When Watermelon isn't Sweet...

Of late, all they've been selling around here are the seedless, small, "Personal Watermelons."  They seem to be just as expensive as the old-fashioned big watermelons, but at least half of them lack flavor.  It's very disappointing.  So, with the remains of one last weekend, inspired by a book I was reading, this is what I did:

FIX THAT WATERMELON

2 cups cut up watermelon (bite sized pieces)
2 to 4 tbsp honey
1 cup cottage cheese

Drizzle the honey over the watermelon, stir well, and let sit for 15 minutes.  Stir in the cottage cheese, and let it sit another 15 minutes.  Serve for breakfast, lunch or dessert.  If you keep it overnight, you might to need to drain some liquid off the top before serving.

Inspired by the book:

IF YOU CAN'T STAND THE HEAT
by Robin Allen

Poppy Markham is a restaurant inspector in the city of Austin, Texas, a job she took after leaving her father's restaurant when he remarried and hired his new wife's daughter, Ursula, as chef.  One particular weekend, her father asked her to come back to work in the restaurant, helping in the kitchen and dining room, for the grand reopening featuring a French chef named Evariste, who has a Michelin Star.  Evariste was a roundly disliked, difficult person who, on Friday night during the grand reopening, turned up dead beside the dumpster in back of the restaurant; later that evening, Poppy's father had a heart attack.  Ursula, who is herself a difficult person, was quickly arrested for the murder, and Poppy's stepmother immediately demanded that Poppy deal with the police and get them to release Ursula at once.  But Evariste was stabbed with one of Ursula's knives; who else could have been suspect?  Evariste's wife, Bonbon?  Trevor, Ursula's assistant?  Will, the general manager?  And what were those 3 guys who were clearly not from Austin, as evidenced by their wearing of suits and ties (completely out of character for Austin, which I know from business dealings in Austin) doing in the restaurant, meeting with Will, and meeting with Bonbon at her hotel?  Where was the flash drive, which allegedly held Evariste's latest recipes and secrets?  A fun romp, available both for Kindle and as a real book.

The inspiration for my watermelon fix came when Poppy went into the kitchen of her father's restaurant looking for food, and found some fruit, honey and other ingredients; Bingo!  That was what I needed!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Roasted Root Soup

Do you save tiny amounts of leftovers? I do; they make great ingredients for lunch. If it at least half fills an 8 ounce custard dish, it's good for lunch ingredients.

So, it's a damp 50 degrees today, and soup seemed like a great lunch. I had a bowl full of roasted roots in the fridge, so decided to turn them into soup

ROASTED ROOT SOUP

1 cup roasted roots
1/2 cup diced tomatoes (fresh or canned)
1 tsp beef base (or 1 beef bouillon cube)
boiling water

Microwave the roasted roots and tomatoes until they're hot, 1 to 2 minutes, in a microwavable cup or bowl. Add the beef base or bouillon cube, pour boiling water to fill the cup, stir until the beef base dissolves, and serve at once. We had this with salad for lunch, and it was great. If you had a little leftover beef, it could be shredded and added, but there wasn't any in my fridge. That's not surprising; my guys rarely leave any meat on the serving platter.

Making soup from leftovers is really so easy; you can make it in a Thermos to take to work for lunch, or it only takes a couple of minutes from the time you decide you're starving and it's time for lunch. Try it the next time you find a tiny amount of leftovers hanging around in your refrigerator!

Oat Wheat Rolls

This recipe was adapted from an Oat Bread recipe given to me by Mickle's Dad in New Zealand. My dearly beloved is forever scolding me for being "bored" with foods, and changing them somewhat, but I point out to him that this is his cross to bear with me. Poor dear, he's a good soldier, never complaining about being fed strange and different things. You can tell his life is really hard, right?

OAT WHEAT ROLLS

1-1/2 cups warm water
3 tsp or 6 tsp yeast
3 cups white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup oats (regular or fast)
4 tsp milk powder
1-1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp olive oil

Put the water in your bowl or bread machine container, add the rest of the ingredients and proceed as my tutorial on the right suggests. Knead, let the dough rise for 15 minutes, punch down and split into 16 even pieces. Roll each into a nice ball, flatten on a greased baking sheet (I line mine with waxed paper and then grease the paper, for easy cleanup), and let them rise until doubled in size (about 20 minutes for 6 tsp yeast, about an hour for 3 tsp yeast). Put in a conventional oven at 375F for 18 to 20 minutes, or the convection oven at 350F for 14 to 17 minutes, until the desired degree of brown is reached. You'll notice, of course, that my rolls have flour clinging to them, because I don't brush them with liquid after I've formed the rolls. That's because I like a soft roll, not one with a hard crust on it. It's personal preference; you can brush yours with warm milk or melted butter, if you wish.

These also made good sandwiches for lunch the next day. I split the rolls in half and buttered them, ran them under the broiler for a minute, removed them, put tomatoes, cheese and meat (roast beef, in this case) on the two halves of each roll, and put them back under the broiler. Note that my new broilers have adjustable temperature controls, so I dialed the temperature back to 400F. You might have to drop your top shelf by one unit so the rolls don't scorch before the cheese starts to melt. An orange is a good accompaniment to the sandwich, by the way!

Happy Monday, everyone!

Tuna Melt

Bet you all thought I forgot how to cook, right? Well, not really. But I feel like I've been on autopilot of late.

Anyway, for lunch of late we've been having tuna melts. This particular lunch was on my French Bread, toasted under the broiler at 350F (my new stoves have adjustable broilers - wowsers!) for a minute, then tuna, tomato and mozzarella placed on it, and returned to the broiler for 3 minutes. The worst thing my dearly beloved could think of to say was that his sandwich was "too fat".

And have any of you tried the new Kraft mayonnaise with olive oil and much less fat? It tastes just like regular mayonnaise. I do recommend it. And if anyone from Kraft is reading, you're welcome.

Soup: It's What's for Lunch

In scanning Louise's cookbook contest, I noticed that there's a category called, "Eat Better, Eat Together Month". That suits my philosophy to a Tee.

Breakfast and lunch are kind of a free-for-all in my house. I feed breakfast to Ryan and Mark before school, but lunch is up to them. It's my way of creating a little bit of food independence in them. However, dinner is non-negotiable. If you live in my house (as either a household member or a transient guest), you will sit down to eat with the family, and you will eat what I serve, and you will like it. The evening meal is run by a benevolent dictator.

And, of late, my dearly beloved has been getting the same kind of treatment for lunch. He "forgets" to eat. He "doesn't want" lunch. And, of course, a man who just forgets to eat can also lose 5 pounds a week (ladies, we all have permission to hate him for that). So, this chilly weather is just the thing to permit me to force him to "Eat Better, Eat Together...." Eat Soup. This is an adaptation of fast soup recipes from various and sundry cookbooks, but mostly, it's a good way to make a great lunch out of tiny amounts of leftover food that would otherwise be wasted.

FAST BEEF BASED SOUP

For Each cup of soup:

1 tsp beef base or 1 bouillon cube
2 tbsp cooked rice
2 tbsp mushrooms (fresh or canned)
2 tbsp canned diced tomatoes
1 tbsp chopped scallions
boiling water

Put the rice, mushrooms, and tomatoes in your soup cup, and microwave it for about 90 seconds (2 minutes for 2 cups). Meanwhile, boil your water. When the rice mix is hot, out the spoon containing the beef base into the cup, on top of the rice mix, and pour boiling water over it. Stir until the beef base is dissolved. Add the scallions, let it sit for a minute, and serve with some crackers or a roll. Share the second cup with someone you love; you'll enjoy it so much more.

You can also follow this recipe to make soup to put in your thermos. It will cheer you up at lunchtime at work, I promise!

Almost Instant Chicken Soup

It's been chilly here for about a week, so I'm spending lots of time using leftovers to make almost instant soups. Remember, you can make these to eat at home, or put them in your Superman or Star Wars Thermos and take them with you.

So, how many of you have leftover chicken wings at the end of a nice roast chicken meal? I do. That.'s because no one else will eat the wings, so I select a nice drumstick or second joint, and leave the wings to become leftovers. Two chicken wings were the inspiration for this lunch; the picture depicts the makings of lunch for two, double this recipe.
ALMOST INSTANT CHICKEN SOUP

1 chicken wing
1 tsp chicken base
10 oz boiling water
1 tsp dried onion flakes
2 tbsp wild rice blend (or plain white rice, if you prefer)

Put the chicken base and dried onion in your cup or thermos, and add the boiling water. Let it sit for a minute. Remove the meat from the chicken wing, and cut into bite sized bits; microwave for 20 seconds. Microwave the rice for 10 to 15 seconds. Add the chicken and rice to the cup or thermos, and let it sit for at least a minute. Excellent with a nice, fluffy roll or a handful of crackers (more on those tomorrow).

A Nice Lunch

So everyone knows, Thor is happy to report that we only got about 1/2" of snow last night. Ryan is sad to report that since the snow didn't stick to the roadways, he did not get a 2 hour delay for school. I just hope spring arrives soon.

With the number of people home in flux a lot these days, I sometimes find myself with a little meat left over after dinner. Of course, into the refrigerator it goes. Recently, I dreamed up a way to use it that's fairly easy and wonderful.

FRENCH BREAD PACKETS

6 tbsp very warm water
2 tsp yeast (1 packet, if you use those)
1 cup flour
1 tsp gluten powder (optional)
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp olive oil

Pour the water into your mixing bowl or bread machine bucket. Sprinkle the yeast over it. Add the remaining ingredients in the order given. Mix according to my bread tutorial directions (see right). Note that you may need to add up to 1/4 cup more flour to get the dough to a workable consistency.

Sprinkle flour on your counter, divide your dough in half and squish it flat with your hand. Roll each piece out into an oval. Over one half of each oval, spread ingredients to your liking; here's what I used, in order: cheese, shredded chicken, barbecue sauce, tomato, chopped chives, cheese. Fold the free half of the oval over the fillings, wet your finger and run it over the bottom edge of the dough. Fold upward and crimp the bottom edges to seal. Move the packets to a baking sheet and turn on the oven to 375F to preheat. When it's heated, put your baking tray in the oven for 16 to 18 minutes. Serves 2 for lunch.

Nichole, I expect you to try this out. You need to put that Kitchenaid mixer of yours to good use!

Finally, I recently won a $50 gift certificate to CSN Stores from Sarah at All Our Fingers In The Pie! Since my counters are pretty heavily covered in appliances, I decided to treat myself to a couple of things I wanted but wouldn't have bought for myself....a digital kitchen scale and an OXO Triple Timer! Aren't they splendid? I love shiny, new things.
The scale measures in tenths of an ounce up to 11 pounds, plus grams/kilos and even liquid ounces. Who knew that a heap of chopped parsley weighs 2.2 ounces? Everyone does, now.

So, Thank you very much, Sarah. Everyone enjoyed playing with my new toys last night, especially me!

Western Chicken Sandwiches

This lunch was a no-brainer the day after I made my wheaten rolls. The microwave sure does make lunch easy, doesn't it?

WESTERN CHICKEN SANDWICHES

1 Wheaten roll for each sandwich
Leftover chicken, torn into bite sized pieces
swiss cheese
1 scallion per sandwich
barbecue sauce

Toast the rolls a little, if you like, or just warm for 10 seconds each in the microwave. Put the chicken in a microwave safe bowl, add barbecue sauce to taste, and microwave until hot. Place a slice of Swiss cheese on the bottom of each roll, spoon the chicken mixture over the top, and cut a scallion (I use kitchen shears) over the chicken. Top with another slice of Swiss cheese, and close the roll. Delicious lunch in about 3 minutes!

Do you like Craisins? We do. So, when trolling about amazon recently, I stumbled on a 10 pound box of them. I didn't know quite what to expect, because the picture was a brown cardboard box, so I eagerly awaited their arrival.

I was delighted. These Craisins were the softest, freshest, plumpest ones I've ever had. They are a bulk pack, meaning 10 pounds in a plastic bag inside a very sturdy cardboard box, but I just took a tightly sealing jar with a hinged lid, put a bunch in the jar, and everyone's snacking away - even those sons who claim to be not terribly fond of Craisins! I've refilled this jar once already since Wednesday. If you have the space for them, this is the best way to buy Craisins, IMHO.

Happy Weekend, everyone!

What's for Lunch?

That was the question I asked myself as I stared into a bowl containing two chicken wings. Then it came to me: Good food isn't always fast. But this could be easy. And so I devised....

LUNCH

6 tbsp warm milk
2 tsp yeast
1 cup flour
1 tsp gluten powder
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt

chicken
cheese
tomatoes
salsa

Pour the milk in a mixing bowl or the bucket of your bread machine, sprinkle the yeast over it and add the flour, gluten, sugar and salt. Turn on the bread machine and let it mix for 10 minutes, or stir together until the ingredients form a ball and knead for a few minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic. Divide the dough into two pieces, and roll out into rough circles. Spread the cheese, chicken, tomatoes, salsa and another layer of cheese over half of each circle, and fold the other half over the top of the filling. Stretch the dough not quite to the edge of the bottom layer, and fold the edge of the bottom layer over the edge of the top. Place on a baking sheet lined with waxed or parchment paper. Turn on the oven to preheat to 375F, and put the baking sheet into the oven when it comes up to temperature. Bake 15 to 20 minutes, until the lunch creations are nicely browned, and serve on a Pooh plate for even more fun.

These can also be made the night before, and packed into a container for microwaving at work or school the next day. I really didn't know what to name them, so LUNCH seemed about right, didn't it? I've made them twice more since I came up with the idea, and my dearly beloved is always delighted when I do.

Happy Monday, everyone!

Butterscotch Brownies

For the first time, I'm having to make lunch box desserts: no mess, no frosting needed. It's proving to be challenging, because I've been a big fan of cakes with wonderful frostings. But here's my latest offering, which got 4 thumbs up from Jeffrey and Ryan!

BUTTERSCOTCH BROWNIES

1/4 cup melted butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped nuts

Combine the butter with the brown sugar, beat in the egg, and then beat in the rest of the ingredients. Spread into a greased 8" square pan and bake at 350F for about 25 minutes. See? Nearly as easy as cooking from a boxed mix! Thank you, Fannie Farmer (circa 1960).
And as you can see from my only photo, these were quite popular with the gents. This is what was left after lunches were packed and everyone had one for dessert. (Let's face it, the picture of an uncut brown blob in the pan wouldn't have been very exciting, anyway).

Peanut Butter Bar Cookies

I'm learning to adjust to Ryan carrying a lunch in a paper bag. Oh, making bread or rolls and being sure he has an interesting sandwich - breadwise if not fillingwise - is easy. So are carrots, raisins, dried apricots or whatever else suits his fancy. Baked goods are the hard part. We tried cake with frosting one day; I even wrapped it in waxed paper so he'd have a nice sort-of plate when he opened it up. No good; the frosting stuck to the paper.

So this week, I'm trying these. So far, so good.

PEANUT BUTTER BAR COOKIES

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 egg
1/2 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp milk
1/4 cup quick oats

Cream together the butter and peanut butter; add the egg, vanilla and brown sugar, and beat until combined. At low speed beat in the flour, soda and salt, then add the milk and beat until smooth. Stir in the quick oats, turn into a greased 8" square pan, and bake at 375F for 16 to 18 minutes, until lightly browned. Let cool and cut into 16 squares.


These are not terribly sweet; they could be sweetened up by frosting with a combination of about 2 tbsp peanut butter, 2 tbsp cream and maybe 2 cups confectioner's sugar. But then, that would go against my effort to make a frostingless confection for my boy, wouldn't it? They've stayed very soft for 3 days, and both boys love them. I have a feeling that I'll be making pans of these for lunches many weeks.

Blueberry Jam

Don't get all excited. I'm not a talented jam maker. I'm barely competent, and that's only because of my bread machine and a cookbook someone gave me for Christmas several years back.

That having been said, this is a very flavorful jam.

BLUEBERRY JAM

1 pound fresh blueberries (or thawed frozen berries)
1/2 packet pectin
1-1/2 cups sugar
3 tbsp Creme de Cassis

Lightly crush or pulse the blueberries, pour in the bread machine bucket and add the sugar. Let it sit 15 minutes for the sugar to dissolve, then sprinkle on the pectin and pour in the Creme de Cassis. Turn your bread machine to the Jam cycle, start it up, let it do its thing, and take lots of credit for being a wonderful jam maker.

The recipe didn't call for the berries to be crushed, but they are too big in the finished jam without crushing (at least, in my opinion).

And the little old lady with the books is very excited that Jeff will come start picking up those books for me on Thursday. I figure it might well take him 2 trips, because 2000 books have to weigh a lot. (She told me she had sold the art books; was that OK?) Let's hope it stops raining by Thursday!

Chicken Sandwich

I rarely write about sandwiches or lunch. They seem so simple: just slap some stuff in bread and you're ready to eat! This one is for Doggy Bloggy of Chez What, who's holding a "Battle Sandwich" competition. I don't compare to him in presentation or unusual ingredients, but I must step up and offer a sandwich to this friend.

ROAST CHICKEN SANDWICH

2 slices Chive Bread
extra sharp cheddar cheese
roast chicken
Dijon mustard
mozzarella cheese

Spread a small amount of mustard on one slice of bread. On this, layer, in this order, mozzarella, chunks of roast chicken, cheddar cheese, and the top slice of bread. Cook in the George Foreman or similar grill until it reaches the desired toastiness. Served with a side of dill pickle chips, this was a great lunch.

On Friday, Pam commented that I didn't list "No Black Lines!" as one of my food rules. It's true; the only grill I own is the George Foreman, and I only use that for sandwiches. However, feel free to cook your sandwich until the lines are black, if that's what thrills you!

Beef for Dinner and Lunch

It was cold here last night. Not Alberta cold, but we don't generally see 15 degrees until January, and I'm seriously annoyed by this. So, I decided last night to make one of my "stir fry under the broiler" dinners to make the kitchen feel warmer. You can do this in a skillet, of course, but with the quantity of food I cook around here, a skillet is a stupid cooking tool.

GINGER BEEF STRIPS WITH VEGGIES

3 pounds steak, cut into strips
1 onion, minced
1-1/2 pounds frozen broccoli florets
1 can bamboo shoots
fresh or canned mushrooms
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp powdered ginger
1 tsp sea salt
fresh ground pepper
2 cups beef broth
1/2 cup cold water whisked with 3 tbsp cornstarch

Arrange the steak in a single layer in the broiler pan, and sprinkle with half of the spices. Sprinkle half the minced onion around it, and cook under the broiler for about 3 minutes. Meanwhile, in a glass bowl, microwave the broccoli for 3 to 4 minutes to cook. Turn the steak, sprinkle with the remaining spices, and broil another 3 minutes. Arrange the broccoli, bamboo shoots and mushrooms over the steak, pour the water/cornstarch mix and beef broth over it, and broil another 2 to 3 minutes, until the sauce thickens and the veggies are hot. Serve over rice - I prepared a long grain and wild rice mix with 2 tbsp tomato paste, chopped parsley, 1/2 minced onion and 1/2 tsp sea salt.
There was a little bit of steak left over, and I hid it in the back of the fridge. This afternoon, I chopped the beef into small bits, I put it between slices of buttermilk bread with cheese and tomato slices, and grilled it in the George Foreman. We had those with pickles for lunch, and they were good. Tomorrow I'll probably wish I had more, but this was wonderful on a 19 degree afternoon with the wind howling outside my windows.

Lunches

It's the time of year when we need to send our kids off to school (and ourselves to work) with good, healthy lunches. Indeed, that was the subject of the primary column in the lifestyles section of our paper last Wednesday, "food day". Now, while I don't stuff my kids out the door the way others do, I do enjoy all of those interesting lunch containers out there. Aren't they inspirational?
Yes, my older kids tell me I'm a dork all the time. Thanks for not joining in.

The basic rectangular container is perfect for the 24 year old's grinder. He bellowed at me when I suggested it would be better with lettuce or tomato. I offered to hit him with a stick.

The little boys like to take lunch outside while the weather is nice. Of course, I like letting them package up a lunch the night before. Not only does it teach them to plan ahead, they learn about a well balanced meal. And Thor gets a peanut butter sandwich in the little flat container.
For an adult or a bigger kid, check this out. Filled with a small chef's salad, hard boiled egg, bread and some crackers, it's plenty of food. Of course, you know I would take "real" flatware instead of the plastic, but it's nice that it comes with a built-in fork and knife. You could also put a big helping of pasta salad, some fruit and a nice dessert in this lovely lunch box.

The container with 4 little sections is really 4 removable containers. It's a dieter's delight. The size dictates that unless you fill it with sugar and frosting, it has to be low-calorie! Filling each of the 4 sections with something like tuna, cottage cheese, carrot sticks and crackers would be plenty to keep you occupied. Of course, I didn't fill it; I really don't need to eat two lunches, do I?

All of these cute lunch containers came from Target. Lunch is a whole lot easier to imagine with them, isn't it?

Does George make Paninni?

Somewhere between 6 and 8 years ago, my mother in law bought us a George Foreman grill for Christmas. I often make toast from my homemade bread in the George (as we affectionately call it), since my bread is usually either too thickly sliced or too small dimensionally for the toaster. Trust me, since it comes pre-buttered, it's wonderful with eggs.

Of late, I've been seeing lots of people making paninni (or is it pannini? I'm confused by that spelling). When I study the pictures, I realize that's just a fancy name for grilled sandwiches. I love grilled cheese with tomato, grilled ham and cheese, whatever. So, for lunch yesterday, I made these for us.

Slices of turkey and ham with cheddar cheese and spinach, assembled on cute little pieces of sour cream bread, and grilled. I guess it qualifies as paninni. I served them with a boatload of sweet pickle chips, another thing I just adore, and everyone was happy. And when I told my dearly beloved that these now have a fancy name, he gave me a very (un)enthusiastic, "So?"

And since it was a cold, rainy day, a hot sandwich makes the world a friendlier place.

From this lazy girl's kitchen to you, Happy Tuesday. Enjoy a paninni, made in the George Foreman grill like mine, or in a real paninni maker if you're fancy.

Monte Cristo Sandwiches and Flowered Dresses

It was warm last week. 70 degrees and sunny all week sort of warm, like we've not seen since last September. So, Friday night, I pulled out the pink floral fabric from which I so much wanted a dress, and went to work. The result was a lovely sundress, which I think I'll wear to my daughter's college graduation in a couple of weeks (but I digress). On Saturday, it was sunny and 75, so I wore my new sundress to wash my "winter beater" Cadillac (don't get excited, I used a car wash), weeded my rosebeds, and, in a move most uncharactistic of me, made lunch. Why is it uncharacteristic that I make lunch? Because lunch is the official "free range grazing" meal in my household. That's how I have trained my children, to some greater or lesser degree, to prepare their own food. Breakfast is waffles or eggs and toast or instant oatmeal, with no other alternatives. Dinner is whatever I say it is, and you will eat and like it or risk the wrath of Mom. Feed yourself lunch. No one is going to starve in the 8 to 10 hours or so between breakfast and dinner, so it's great training!

Anyway, Saturday being a sunny day, I was fondly recalling going to lunch with my dearly beloved when we were young and beautiful, and I happened upon the memory of the Monte Cristo sandwiches we used to get at Swensons. Thus, I decided that the Monte Cristo would be the perfect midday repast for a pretty day; the day could have only been more perfect had the flowers been on my trees instead of just on my dress.

MONTE CRISTO SANDWICHES

3 slices bread per sandwich
Sliced Turkey
Sliced Ham
Sliced Tomato
Thinly sliced Swiss Cheese
2 eggs per 3 sandwiches, whisked with 1 tsp. water, salt and pepper

Assemble the sandwiches in this order, from the bottom: bread, cheese, turkey, cheese, bread, cheese, ham, tomato, cheese, bread. Dip in the whisked egg, flipping to coat evenly. Cook on medium hot griddle (350 degrees), flipping over after about 3 minutes, or in the George Foreman Grill. Note that these are very filling, and would make a nice lazy evening's dinner, too!

I was so pleased with the day, and my dress, that Saturday night I made a skirt from the same fabric. Unfortunately, it rained Sunday and Monday, and the temperature turned markedly cooler. While the sun has come out this afternoon, it's only 45 degrees out, and my poor little boys are wearing their winter jackets to ride their bikes. Thank goodness the plumber came last week and fixed the furnace so it would heat downstairs and supply hot water from its tankless coil. Hopefully the oil holds out another 2 to 3 weeks, until we can get the gas line installed from the street, and the plumber can return to convert the furnace from oil-fired to gas-fired.

School Lunches

The newspapers are now loaded with articles about great things to pack for school lunches. The most recent one I saw just made me laugh. All of these articles are saying that school lunches are boring, and you can expect your child to eat healthy lunches more happily by making them more interesting. So, someone had gone to the trouble to create these cute little sandwiches on bagels which looked like some sort of puppy. Um....yeah. No kid over the age of 6 is gonna take that to school; he'll be worried about being beaten up.

Even though I homeschool my youngest two, I often send them out to the backyard with their lunches for a while; they often hike to our tree house and eat there. I found these nifty lunch containers at Target, and these are my best lunch ideas:

1. Sandwiches on homemade bread. No brainer, of course. If your kid likes peanut butter, what's wrong with packing that?

2. Tortilla shells wrapped around ham or last night's leftover meat, with some cheese and shredded lettuce.

For the smaller sections in this cute lunch box:

3. Mini muffins. They can be made in 15 minutes the night before.

4. Grapes, or orange sections, or 1/2 banana

5. Hardboiled egg; cherry tomatoes or little carrots.

6. Animal crackers. Easy snacking at recess, not too sweet, no mess. Fine for dessert, too, if your child doesn't have too big a sweet tooth.

7. Sliced apple. To keep it from browning up, I dip it in lemon juice, then roll it in about a teaspoon of sugar mixed with a bit of cinnamon. Gives it added flavor, and adds almost nothing in caloric content.

You can get nice little freezer packs which can be put into the lunch box to keep everything cold. This prevents problems like food poisoning, which can really foul up your Monday.

In a wide mouth thermos:

4. Pasta. If it's slightly undercooked, it'll keep in the fridge for a couple of days (at least according to my Italian neighbor); nuke it for a minute, nuke some sauce for a minute, and it'll stay hot for a few hours.

5. Soup, in the same wide mouth thermos. This is my favorite lunch, whether at home or packed. You can make homemade soup in about 4 minutes with the microwave. Here's what you need:

Meat - a couple of tablespoons of leftovers, chopped small, can be frozen. I use chicken, turkey, or beef (steak or roast). Wrap individual portions and freeze. Should keep for a couple of months.

Onion - I chop really fine in the food processor, and always have a small glass bowl topped with 3 layers of plastic wrap and one of foil, so the smell doesn't invade the rest of the food, and keep it in the refrigerator. Makes life much easier when you don't have to dice onions for everything.

Starch - cooked rice, again, frozen in a couple of tablespoon increments, or tiny pasta (alphabets or stars) which cooks in about 2 minutes.

Veggies - shredded carrots, scallions, canned diced tomatoes (or fresh, if you have them) for beef soup

Bouillon cubes

In a 2 cup pyrex measuring pitcher, microwave one cup of water with one cube for one minute. Add the meat and starch, and veggies, and microwave for 2 minutes longer. Pour into the thermos, and head out with your homemade soup. Baking powder biscuits or a chunk of French or Italian bread make an excellent meal.

To keep milk or some other beverage in one of those new drink bottles, which come with an insulated jacket, put about 2 ounces in the bottle, freeze overnight, then fill the bottle with the same beverage. Takes about 3 hours to thaw, and will stay cold for 5 to 6 hours in reasonably warm weather. I have to say, I'd rather send my kids out with 12 ounces of milk than take my chances on what they'll decide to drink if allowed to select from whatever's offered. My older ones, in high school, are, of course, too "cool" to carry lunch boxes, but they take along yogurt, homemade muffins, rolls, biscuits, or whatever. When my older boys are home for the summer, and working construction, they specifically request that I make loaves of French bread, which they split and turn into grinders (sub sandwiches). They also grab whatever dessert may be left over from the night before and stuff it all into a cooler. But bagels dressed up to look like puppies? Riiight.....