Japanese Soba Bento

This Week's Photo



Menu

* Chilled Soba Noodles
* Spinach Rolls
* Fresh Organic Strawberries
* Grilled Mushrooms
* Dipping Sauce


Preparation Notes

Chilled Japanese soba is a wonderful summer treat. Top with chopped scallions and serve a dipping sauce on the side. Add some local fruits and vegetables for nutrition and color and you've got a deliciously simple lunch.

Boil the soba noodles per the instructions on the package and chill.

Add a handful of fresh strawberries.

Prepare the spinach rolls: steam the spinach until tender but not mushy. Place on a sushi mat and roll tightly to form a roll, squeezing out the excess liquid. Carefully remove the spinach and set it aside. Then place a half sheet of nori seaweed on the sushi mat, place the steamed spinach along the near edge and roll the spinach inside the nori. Place the roll on a cutting board and slice carefully into 1-inch lengths.Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Enjoy with the dipping sauce.

Saute the mushrooms in a small amount of olive oil

Prepare the dipping sauce: combine 3 Tbs Japanese dashi stock, 1 tsp soy sauce, 1 tsp rice vinegar, and 1 tsp mirin.

Laptop Lunches 2.0 Now Available in the UK

The Laptop Lunches 2.0 line is now available in the UK at http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_w_h_?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=laptop+lunches+lunchbox. Please pass this info on to any UK friends who may be interested. Thanks!

Vegan Lunch Box Around the World

Vegan Lunch Box Around the World offers a delicious array of meat-free, egg-free, and dairy-free lunches that will take you on an adventure across the globe.

This delightful book includes balanced international and regional American menus with 100 recipes from Ratatouille to Moroccan Tagine, New England Chowder to a Japanese Bento Box.

With quick and easy recipes, fruit and veggie ideas for even the pickiest eaters, and an allergen-free index, Vegan Lunch Box Around the World is essential for every family raising healthy kids-and for anyone who packs a lunch.

Now available at http://secure.laptoplunches.com/AMAZING/itemdesc.asp?ic=340070&eq=&Tp=.

Pasta and Patties

This Week's Photo



Menu

* Whole Wheat Vegetable Patties
* Fresh Spinach Fettuccine
* Walnuts
* Organic Plums


Preparation Notes

Lunch-making can be especially satisfying this time of year with so many fresh vegetables and fruits in season. This pasta dish, for example, is incredibly flavorful and takes just a few moments to prepare. If you belong to a CSA and end up with miscellaneous vegetables at the end of the week, these patties could be just what you're looking for.

Prepare the vegetable patties. Chop well and set aside about 2 cups of vegetables. (Cabbage, green beans, spinach, onions, mushrooms, carrots, yams, zucchini, and chard all work well.) In a separate bowl, mix 2 cups of whole wheat flour and a pinch of salt and pepper. In another bowl, beat an egg and add about 1 cup of water, milk, or soy milk. Add the liquid mixture to the flour mixture and stir lightly to mix. Add the vegetables and stir again. If the batter is too thick, add more liquid. Add a small amount of olive oil to a skillet and heat. Spoon the batter into the skillet. Pan-fry the patties on one side and then the other until cooked through. Serve plain, or with salsa, marinara sauce,or ketchup.

Boil the fettuccine and set aside. In a large pasta dish, mix fresh diced tomatoes, chopped fresh basil, minced garlic, and olive oil. Add the pasta and toss well to mix, then salt and pepper to taste.

Add a handful of walnuts to one of the medium containers.

Include two fresh plums.

Tried It Tuesday: Laptop Lunch Box

With Back to School time here or just around the corner, it is the perfect time to talk lunch boxes. Whether your child packs a lunch daily or just once in awhile, having a lunch container that makes the job easy is important. There are dozens of lunch boxes on the market, but after years of trial and error we are headed into a new school year using the same ones we purchased lat year—for the first time ever.

Laptop Lunch Boxes are a Bento-style container featuring several fun colors for your children to choose. The box is perfect for waste-free lunches, but even if going green isn’t your thing, the ease of packing a lunch without searching for baggies or trying to find just the right sized lid will make it worthwhile. Each laptop contains 4 containers—2 small squares and 2 larger rectangles (including 1 with a lid). They are just the right size for portioning leftovers, creating new meals and including the snacks your children love.

[Read the rest of the article at http://inexpensively.com/articles/eating/cooking/tried-it-tuesday-laptop-lunch-box.]

Red Bento Buddies (NEW!!!)

We're launching our Bento Buddies in red this week. Now available online at: http://secure.laptoplunches.com/AMAZING/items.asp?Cc=BUDDIES_2.0&iTpStatus=0&Tp=&Bc=

Back To School: Dealing with Food Allergies in the Classroom

Written by Jamie Ervin

Sending your food allergic child off to school can be scary beyond belief. What will happen to little Johnny when we aren’t there to monitor every his food intake? I feel like we are becoming skilled at dealing with allergies in all kinds of social situations, here’s some tried and true tips from our allergic household to yours.

What we have to avoid: Gluten (wheat, barley, rye, oats and all derivitives), dairy, food additives (colors, flavors, preservatives) and chemicals.

[Read the rest of the story at http://ecochildsplay.com/2009/07/31/back-to-school-dealing-with-food-allergies-in-the-classroom]