernails are...radish! Gross, huh? Little shmoo was thrilled; in fact he ate "fingers" all afternoon and evening after he got home.
I don't think the radishes are gross...I loved them as a kid, and still do. :) I'm so relieved to see you're back! I was suffering withdrawls. Happy Hallowe'en to Little Shmoo!
ReplyDeleteSorry, I didn't mean radishes were gross, we like them. It's how they look as red fingernails on orange fingers that I thought was gross! :-)
ReplyDeleteThat is gross! My kids might even like that!
ReplyDeleteWe're headed to Portland tomorrow to look for a place to live. Wish us luck!
did you make the pumpkin butter yourself? that sounds delish.
ReplyDeletelove the blog, btw. i've been stopping by for awhle.
yum.
I have been looking at this blog for a while now, and you have got to be the most creative mother I know. Good job, and to bad my children are boys, otherwise, I would arrange their marriage now!
ReplyDeleteAwesome, yet again! 5 stars for creativity!
ReplyDeleteHi, catswym -- No, the pumpkin butter was an impulse purchase at the gourmet store. Of course, I have 40 pumpkins from my garden that are calling out to be made into something, so I really *should* be making my own pumpkin butter.
ReplyDeleteHi, birch mom -- Yep, the mummy wrappings are torn paper towels, both to keep the spiders from breaking and to add to the effect.
We do make our own vegan ranch dip. Little shmoo tried ranch dip once at a church function and promptly fell in love. I had to make 4 batches before I found the recipe he would eat. Now I've perfected it to the point where you can hardly hold him back. In fact, it's now 7:40am and he's eating ranch and carrots as a breakfast second course before we head out the door!
What a great Halloween lunch! BTW I love this blog. In fact I just bought one of the lunch boxes (ahem, for myself) because of it. :-)
ReplyDeleteOMG, you're hilarious!
ReplyDeleteR-C, that's how I started out my vegan ranch experiments, too -- I blended a base of silken tofu and kept adding and adding things until I had to throw it away! lol Now I use vegan sour cream and cream cheese; it's certainly more "processed" than I would prefer, but it's easy and he goes crazy and eats entire bags of baby carrots with it.
ReplyDeleteBlend together 3/4 cup sour cream, 1/2 cup cream cheese, 1 tsp. sugar, 1/2 tsp. salt, and 1/4 tsp. dried dill, and fresh ground black pepper. Add 1/4 cup chopped green onions if you like. Voila!
Wow, what fun!
ReplyDeleteRe: ranch, FYI, you can mail order a vegan ranch dressing mix called Stead O' Ranch from Pangea www.veganstore.com
Love,
Vegan convenience food gir.
Great lunch ideas! Can we have the recipe for the crackers you used for the spiders? Yum!
ReplyDeletein your book you don't use blackstap in the recipe. Is there any reason why? I would love the recipe with the blackstrap molasses if you could. I try to find ways to use it more often.
ReplyDelete