Pizza

Here's a picture of the four mini pizzas I've made to include in the cookbook (clockwise from top): Mixed Mushroom, Polka-Dot Pepperoni, Kale Kalamata (my favorite!), and Zucchini Lattice. Guess which one my son wanted for lunch...
Pepperoni, of course! I measured the inside of the lunchbox to make sure the pizzas would fit just right -- too cute! I've never sent shmoo to school with a soda before but a fruit-sweetened spritzer seemed just right with pizza. I tucked an organic pear in his backpack wrapped in a napkin, too.
Verdict: He even ate the crusts! And hubby and I ate our crusts, too, when we enjoyed the rest for lunch. 5 stars.

Seitan Sandwich

Here's a sandwich of seitan slices with vegenaise on wheat bread, with a lime soy yogurt, green beans, and a dried apple and blueberry bar.
Verdict: I waded through an ocean of crusts (oh, those cursed crusts...) only to discover that the shmoo had once again left all his containers and untensils in his desk at school. The napkin was still there, though! But he ate everything and especially liked the apple bar. 4 stars.

Napkins!

Today's lunch photo features the awesome napkins that super-mom Dionne made for Little shmoo's lunches. Thanks again, Dionne -- they are the best! Today's lunch is macaroni & peas with a basil-flecked nutritional yeast sauce, an organic apple, some baby carrots with extra mac & peas sauce for dipping, and some chocolate letter cookies.
Verdict: This is a repeat of one of Little shmoo's all-time favorite lunches. He can eat bowls and bowls of this and never get tired. 5 stars.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here's something the kids will be thankful for: Native Blend Popcorn Balls.

Thanksgiving

Here is a Thanksgiving lunch box inspired by foods we eat today that are native to North America (listed here in bold). A pumpkin Anadama roll filled with tofurkey and vegenaise, cranberry sauce in the tiny container, wild rice pilaf with peas, corn & pecans, popcorn balls (popcorn was served at the first Thanksgiving!) with sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, dried cranberries, and dried blueberries. Beverage: concord grape juice.
Verdict: My husband took this fancy-pants picture for the cookbook. Our adopted turkey, Ingrid, is looking adorable and thankful in the background. Little shmoo loved the wild rice and the tofurkey roll, but doesn't care for cranberry sauce. All three of us can't stop eating these chewy, carmely popcorn balls. 5 stars.

Tortilla Roll

A lunch chosen and prepared entirely by Little shmoo. He even took the picture, with pumpkins added as "perfect decorations". A whole wheat tortilla rolled up with refried beans and cut into bites, grapefruit segments, cooked peas, carrots, and corn, and a piece of vanilla cake.
Verdict: He loved his lunch (5 proud stars), and I loved having him in the kitchen this morning, chatting as he chopped carrots, spread beans, and scored a grapefruit (which took him about 10 minutes!). "I'm going to eat the grapefruit first," he told me, "that cake can wait!"
Then a while later (still scoring) he said, "I'm tired of the people in my lunch group. They eat meat every day in their lunch, and when I see it I think, 'there's one less animal in the world'." Oh, it hurt to hear this and I didn't know what to say. It made me feel sorry and sad, sorry that I've opened his eyes to see a dead animal where other kids just see food, sorry that I send him out on his own every day to face it in a way I don't have to.

Veggie Burger

A veggie burger made from "Nature's Burger" by Fantastic, on a wholegrain sprout bun with a slice of Tofutti cheese. Organic green grapes, baby carrots with some cannellini bean hummus, and some pretzels.
Verdict: I'm happy with these burger patties. They come in a dry mix that you add boiling water to. The main ingredients are brown rice and mixed dried vegetables, which I feel better about than the usual processed soy patties. They stay tender and don't get rubbery when cold like the Bocas, and best of all Little shmoo liked them, too! He ate well over half the burger, all the grapes and carrots with dip. He didn't touch the pretzels, which is probably healthier than eating them! 4 stars.

Musubi

Three musubi are lined up in the lunch box today. Musubi (also called onigiri) are balls of Japanese sticky rice (that's right, Shannon, James eats sticky rice!) wrapped with nori seaweed and usually stuffed with an umeboshi plum ("You're the ume in my musubi" is a Japanese version of "you're the cream in my coffee"). Along for the ride are some adzuki beans with pickled ginger and soy sauce, and an Asian pear.
Verdict: Wow, these are more filling than I thought; we ate one each and were stuffed. I even tried a bit of umeboshi in mine, and boy howdy that's an aquired taste. Little shmoo ate all the Asian pear and most of the beans, too. 3 stars.
P.S. Yesterday my mom found these cards that she bought back in the 80's to slip into our lunches (which she never did). They say adorable, sappy things like "You Can Do It!" and "No Matter What I Love You". I'm getting quite a collection of cards -- pickle-shaped jokes, cookie-shaped puzzles, mazes, and now these. Does anyone have any lunch notes they'd like to trade with? Or how about some of those little cloth napkins that Catherine mentioned below? Email me (jmccann@veganlunchbox.com) if you're interested.

Triple Chocolate Cupcakes

Today was noon release, so no lunch box today (we went out for vegan burritos at Taco Del Mar, woo!). Instead of the regular lunch box, here are pictures of the two birthday cakes I plan to include in the cookbook: Triple Chocolate Cupcakes and Pineapple Celebration Cake. The chocolate cake is so good, even omni members of my family ask for it for their birthday! Little shmoo's birthday is in the summer so he won't be bringing them to school to share, unless we decide to have an Unbirthday Bash.

Chickpea Salad Sandwich

Chickpea salad in a pita pocket, mandarin orange slices and organic green grapes, jicama sticks, sugar snap peas, and red cabbage, and two Golden Oreos for dessert.
Verdict: Ha! After I took this picture I slipped the sandwich into a ziplock bag and folded the two Oreos up in a napkin. So when Little shmoo got home he had eaten everything except a bit of pita bread (he really liked these chickeny chickpeas), some of the red cabbage and peas...and the cookies! I unrolled them and held them up to him. "Oh!" he said. This kid needs to learn to use his napkin! 4 stars.