Packed Lunch Series: Yummy Lunch Club to the Rescue...

Gone are the days of going home for lunch from school as most families have both parents working out of the house or there's just no decent amount of time to do it (the lunch period seems drastically crunched nowadays). As an elementary kid, I fondly remember mom picking us up regularly for the short trek home to a home-cooked meal. In fact, my siblings and I don't recall anyone who stuck around with a brown bag lunch-- it seemed that everyone had a parent waiting in the school yard at noon. And then came middle school and I had the most DREADED packed lunch-- but that's a whole other story which you'll find out in my subsequent post.

It's a daily challenge: who doesn't scramble to find inspiration, variety and extra time in the morning to keep their children interested in their daily lunch box, and not have them bring it home half-eaten? Then there's the nutrition bit-- the four food groups to consider and sustainability-- will what you packed provide enough energy to sustain your children over hours of work and play? Well ponder no more... I am super excited to introduce you to a newly launched lunch site Yummy Lunch Club that aims to equip everything you need to know to plan and pack healthy lunches that your kids will actually eat. Watch in the next few weeks for seasonal lunch ideas and easy recipes for kids. Started by registered dietitian Carol Harrison, she passionately believes that if you get your kids involved in the process (let them get behind the driver's seat and be in control of what goes in it), they are more likely to eat and enjoy it.  Some of the great resources you can expect here are:

* Quick, easy, healthy lunch ideas;
* Credible advice on childhood nutrition and fussy eaters;
* Loads of time-and-money-saving tips;
* Updates on kids’ contests that help to build food skills.

As a mom with three kids, Carol knows how easy it can be for the pressures of life to take over and fall short of eating food that nourishes and nurtures us to lead healthy and happy lives. She also knows how to turn that around with small changes over time that really can make a difference. With 20 years of experience as a registered dietitian, she worked mainly in a national nutrition-marketing/education role developing strategies, campaigns, resources and more. She started Yummy Lunch Club, a blog and campaign to help make packing healthier lunches easier while encouraging kids to build food skills along the way. 

Carol is also a fellow Food Revolution Toronto ambassador furthering the cause of eating real food and food education. It was her volunteer work with Food Revolution that inspired her to start this. "I wanted to find a concrete way I could champion food skills and I landed on the idea of getting kids involved in planning and packing their school lunches. I hope the monthly contests and soon-to-come kids recipes will help. This is early days for me so I'm keen to hear from folks how I can help. I'm working on series of seasonal lunch ideas right now and excited to share more content in the coming months!"

Carol Harrison, RD lives in Toronto

I love this Yummy Lunch Club recipe. This is a fantastic salad using leftovers from dinner the night before or bits in the fridge. Carol tells us how Cobb salad came to be and advises parents to make it fun-- tell the story about Mr. Cobb to your kids and ask them to create their own version of a salad named after themselves (of course!) with any combination of cheese, vegetables, protein, and plenty of greens. Sounds like a fun and inventive activity my kids would enjoy and be proud to make and take to school!

(Mr.) Cobb School Lunch Salad

There will be monthly contests at Yummy Lunch Club. The most current is a contest held until October 30th-- Help Plan OR Pack Your Lunch for a chance to win a signed copy of Starting from Scratch (value $15.00) courtesy of Owlkids. See here for more details. 

Here are two fabulous resources developed to help your families get started with planning lunches and getting the kids involved:

http://yummylunchclub.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/YLC-PlanIt-PackIt-EatIt.pdf

http://yummylunchclub.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/YLC-LunchIdeas.pdf

Lunch can evoke powerful feelings of childhood. As adults, we talk about tackling the dinner dilemma and the powers of wonderful dinners (my hand way up in the air, "me, me!")-- we discuss them, plan them, labour over them. But it is lunch that has this grasp on children-- those toting a lunchbox to school. It is when they are entrusted outside of their parents presence, free of their glares and lectures of not eating their vegetables or everything on their plate; this is the time they break bread with their schoolmates, and enjoy a piece of love from home as they plough through the long day. Hopefully,with fond thoughts as a time to look forward to rather than grimace or hum and haw... If you let them take some of that control (whether it be making it with you or choosing from a list of healthy options) we can assure you lunch will have a whole new meaning -- one they can feel good about to show off to their teacher and friends.

I have not touched upon this subject of packed lunch... my three children get a healthy lunch catered at their schools (sorry... don't hate me), however, I had the daily experience of packing their lunch during summer camp months, and I know very well, it's not easy to break out of the basic sandwich rut. For September, I decided to pack the twins' lunches and start their in-school meals the next month. A personal mission to challenge myself beyond the lack-lustre basic brown bag favourite and learn somethings along the way that can help me in future called-for-lunches and for many of you going through this now. Next week I will do a lunch series-- sharing recipes coupled with tips and advice that I have used with my children. Carol Harrison's Yummy Lunch Club will be a permanent fixture on my blog-- there's a YLC banner for an easy click through to her site when you're browsing on mine for dinner ideas. I am looking forward to this partnership and to fill the lunch gap on my blog and in my own repertoire! 

Stay tuned for my next post-- Challenge #1: Sandwich Break-through. Let's be real, we'll never completely rid ourselves from the lunch grandfather nor do we want to. It's how to find inspiration to transform the tired old sandwich by breaking away from Wonder Bread and sliced deli meats.

Lunch Box Blues?....

Is this how you looked like this week... up to your elbows packing lunch for the kids? Looking for easy, creative and healthy ideas to break the monotony of a day-after-day-after-day sandwich? Stay tuned to my next post-- help is on the way..!

Here lies within my sandwich-heavy lunches... how to change it up?

Homegrown. Homemade. Is Best!...

I didn't appreciate the beauty of gardening and growing your own food as I did this summer. Starting at my husband's sister's place in Montreal-- she had a huge fruitful plum tree and a delicious herb garden lush with purple shiso leaves, rosemary, two kinds of mint, and my favourite-- rau ram (Vietnamese cilantro). And of course we couldn't leave without taking a little of this and a little of that to return home with....

Back home, I looked forward to enjoying the lovely fragrant rau ram with a meal of DIY Vietnamese shrimp and pork rolls, and pre-fried homemade spring rolls courtesy of my mother-in-law in Montreal. 

I knew my parents were growing in their backyard, but when I finally got a chance to see it in person I was blown away-- a gorgeous panoramic view with supple tomatoes on tall vines, large green buttercup squash dangling, lush purple shiso leaves and purple Campbell grapes fence-climbing...

A neighbouring plum tree overhangs my parent's side and they are free to pick as they please...

Which my sister-in-law Yoko made jars of jam with... sour plum jam (cooking up plums before they fully ripe). Savouring breakfast by also spreading it neat or atop pâté or foie gras on water-type thin crackers.

I had brought two fresh just-caught sea bass from Port Perry to cook for dinner at my parents, and when I inquired about green onions, they asked my brother to cut some from the garden. So convenient-- I mean, how great is that?

But the biggest prize in their yard has to be the two huge bartlett pear trees-- we've had them ever since we moved in when I was a child; they never fail to bear bountiful of pears year after year. Bags and bags full to eat and to give away to neighbours, friends and relatives. Is it really just now that I truly appreciate their presence and precious fruits?...

Bitter melon given to my dad from a friend growing these gourds, and of course my dad had to return the generosity with a gift of his own-- a bag of pears! Oooh, the beginnings of a great organic food barter system...

Dad cooks up stir-fried bitter melon with onions and Chinese sausage.

And I can't wait to try this pear jam Yoko made... 

I love this quote I read in an issue of Edible Toronto-- Small City Spaces, Big Food and Heightened Awareness (Summer 2015), "Our food supply is largely imported, but if people start growing their food, they will want to grow a little more. There's less waste. It's a heightened awareness. Your head grows, your heart grows as you become more connected, your health grows because you're eating food that doesn't have chemical inputs, and ultimately you're helping the earth." Now, if you're not doing it already, doesn't growing your own food look and sound good to you too?

Cottaging, Chillin', Chowing and Catches....

The last hurrah cottaging at our friend's in Port Perry before back-to-school routine starts all over again. A gallery of weekend photos chill'axing and noshing, and even savouring two catches of large mouth bass :)

Lemon Cream Scones with Currants

A hearty lunch of Big-Batch Spaghetti Bolognese and Caesar Salad pleases the crowd once again!

Big-Batch Spaghetti Bolognese and Caesar Salad

A beautiful mid-day on the dock trying for a catch...

Preparing a cool and refreshing fruit punch dessert-- Watermelon Strawberry Milk Hwaechae which you can drink and eat with a spoon. A hit with the kids!

The girls in the kitchen preparing the vegetables for the grill and a large bowl salad.

While our men face double heat under the sun and at the hot grill....

Dinner is ready... come on out to get it!!

And what's a night at the cottage without some camp-fire marshmallow roasting...?

Morning begins with warm out-of-the-oven Lemon Cream Scones with Currants-- a family fave and looks to be everyone's now :).

Lemon Cream Scones with Currants

 

Morning catches from Charlie with two 1-1/2 lbs. large mouth sea bass-- and I am the lucky one to take them home! Visiting my parents with my siblings' families over... it's steam fish time-- Cantonese-style!!

The preparation is labourous-- scaling, gutting and trimming, but there's nothing like savouring the fruits of your hard work... and fresh line-caught fish!

The final splash of hot oil over green onions...

Nummy Chinese classic fresh steamed sea bass with ginger and onions!

I couldn't ask for a better way to make the best of this labour day weekend with friends and family! Now, let's gear up to get through this first week of school....

Black Crack-- Addictive Black Garlic...

Black crack... so fermented black garlic has been called. Can you believe my mom was slow-cooking these gradual blackened babies in her rice cooker for two weeks??-- on warm 24/7 until the dried bulbs yield roast-pungent mellow, slightly tangy, tamarind-like notes nothing like its sharp garlicky origins. Surprisingly chewy like soft taffy. One word-- Addictive! My mom read about their huge health benefits and made a rice cooker full, now being stored in the fridge until ready to use. Apparently, it's being experimented in lab research for curing ailments and diseases and its proving successful so far. You can buy these in jars in speciality food stores and Korean supermarkets.

An awesome table condiment stored in the fridge-- purée into a sauce, bake into bread, ground over seared steaks, salads, noodle soup or fried eggs. My friend Amy Walbold's husband sometimes puts black garlic in his meatballs and sauce. And pal Chef Frederick Oh tells me it makes great tapenade-- just mash it and spread over nummy morsels of meat or scallops! Sounds splendid to me!

From top left clockwise: fermented garlic ground over fried eggs (Photo Credit: Saveur Mag Issue 171 p.20 ),
pasta sauce, pizza, spread on pork tenderloin-- sear or roast.

Use it on anywhere you want a hit of tangy, sweet roasted dimension... what would you use it on?

Pork Souvlaki and Greek Hot House Salad...

Let ingredients at the supermarket inspire your meals... that's what happened with a pair of pork tenderloins on sale-- one for tonight and tomorrow, the other. It's been a while since I cooked Mediterranean and Greek flavours came to mind-- yes, pork souvlaki, some grilled zucchini and peppers, and a Greek salad boasting crunchy vegetables. Forget about buying tzatziki, when you can make it ten times better with this simple recipe. 

Pork Souvlaki
Makes 6 servings

1-1/2 lb. pork tenderloin
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp. dried oregano
salt and ground black pepper

For the Tzatziki, drain two cups Balkan-style plain yogurt in cheesecloth-lined sieve over a bowl or in coffee filter over a cup for at least two hours. Meanwhile, grate cucumber for 1/2 cup and squeeze dry. In a bowl, mix in the strained yogurt, one small clove garlic, minced; 1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil; 1/4 tsp. salt, a dash of ground black pepper, a splash of fresh lemon juice and the cucumber. Refrigerate until ready to use. 

Creamy and balanced of flavours! You will not want to buy a container again...

Cut pork into 1-inch cubes. Toss with ingredients; let stand for ten minutes. Make it easy by grilling directly without skewering. Heat a little oil on a grill pan or BBQ, cook turning once, until pork is no longer pink inside, about ten minutes. 

Grilled sliced vegetables with garlic and a sprinkle of dried thyme, EV olive oil and salt.

Greek Hot House Salad
Makes 6 servings

4 cups chopped romaine or iceberg lettuce
1/2 cucumber, thickly sliced and quartered
1 bell pepper, cut into same size as cucumbers
1 large ripe tomato, cut in same-size chunks or grape tomatoes, halved
1/4 red onion, sliced
1/2 cup kalamata olives
2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
1 tsp. dried oregano
pinch each salt and ground black pepper
feta cheese cubed or broken up with hand (optional)

Toss the lettuce, cucumber, pepper, tomato and olives in a bowl. Mix oil, vinegar, oregano and salt and pepper and toss with salad. Top each serving with feta if using.

Refreshingly sensational!

Greek dinner is served with steamed sweet potatoes and roasted cauliflower!

  Mom, it's all Greek to me....:) !