Tuno Take Two

You know, if I never tried anything again after not liking it the first time, I wouldn't be eating tofu today. So despite our horrid experience with Tuno, here we are giving it another shot! Shmoo continued to ask about Tuno each time we went to the store, and although tofu and chickpea salad sandwiches are nice, they just didn't seem fishy enough to make him happy. I think seeing one of his close friends eating the real thing in class each week has kept it in his mind (speaking not as a vegan but as a mother, I am shocked to see so that so many parents still feed their kids tuna; I worry about mercury contamination, but perhaps news of the risk is just not getting out there to most parents?).
So we gave Tuno another go, trying it here at home over spring break before putting it in the lunch box. I heeded the advice of a trusted friend and Tuno enthusiast, and rinsed the Tuno extremely well under cold running water and let it drain (this is so key). Then I mixed it with just a small dab of Vegenaise and nothing else. Many of you recommended pickle, but shmoo is strongly anti-pickle. I spread the Tuno salad on half a wheat roll and packed with lightly blanched fresh green beans, organic tater tots, and an organic raspberry fruit leather.
Verdict: Tuno, you have indeed redeemed yourself and I'm sorry for all the bad things I said about you. After rinsing and draining it, it really does taste and look like tunafish! Shmoo was happy to finally have a sandwich just like his friend's, and ate every last bite of his lunch. 5 stars.

Kiwi Pitas

More fun with mini-pitas today! This time I filled the pitas with peanut butter and kiwi fruit, an interesting alternative to jelly. Above the pitas are baby carrots and some "Savory Baked Cereal Mix" from my newest cookbook acquisition, The Vegetarian Family Cookbook by Nava Atlas. I used two types of organic square-shaped cereal mixed with pretzels and nuts.
Below the cereal mix is a "frozen banana custard". I got this idea from my friend Renee's booklet The Happy Lunchbox: mash a banana, mix it with 1 TB orange juice (I used fresh), and freeze it overnight. Put it in the lunchbox in the morning, and by noon "it will have thawed enough to taste like a rich banana custard." I'm interested to see how this turns out!
Verdict: I volunteered at school today and sat next to shmoo while he ate. Kiwi pitas got a big "Mmmm!" and vanished quickly. He also loved the cereal mix. It's like a kinder, gentler Chex Mix -- not too salty or spicy. The banana custard was creamy and slushy and looked like applesauce. It tasted good, but shmoo gave it a thumbs down for being "too stringy". Maybe if it were blended in the blender instead of mashed by hand? 3 stars.
P.S. Tomorrow is a noon release day. Happy Easter, and we'll see you on Monday!

"Where can I go to talk more about veganism?"

As those of you who read the comments may have noticed, I decided to disallow anonymous posters. Some of us (vegan and not vegan) have been having a hard time getting along and being respectful of each other. Most of the nastier comments seem to be coming from anonymous posters, so I apologize to all the friendly, polite posters who will have to take the extra time to register. I hope you do, because I really do welcome friendly thoughts, comments, suggestions, and questions.

I believe in open debate about the larger issues of veganism. I just don't know if my lunch box blog is the place to have these big, worked-up discussions. Someone nicely suggested that I start a forum, but I've realized after reading all these posts that I don't have the time, Solomon-like wisdom, and thick skin that it would take to become a forum moderator.

There are some great discussion boards out there. VeggieBoards is a large group that I've heard good things about. Before I got busy with the Lunch Box, I used to hang out at Vegan Freaks and Post Punk Kitchen. Does anyone else have a favorite forum they would recommend?

An Easter Lunch Box

This lunch box is a cheerful celebration of springtime (and the fact that we gave up giving up sugar for Lent, ha!)! Here's an English muffin masquarading as a sunflower (vegan cream cheese and dried pineapple with currants and sunflower seeds in the middle). The lovely flower has attracted a following of Honeybee No-Bakes that can’t wait to take a taste (follow the link to get the recipe -- you could even shape them into eggs for Easter).
On the side is a sprout salad with shredded carrot, mandarin orange segments, and a tiny container of orange vinaigrette. And what would an Easter lunch box be without a plastic egg filled with vegan candy? Watch out when choosing jelly beans, as many contain gelatin and/or beeswax. These Starburst Jelly Beans are vegan and easy to find in most supermarkets.
Verdict: Shmoo likes helping me grow sprouts more than he likes eating them. He wolfed down the no-bakes almost as fast as I could shape them. 4 stars.

Mini-Pitas

Yes! Yes! Two months ago I scoured the entire city looking for these and they were nowhere to be found. Yesterday, lo and behold, there they were on the shelf at my regular grocery store -- MINI-PITAS! They're just the right size for a little hand, and they fit perfectly in the lunch box. I filled them with our old favorite, "white bean crock cheese" from Jo Stepaniak's Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook. (As a pointless aside, my scientifically-minded yet utterly adorable omni husband gets disgusted when I call it "cheese". Yes, technically, it's not cheese, it's beans. I can't even really tell if it tastes like cheese, but heck, it's really good! So I call it "white bean crock stuff", which doesn't sound quite as appetizing...)
Anyhoo, along with my Happy Mini-Pita Dance I'm doing the Guinea Pig Shuffle: Matisse & Jack asked shmoo and I to try out their TrailBlaze Bake-At-Home Oatmeal Energy Bars -- you add applesauce to a dry mix, stick it in the oven, and take out a batch of vegan "energy" bars without the wrappers. Today we tried Cranberry Walnut. I packed them along with kiwi fruit and Brussels sprouts (there were four but shmoo nicked one to eat with breakfast).
Verdict: First, the bars: they were absolutely effortless, cheaper and more eco-friendly than prepackaged bars, and tasted good (can't wait to try the chocolate!). One criticism I have is that the bars contain whole flaxseeds; flax needs to be ground in order to become bioavailable, so those lovely omega-3s are going in one end and right out the other, and getting stuck in my teeth along the way. Only one mini-pita was left uneaten. 4 stars.

Aloo Samosas

Hey, we're back to school! I hope everyone (who got one) enjoyed their Spring Break. It was a cold & rainy one here, but we still had fun with soccer camp, play dates, and spring cleaning.
Today I made aloo samosas -- Indian pastries filled with potatoes, peas, and spices. They are normally deep fried, but I bake mine instead (I'll say it's to cut down on the fat content, but it's because I'm lazy). In the thermos alongside is a hot serving of mung dal -- split, husked mung beans cooked and seasoned with lemon, black mustard seed, and fresh cilantro. And for fruit and dessert today, a fresh honey mango sliced and mixed with drained, canned mandarin orange segments. I love the way the orange colors look together.
Verdict: Once again, food stuffed in pie dough reigns supreme! Every bite of aloo samosa was gone, along with all the fruit (mango and orange are a great combination). He only ate about half the mung dal. If only it had been wrapped in pastry... 4 stars.

A Vegan Eggstravaganza

Some of you have already been discussing this below, but I wanted to create a special post to talk about vegan Easter egg ideas.

Instead of real eggs we usually use plastic eggs filled with little candies, confetti, stickers, or dry cereal (kids can break their eggs into a bowl and eat the cereal for breakfast).

In the comments below Veganmum shared this great idea: "make little 'nests' by mixing melted chocolate with shredded wheat or shredded coconut (or both), and use the mixture to line paper muffin cups. Chill until set. Fill the 'nests' with a few vegan eggs or jelly beans, and hide these or just put them in your child's Easter basket." Thanks, Veganmum!

One year we made no-bake clay eggs using instructions from PeTA's Cruelty-Free Easter page, which also includes instructions for papier-mâché and chocolate eggs. The clay was easy to make and fun to paint. Because they never go bad like regular eggs, we spent the next couple weeks hiding them over and over again.

I also stumbled across directions for making these gorgeous Millefiori Eggs (pictured above) using wooden eggs and polymer clay (follow the link and scroll down for instructions).

Of course, you can also bake and decorate egg-shaped cookies, or paint paper or wooden eggs from a craft store. In another comment below Beth suggested finding pretty egg-shaped beach rocks for painting.

Eggs are universally used at Eastertime as a symbol of rebirth and springtime, but you could always get away from the whole egg-thing altogether and hide little toys around the house instead. This year we'll be hiding little sets of Pokemon cards tied with pastel ribbons (don't tell shmoo!).

Mr. Fruit Bunny

Check out Mr. Fruit Bunny! I discovered his cuteness in the latest issue of Taste of Home, and was immediately struck by what a great, healthy, vegan-friendly idea this was for Easter. The creator says, "I’ve taken it to school functions and gotten rave reviews from the youngsters." What I want to know is, how does she manage to transport Mr. Bunny so he arrives in one piece? I would probably make this fresh on location instead.

Vegan Easter Garden Basket

I want to send out a great big thank you to the folks over at Fatty Weight Loss. They had volunteered to send a box of Godiva chocolate truffles to the winner of the Best Food Blog award, but were kind and thoughtful enough to realize that a vegan probably wouldn't want Godiva truffles! Instead, they sent me this incredible Easter basket overflowing with vegan chocolates from Rose City Chocolatier.

Even the smell of all this chocolate is enough to make me swoon. It's filled with seven chocolate bunnies and chickies and two boxes of mixed chocolates. We're saving it for Easter and calling in family reinforcements to help us eat it all.

Thanks again, Fatty Weight Loss! I bet I won't lose much fatty weight myself this Easter...

Pixie-Update

First I want to thank everyone out there for not ripping me to pieces for showcasing a product that turned out not to be vegan -- I feel so bad! As someone pointed out, Dr. Fuhrman's Pixie-Vites contain the variety of vitamin D that comes from sheep's wool. Although I always try to be careful and read labels, I completely failed to notice this one.

I contacted Dr. Fuhrman right away and asked about the Pixie-Vites. You can visit the Disease Proof blog to read his response.

Here's a quote:

The reason why the Vitamin D in Pixie Vites is not vegan and made from wool (please note it is not made by killing animals) is because that form of D is twice as absorbable as the vegan type and many kids do not eat a whole Pixie Vite and only take a small portion of one. I did not want to short change some kid by not supplying them with adequate D, so I let that one non-vegan ingredient slip by (since it is made from a by product of wool manufacturing).