First two weeks

So far I have packed my lunch for last week and this one.  I am really getting into the routine of making my dinner and packing a lunch for the next day.  I hope it is helping my health.

Today's lunch was chilled apple and peach soup.  The recipe I used is from the Courses Cookbook from the Princess Cruise lines.

The recipe was pretty simple and requited no cooking so it was great for summertime and the heat.  The exact recipe can be found here.

It was very creamy and I feel it is for a sophisticated palate.

To round out my lunch, I had some watermelon and a tuna fish sandwich but instead of bread I used a tortilla.

I hope to see you tomorrow and have another lovely lunch day.

The saga continues...

I have made the first recipe out of Gwyneth Paltrow's It's All Good cookbook this evening. The recipe was "Brown Rice Pasta with Fried Capers and Tuna."Overall, it was a pretty good meal. It didn't seem like something "healthy" or "good for you".

My kitchen, I must admit is not gourmet by any stretch of the imagination. The hardest part of the recipe was finding where my can opener was :-) However, it was easy to make and didn't take long at all. The total time seemed to be about 20 minutes. In fact, I was debating about making something to take to school because it was the end of an enjoyable day and I was tired.

It tasted really good and in my mind if you add parsley to anything, it will be scrumptious.  The pasta was light and the "topping" was satisfying and comforting. The fried capers were a new taste sensation and added a little crunch to keep in from being too mushy.

Does my food look anything like the anything like the food in the book? Nope. Absolutely not. Mine looks like brown sludge with green leaves. As with anything though, I have learned from my mistakes (when they say a large skillet, use a large skillet) and it will be better next time.

The book has been criticized for being too expensive for the average family. As for Ms. Paltrow mu thoughts are: as one person on tv said " They ain't never bought me lunch, so I don't really care." I will just tell you what the ingredients were and how much they cost me.

Olive oil-- had at home
cloves of garlic-- had at home
brown rice pasta-- 3.79 (used 1/2 bag)
1 lemon-- 4.49 for a bag of about 6
parsley-- 1.99 (used 1/2)
anchovies-- had at home
tuna-- had at home
capers-- had at home
red chili flakes-- had at home

Since I am trying to eat better and summer is coming up, I want to keep using these recipes.
**as a side note. I never imagined how much this blog would help me keep up with things that I want to do and goals to attain.  It has been pretty cool :-)

 

Fall is upon us

I am really excited about starting with week #3. I am actually 1/2 of the way finished with the simple project. Today will be day 16 of the 31 lunches. I don't think I have learned a lot in the way of some sort of epiphany but I am proud of what I have done and it has been ups and downs most of the way.

Anyway, the menu for October 22,2012 is:

1. Cabbage and Apple Soup
2. Bacon Lettuce Mayonnaise Sandwich
3. Potato Chips
4. Carrots
5. Orange

It reminds me of the cabbage water from the movie Willy Wonka

I can't find my webcame so I don't have a picture of the BLT but it is pretty basic. Hopefully I will find it soon.

 

Marvelous Monday

Here is the menu for Monday, Oct. 15.

1. Roasted Chicken
2. Broccoli
3. Rice
4. Apple

I have started making two lunches and share them with my friend JV.  This way we can both save some money and I won't be having to eat so many leftovers :-)

next time I will take a picture
of the roasted chicken. It was really pretty.

Honeycrisp apples are one of my favorites

Brown rice and broccoli

 

Fabulous Friday

ForFriday the menu is:

1. Pumpkin Ravioli with homemade maranara sauce
2. Spinach
3. Garlic Bread
4. Honey Graham crackers

This is a scrounge around the kitchen lunch. I didn't know what to pack and was tired of sandwiches so I found the pumpkin pasta and marana sauce in the freezer.  Yeah for happy accidents.

I love garlic bread
 

I love this pic. It looks good even to me!
 

Lawn clippings?

 

Crazy Day

Here is what I packed for lunch:

1. Salmon loaf
2. Brussel Sprouts with Pancetta
3. Mashed Potatoes

From Smart Shoppers Cookbook
 



From Nigella Lawson's Feast
 

 

However, my friend had a horrible caffeine withdrawl (migraine, vomitting, etc.) at 4:00am. So I stayed with her. She was getting new furniture and then had to go to the have her insurance physical.
We had to take her dog to the vet to have his nail removed, then her cat got in a fight and we had to bring him in. 
Needless to say, I did not get to eat my lunch.  However, since I packed it, to me, it counts.  I think tomorrow I am going to so the easy route with peanut butter and jelly and chips. It has been quite a day.

Third in a row

Menu:

1. Lobster Bisque
2. Carrots
3. Cheetos
4. Peanut Butter crackers (in case :-)

I got up early and made my lunch today.  I found a recipe in an old book called "Quick and Tasty Meals for Two". It was Lobster Bisque.  All you do is take 1 can of tomato soup and 1 can of pea soup and mix them together in a double boiler. You add one can of milk so you need to use a double boiler to gentle heat the soup so the milk doesn't curdle.  Then add Worchestershire sauce and a dash of Tobasco.  The recipe calls for 1 can of lobster which I couldn't find.  At the grocery store they had some lobster on sale for $6 because it had to be eaten or frozen that day.  I added the two tails.

The soup turned out well.  It was supplemented with cheetos and carrots. Since I wasn't sure  how the soup would taste, I brought some peanut butter crackers as well.

Day 2

Hopefully I will get more creative with the titles of my posts. 
Hurray, two days in a row!! This may be a record of somekind for me:-)

The lunch for Tuesday is:

1. Orrechetti with Turkey Sausage and Kale
2. Carrots
3. Banana

Almost a smiley face (almost)

It looks kind of boring but I must admit the pasta with the sausage tastes really good.
Here is a better shot of my bag.



Take 2

 I don't have a digital camera so the logitech webcam is what these pictures were taken with.
Thanks to Penny who picked out the letter colors. It looks so good.
One of the ladies at school has the same bag but with different lettering. Mine is better :-) Thanks Pen!!
 

Overview

I bought this lunchbag last year.

When I bought it, I considered it a little pricey but I wanted to start taking my lunch to school.  As usual, I used it some but not as much as I would like.

So what am going to try is to get in the habit of using it on a daily basis.  I have decided to try and take my lunch to work for 31 days in a row.  Hopefully I will be in the habit and after that, taking my lunch will be second nature to me.

For my first day, the "menu" will consist of:

1. Chicken salad on mini-croissants
2. Celery sticks
3. Kale Chips
4. Cheetos

Here are pictures of the food.  (I guess that isn't really necessary but you have to start somewhere)