What Is In Sophia's Bento Box Today?

6 November

Carrots, cucumbers and grapes.

It's Monday pizza at school, so I didn't pack her any heavy duty lunch. I did though, pack her some sides- carrots, cukes and grapes. No school tomorrow (it's election day AND PTA meeting- uh oh), so she'll be home tomorrow with the nanny and I'll be at work.

3 November

Four taquitos with carrots and grapes, sour cream (for dip).

Had to throw in trusty, reliable taquitos from Whole Foods. She's been super picky about her food and it's driving me mad. When she got home, I gave her some chicken nuggets. Gotta fill that teeny belly of hers.

2 November

Pasta with olive oil sprinkled with parmesano reggiano and tomatoes, cheddar cheese, sliced pears and carrots.

Again, last minute menu. I couldn't figure out what to put together the night before, so I made the noodles in the morning. I pepped the lunch with cheddar cheese (her favorite) with kiddie toothpicks.

VERDICT: She didn't eat one single noodle but finished all the other sides. I figured out she didn't like the smell of olive oil, so next time I'm going to substitute the olive oil with butter. Problem with the cute toothpicks- she chucked it out by accident. I had the teacher dig them out of the garbage can! One thumb up.

1 November

Black beans, anchovies (took it out of her lunchbox per Phil), cheese, peas and pear. Crackers on the side (not in picture).

Since Phil doesn't want her eating anchovies because of the allergy problem, so I took it out last minute (whoops, I didn't take it out!). I sliced her cheese (Laughing Cow Mini Baybel) into cubes and put little fork decorations to cheer up her boring lunch. She's been questioning why I never pack her any fruits- I guess she notices her classmates has fruits in their lunch. So I put in slices of pears since it goes well with cheese.

VERDICT:

Oh lord. One of the teacher assistants decided to nuke her lunch because she thought the cheese was tofu! Duuur. So the cheese was melted and surely didn't look very appetizing to Sophia. She did though, manage to finish everything else except the pears (I'm sure the microwaved pears wasn't tasty). We'll have to try again one of these days. One thumb up.

31 October

Tuna fish in pita bread with carrots and swiss cheese (cut up in squares).

Had to pack her lunch in the morning because I couldn't think of what to pack her the night before. Phil left for work early, so I was juggling with Sophia and Olivia in the morning (remember, I can't leave O alone when she's drinking her milk- she has a tendency to flip her bottle upside down and shake the milk out! Naughty girl). Bought those nifty mini-pita breads at Trader Joe's. Found a last piece of swiss cheese in the fridge to complete her lunch box.

VERDICT: Finger lickin' good. Everything was GONE. Two thumbs up!

30 October

Thank God for Monday. It's pizza day at school, so I didn't prepare lunch for her. I did though, pack her some edamame as a snack and for veggie intake. No photo, but you can see what it looks like here.

27 October

Organic bean & cheese mini-taquitos with sour cream and carrots

Bought the taquitos from Whole Foods. From what I understand, she dogged it all and actually had some sour cream left (normally she'll just scoop it out with a spoon and eat it like it's ice cream). Looks like a hit for the lunch box, yay. Two thumbs up.

26 October

Boca Meatless Organic Breakfast Nuggets with The Laughing Cow Mini Baybel cheese and peas.

Who eats nuggets for breakfast? Well, anyway, after the Martha Stewart show, I perused the frozen section for vegan lunch ideas at Whole Foods (in Chelsea). I came across pseudo chicken nuggets for Sophia and figure I'll give it a whirl (rather, she will do the taste testing). I just hope it has the same texture as the real chicken nugget otherwise she'll toss at her teacher. As for the cheese, she loves eating it. Any cheese. She loves to go to the store and taste test them all. I think in her previous life she was a mouse. A picky mouse if there is ever one.

VERDICT: The nuggets must've fooled the teachers because when I came to pick her up, she had bitten into one nugget and a few bites of her cheese. As I previously mentioned, she's not allowed to have meats for lunch in her school, so they gave her pizza instead (every Mondays and Thursdays the class orders pizza outside). Next time I will have to put a note on her bento box that the nuggets are VEGAN/SOY. hahaha Peas though, were all gone, as I expected. No rating since she didn't finish her nuggets.

25 October

Steamed tomatoes over rice, with salmon and peas.

I had the nanny steam extra salmon and tomatoes for her lunch tomorrow. Lately, she's refusing to eat choy (Chinese veggies), so I also had the nanny boil up some peas (though I never gave them to her for dinner, she ended up eating some choy, afterall).

VERDICT: Sophia ate most of her rice, dogged the tomatoes and peas (no surprise there), didn't want the salmon. I think the salmon was probably overcooked in the school's microwave and too chewy for her liking. Luckily I made some chicken nuggets before I picked her up so she had some protein in her before she napped. One thumb up.

24 October

Steamed tomatoes with rice, black beans (marinated with sweet soy sauce), baby anchovies, cucumbers.

Tonight's dinner was steamed pie gwut (pork ribs) with tomatoes and dried tofu (bean curd). It is the ONLY time Sophia will ever eat her rice because it's topped with tomatoes and sauce/oil drippings from the pork. So I had the nanny cook extra tomatoes so I can add it to her bento box. Tomatoes were grown from our garden.

The black beans and baby anchovies were bought from a grocery store from K-town (Koreantown).

Cukes, from a market in Brooklyn. Really cheap fruits and veggies!

[BTW, the school does not allow parents to pack any meat or peanut butter for lunch. Plus she's a non-adventurous and an extremely picky eater. So this makes it much more difficult to think of ideas for her lunch. Also, I don't pack her fruits because I usually give them to her when she gets home from school.]

Verdict: By the time I picked her up, the black bean sauce was smeared all over her face, rice and tomatoes were gone and a smidgeon of fish was lingering in her bento box. Only thing left was the cukes. She didn't have time to finish it, but she enjoyed her lunch very, very much despite having a rough day (read 10/24 blog). Two thumbs up!