pegkerr | Entries tagged with lunchbox

It's been awhile since I've posted one of these, hasn't it?

Laptop Lunch August 15, 2012

Aside from the boring ham sandwich, I have a mixture of grapes and cherries, and then beet hummus, which will be spread on the cucumber rounds and then dotted with Quark, which is a soft cheese (in the small container).

Jennifer McCann's blog (syndicated at Dreamwidth as

veganlunchbox_feed and at Livejournal as

veganlunchbox) has some news: her new cookbook, Vegan Lunch Box Around the World: 125 Easy, International Lunches Kids and Grown-Ups Will Love, is out now.

She also offered a heads up that the Laptop Lunches have come out with a re-design:

"Check out the new Bento System 2.0 that came out this month from Laptop Lunches. The first thing you'll notice is the new carrying cases decorated with funky aliens or pretty pink flowers. But the case isn't what has me really excited...

Do you see it? Yes! One of the small-sized container comes with a LID! I've so wished for a lid to seal in smaller servings of applesauce, soft fruit, pudding, etc. I used to cover the small container with plastic wrap held in place with a rubber band if the item I was packing was a bit wet. Well, no more!

So we're all happy so far, right? But wait, there's more! You still haven't seen the best part...

Bento Buddies 2.0! This is a separate set of containers you can buy for this new system, and it features one giant container that takes the place of the two large containers!! Woo! The new system doesn't have that line going between the two spaces, so the new giant container fits right in there.

Do you have any idea how many times I have longed for something like this for the Laptop? It's the perfect size for a whole sandwich, or a good-sized salad, or for one large serving of any kind of main dish.

Unfortunately, there is a bit of bad news: these new containers won't fit in the original Laptop Lunch System, so you'll have to upgrade to 2.0 if you want the nifty new sizes and lids.

Right now I'm holding the new system up next to the original Laptop, and the new systems are also a bit larger than the original. They're not bigger by a whole lot, but it's enough that I can see fitting larger servings into this one."

I'll probably buy this option:

which omits the carrying case, which I've never used, and I'll also get the Bento Buddies, too. I've really liked my Laptop Lunchbox, and I'm pleased to see this upgrade. The lid on the smaller container will be really great. I believe they have a picture of one of the lunches I packed in that recipe book; it won their photo contest, and they said they were going to use it in the new edition of the recipe book.

Today's lunch:

In large rectangular container: tuna fish mixed with dill and balsamic vinaigrette (wrapped in plastic, to be spread over salad), red bell pepper stuffed with wild rice,feta cheese and cheddar cheese; clementine; salad (mixed spring greens, mango, avocado, red bell pepper, blue cheese).

Looking forward to it!

Current Music: Lily's Eyes - Original Broadway Soundtrack

This was so pretty I had to share:

Spring mix greens topped with shredded carrot, chopped red bell pepper and blue cheese crumbles. Beets, oven-roasted in balsamic vinegar (will be heated and added to the salad). Chopped pecans and tuna, mixed with dill (in the plastic for now to keep container from becoming smelly), also to go over the salad. Tomato basil soup (slushy since I just pulled it from the freezer) which will be heated up at lunchtime.

Yum!

This one's somewhat prettier, although that sandwich looks a little messy:

Red cabbage tossed with a chopped clementine, rice vinegar and a teaspoon of sugar; gingersnaps and pecans; plain yogurt topped with pomegranate seeds; peanut butter and apple butter on whole wheat.

It's been awhile, so I'm posting a picture of my lunch, even though this one isn't particularly pretty or anything. So I'm not a domestic goddess every day.

Spinach salad with clementine, balsamic vinagrette in the small container, with pecans and dried cranberries for topping the salad, plain yogurt mixed with apple butter. And you can't quite tell, but there's chicken breast buried under all that brown rice. The sauce is a mixture of peanut butter, salsa, and lime juice.

Layered black bean dip (black beans mixed with salsa, layered with mashed avocado); beets baked in balsamic vinegar; corn tortilla chips; basmati rice with chick peas.

I'll bring the leftover brussel sprouts stew tomorrow. Will try to post that recipe tonight, since several people asked.

Current Music: Radio Heartland from Minnesota Public Radio -

Egg salad sandwich on wheat bread; yogurt mixed with pumpkin and maple syrup; homemade peach pie with rolled oats crumble topping. Recipe from The Moosewood Cookbook; fresh beets and onions, oven-roasted in balsamic vinegar.

Current Music: The Juniper - Sora

I brought an AWESOME lunch today: ratatouille, topped with monterey jack cheese, homemade fresh peach pie (oatmeal topping!), beets and onions, oven-roasted in balsamic vinegar and a little bit of butter, and a dessert made of plain yogurt mixed with pumpkin and a dollop of maple syrup. Sorry I didn't have time to take a picture and post it before leaving this morning, but trust me: it's pretty, healthy and delicious.

Delia got up this morning and kept me company as I was getting ready for work, which was nice. She's trying to shift her circadium rhythms because next week she's got to get up early enough to catch a bus that arrives at 7:00 a.m. Ouch.

My bike ride this morning was really enjoyable. Perfect weather. No wind, clear skies. Lots of frisking squirrels sighted. Listened to Entrain's "Can U Get It" which would make anybody want to get up and dance. And I had put a splash of Kahlua in my homemade coffee slush. Yum.

What's making you happy today?

I have a damn fine lunch today, if I do say so myself:

Chef's salad: spring mixed greens, carrots, mushrooms, ham, almonds, summer squash, blue cheese crumbles; Homemade peach pie with rolled oats crumble topping. Recipe from The Moosewood Cookbook; fresh beets and onions, oven-roasted in balsamic vinegar; Grape tomatoes; Balsamic vinegar dressing for salad

Leftovers!

Cheese and beans bake (pinto beans, kidney beans, Granny Smith apples, tomatoes, monterey jack cheese, splash of white wine. From The Moosewood Cookbook); red grapes; green peppers sauteed for a couple minutes in balsamic vinegar; and cornbread.

Barley risotto with chicken, yogurt mixed with apple butter, edamame, gingersnaps, clementine.

Remember this photograph, which I posted of one of my lunches last September?

On a whim, I sent it off to the Laptop Lunches website, because they have some promotional pictures of the way the lunchboxes can be used on their website, and I thought they'd be interested in seeing it, since (in my opinion) the photo was particularly pretty. I just got an email today that said:

Dear Peg,
Congratulations! You are a winner in the Laptop Lunches photo contest!

You have won a $25 gift certificate for the Laptop Lunches Web site, one copy of the "How To Make a Healthy Lunch for Kids" DVD, and a complimentary copy of our forthcoming book of creative lunch ideas (projected publication date: 2009).

Awesome. They sent a release for me to sign, and they'll use the picture in the forthcoming book.

Grapes, baby carrots, endamame, kale and spinach turnover, plain yogurt mixed with apple butter with dried cranberries sprinkled on top.

I have certainly been eating a lot more vegetarian lately.

Current Music: Escape from Azkaban - Ministry of Magic

This is a picture of my lunch, taken on April 3, the day my computer power supply went out, so I never had a chance to upload it:

Homemade pretzel, kiwi, the last of the quinoa timbales (recipe here), pumpkin and cottage cheese (with dusting of cinnamon, to be mixed together) and endamame.

Red cabbage slaw (mixed with chopped cranberries and tossed with a combination of orange juice, rice vinegar and sugar); quinoa timbales [quinoa and cornmeal cooked in water/orange juice mixture with a little chopped onion--shhhh, don't tell Delia--until liquid is absorbed, add orange zest, cinnamon, cumin, and chopped organic dried apricots; press into a container/mold sprayed with cooking spray (I used one of the small containers from my laptop lunchbox), and pop out of the mold immediately]; endamame and baby carrots; and one of my favorite lunchbox desserts: a mixture of cottage cheese and apple butter.

Current Mood: hungry

Winter squash, pumpkin bread, mini baguette French Toast, mixture of apple butter and skim milk yogurt for spreading over French Toast.

From the site Lunch in a Box [

lunch_in_abox2], here's a nice list of links with tips on packing speedy and effective bento box lunches.

Homemade Tomato-basil soup in thermos (recipe from The Vegan Lunchbox). Apple butter/peanut butter sandwich on whole wheat, plum tomato, kale and spinach turnover (recipe from Cooking Light; these freeze really well), and mixture of cottage cheese, canned pumpkin and maple syrup for dessert.

I haven't blogged a picture of my lunches in a while. Delia is interested in using her own laptop lunchbox again, so I made personal pizzas for both of us, using whole wheat pita pockets for the crusts. Delia, being Delia, wanted nothing but pizza sauce topped with mozzerella. I went a little more fancy:

Whole wheat pita topped with steamed kale, mixed with pizza sauce, chopped sun-dried tomatoes, chopped kalamata olives, and pine nuts. (Recipe from The Vegan Lunchbox.) On the side: homegrown miniature tomatoes and green grapes.

I'm cooking the rest of the kale down to make my favorite kale and spinach turnovers. Which, again, nobody in the family but me will eat.

Boy, that is so much prettier than a frozen lunch.

Edited to add: Oh, and I just found out today that there's a Flickr group for Laptop Lunches. Free ideas!

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Music: The Hero - Ministry of Magic

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
				1	2	3
4	5	6	7	8	9	10
11	12	13	14	15	16	17
18	19	20	21	22	23	24
25	26	27	28	29	30	31

Peg Kerr's Journal

The Holy Tree Grows Within the Heart

Tomorrow's lunch

Laptop lunchbox news

Lunch

Today's lunch

Lunch 1/9/09

Lunch today

Today's lunch

Today's lunch

Awesome start to the day

Mmm, Lunch

Today's lunch

Today's lunch

I won a photo contest!

Today's lunch

My lunch from a few days ago

Today's lunch

Today's lunch

Tips on packing lunches

Lunch

Here's tomorrow's lunch

Profile

May 2025

Peg Kerr, Author

Syndicate

Most Popular Tags

Page Summary

Active Entries

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags