8.27.2012

ethan's weekly eats

I briefly mentioned a while back about the rut I was in with Ethan's lunches. In an effort to not bore Ethan with repetitive lackluster lunches day after day, I thought I'd challenge myself (and my mediocre culinary skills) by posting a weekly what Ethan ate this week feature here on the old blog. I like to keep Ethan's meals healthy and well-balanced, served with fresh organic fruits or vegetables. Here is my little eating-machine's lunch menu from this past week:

SUNDAY

Last Sunday (the 19th), Ethan had hummus on toast. Our grocery store had organic whole wheat 21-grain bread buy one, get one free last week so I bought it to try and Ethan loved it. He's never usually a fan of hummus, but spread onto a toasted slice of this bread and he devoured it. I served this alongside pieces of organic mozzarella cheese and an assortment of different organic fruits (blueberries, strawberries and avocado).


MONDAY

On Monday (the 20th), I made Ethan homemade macaroni and cheese with Dreamfields pasta -- which was one of my biggest pregnancy cravings, strangely enough -- and a handful of shredded organic cheddar cheese. I also added about 1/2 teaspoon of organic sour cream to make it more saucy and less stringy. I paired this with an organic plum, which is Ethan's favorite fruit lately.


TUESDAY

On Tuesday, I made some quinoa, cheese and spinach "muffins." They're essentially quinoa, organic spinach chopped up way small (I used the food processor), organic cheddar cheese and a scant amount of organic whole wheat breadcrumbs (I threw a slice of bread in the food processor) to bind them. You just bake them in a muffin tin until they're formed and ready to go! I served these alone since Ethan had just finished some applesauce before lunchtime.


WEDNESDAY

Wednesdays are our busy, busy, busy day. We are on the go bright and early Wednesday mornings what with Stroller Strides followed by My Gym and so lunch usually comes someplace that is not home and in between the two. Anticipating our usual craziness, I packed Ethan's lunch while he was eating breakfast. I made him one of my old childhood favorites, cream cheese and jelly, on whole wheat bread. For snacks, he has some organic strawberries and blueberries as well as some homemade baked organic kale "chips" that I made for him. This kid loves his greens!


THURSDAY

Thursday we scheduled an impromptu doctor's appointment for Ethan. It was one of those "oh, just spending the morning playing at grandma and grandpa's house -- let's see what the doctor says about this weird cough he's got going on -- oh, they want me to come in to see them in an hour? Let me scramble to get ready!" things. Luckily grandma and grandpa always keep their 'fridge fully stocked with Ethan's favorite foods! He had some broccoli and cheese Jolie Ravioli with a little bit of sauce paired with an organic peach and some organic blueberries.


FRIDAY

Friday was so chaotic that I admittedly forgot to snap a picture of Ethan's lunch until he was halfway finished eating it. Then I had to be all weird and yank the plate away from him to at least get a picture of the half-eaten fare. We were told at yesterday's doctor's appointment to forgo all dairy products for a week (normally my key to making Ethan such a great eater is sprinkling at least a pinch of cheese on top of anything) but luckily lunch with what I had on hand was a success. I made him a toasted slice of 21-grain whole wheat bread with some black beans and organic avocado spread on top. He had this with some organic strawberries and the remainder of the baked organic kale "chips" that I prepared earlier in the week. (Just baked kale leaves, spritzed with a drop of organic olive oil and sprinkled with a tiny dab of black pepper, baked until crunchy!) Kid loves those greens.


SATURDAY

Saturday was a day of storm preparation and family. Ethan loves the weekends when his daddy is home to play with him for hours on end so I thought I'd keep up the happiness and make everyone their favorite lunch -- black bean tostadas. I seasoned my black beans with some cumin and black pepper, mashed them up a little to create a nice paste, served them atop a corn tortilla with some vegan/non-dairy sour cream and cheese for Ethan and topped them with some fresh organic tomatoes. I paired this alongside an organic plum.


SUNDAY

Sunday (yesterday) was supposed to be a tropical storm but, really, we just got rain. I served up Saturday night's leftovers -- organic Kosher turkey breast burgers -- open-faced, with a slice of vegan/non-dairy cheese and a dab of organic mustard. I paired this with a few pieces of Pirate's Booty and some organic strawberries and blueberries.

All in all, week one of non-repetitive lunches was a success. I need to take advantage of the fact that my son loves his fruits and veggies by offering more of a lunchtime variety of fruits, but I think I did good in making every day a little bit different!

4 comments:

  1. Awesome looking menu! I love how healthy it looks, yesterday was my favorite!

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  2. Great looking lunches!!! I may borrow some for my son Judah. He is so picky when it comes to eating lunches and its so hard to figure out what to feed my growing toddler boy

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  3. This is awesome! If you continue to do these weekly menus I'll be saving them for Gage to try when he's a little older! You are right about taking advantage of Ethan's love for fruits and veggies! I know too many picky little ones who only want candy and mac n cheese! Keep up the good work with him!

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  4. This is a very lovely post and I really enjoy reading these! Visiting from Daydreaming Realist :) Your Mac&Cheese looks amazzzing!!

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