Brilliant Yellow Noodles with Kale

Fettuccini noodles cooked in tumeric enhanced water with organic kale in a savory broth (vegetable broth, leeks, apple cider vinegar, and brown sugar - kale and leeks from Fully Belly CSA); organic Fuji apple; Annies whole wheat cheddar bunnies and shredded spicy monterrey jack cheese.

Small glass frigoverre container, stainless thermos brand thermos.

waste generated: none

Strawberry Fields Forever

Leftover St. Paddy's day bread reinvented with organic salt free peanut butter and sliced organic strawberries (first of the year, and not as tasty as they appear) - both in the sandwich and in the container; chocolate soy milk.

waste generated: drinkbox; toothpick

Luck of the Irish

This lunch is to St. Paddy's day what a Christmas Tree is to Christmas, all show and no substance. I decided to pass on the corned beef and cabbage after envisioning what might become of such traditional fare in the hands of an impulsive 6 year old with a decent throwing arm,  wielding a fork and surrounded by his encouraging and exuberant peers.

Homemade green organic whole wheat clover bread (let's pretend those shiny glittery bits are some kind of sparkly green seed . . . ); organic kiwi fruit wedges; organic celery filled with peanut butter. 

waste generated: square of unbleached parchment paper

Chicken Pecan Salad and Carrot Twins

When I opened my CSA box this week and found this pair of interwined carrots peeking out I smiled. Two days later they still make me smile. They are so unique and beautiful that I wonder if I should send them off to be eaten or if I should display them in my kitchen to be admired. This is one of the things that I love about organic farming. The methods allow vegetables and fruit to just be. Sometimes that means that they are not smooth and unblemished, often it means that they are not uniformly shaped, but always, underneath either an oddly unattractive (think celery root) or an extraordinary exterior (think intertwined carrots) something delicious and uniquely beautiful dwells because nature has been allowed to do its thing.

Chicken salad (shredded leftover Rocky Jr. organic chicken, mayo and dijon with pecans, dried cranberries and diced celery) sandwich on Alvarado Street sprouted whole wheat bread with mixed lettuce; organic carrots; organic kiwi fruit.  Carrots, lettuce, and celery from Full Belly Farm.

waste generated: two novelty toothpicks

Spaghetti. . . .

O's?  

Anelletti pasta with MuirGlenn pizza sauce and Organic Valley shredded mozzarella; homemade whole wheat bread; broccoli and avocado salad with almonds and lemon, olive oil and dijon vinaigrette; organic organic segments.

Oranges sent in the lidded container from Aidan's laptop lunchbox, broccoli avocado salad in a small glass frigovere container, and bread wrapped in a small cloth napkin.

Broccoli and oranges from Full Belly CSA box.

waste generated: none :)

Pesto Olive Pasta Salad

Organic whole wheat pasta with pesto (chopped basil mixed with olive oil, garlic and pinenuts, processed and frozen from early Fall, defrosted and mixed with a touch more olive oil, pecorino cheese and a touch of seasalt) and kalamata olives; organic red leaf lettuce; organic beets (Full Belly), baked in foil, then quartered and marinated in mustard and vinegar; Organic Valley cheesestick homemade whole wheat brownies.

If this were my lunch I'd pile the pasta salad and beets on top of the red leaf lettuce, tear the cheesestick into chunks and toss it in and eat it as a giant salad.  But, this is not my lunch and it is more likely that there will be absolutely no mixing of food, and the beets will simply be ridiculed.  

waste generated: one plastic cheesestick wrapper

Friday's Evil Fish Fry

I almost didn't include this lunch because it makes me feel like a fraud.  The fish - -Striper - -was purchased impulsively at Trader Joe's and I didn't realize until I got home that it was imported from a fish farm in Vietnam, where I am guessing that it's antibiotic filled discharge is polluting a once lovely body of water.  My apologies for contributing to the natural resource exploitation of other countries.  To add to the deception, my son is convinced that this fish is chicken.  

Organic brown and wild rice topped with almond crusted farm raised Striper ; coleslaw with soy dressing (organic red cabbage and carrots from Full Belly, crushed peanuts and a dressing of soy, rice vinegar, toasted sesame oil and brown sugar); Fully Belly organic broccoli, steamed; Blue Heron Farm orange segments and chunks of mango (previously frozen).

waste generated: none :)

Salami

So I bought the salami for the pizzable lunch and now I'm stuck with an entire package that I really don't want anyone to eat. . .however, waste not, want not. . .I don't know what that means except that my  desire not to waste is stronger than my nutrition ideals.

Salami Sandwich on Alvarado St. organic sprouted sourdough bread; Newman's Own organic Spelt pretzels; steamed broccoli with honey mustard dip (canola mayo, dijon, seasoned rice vinegar, flaxseed oil and and agave syrup); water in a Sigg bottle.  The sandwich was wrapped (with pretzels piled on top) in the wrap-n-mat.  

waste generated: none :)

Organic Whole Wheat Pizzable

Aidan decided that since I refuse to buy him a lunchable, we should simply make our own.

Homemade organic whole wheat pizza crust; organic Muir Glenn pizza sauce (packaged in a snack size baggy with the tip cut off and covered with a sticker to prevent leaking); shredded cheese; organic Applegate Farms genoa salami (**certified humane**); Mediterranean Organic kalamata olives.

**certified humane is a seal given to a meat producer who meets the Humane Farm Animal Care Program standards which include a nutritious diet without antibiotics or promotants, animals raised with shelter, resting areas, sufficient space, and the ability to engage in natural behaviors. This particular meat came from Canada - not exactly a local source.

waste generated: snack size plastic bag and piece of unbleached parchment

Sundried Tomato Pesto Pasta

Organic whole wheat pasta with pesto and sundried tomatoes; organic green lettuce salad and carrot sticks; organic apple slices sprinkled with cinnamon sugar and raisins.

Lettuce, carrots, sundried tomatoes and purple basil for pesto (from an early fall CSA box, previously finely chopped with garlic, pinenuts and olive oil and frozen) from Full Belly Farm.

waste generated: none :)

Thanks Mom, This Lunch Looks Delicious!!

As suspected, Friday's soup was rejected.  Perhaps packing broccoli romanesco chesnut soup on Pizza Day at school was not the best planning.  This lunch was met with much more enthusiasm.  

Organic new potatoes, boiled and tossed with olive oil and sea salt; diestal apple chicken sausages with small packets of mustard and ketchup (saved from restaurant take-out); orange slices; homemade organic whole wheat and almond meal blueberry muffin.

waste generated: plastic condiment packages