Grainiac

As I have said before, I am far from being plastic-free.  On the contrary, we have a ton of plastic in the house.  I do however try to minimize, to the extent I can, the amount of plastic I use in food storage.  (If you haven't figured out the pun already, that is why I'm blogging on something called Steel My Lunch).

I was organizing my pantry the other night (I know, it's really rude of me to brag about the exciting life I lead here) and it reminded me that I've never shared how I store food when it's not destined for the lunch table.  I try to put a lot of food in glass.  It helps me avoid the plastic-y taste you get when you put things like cheese in things like Saran Wrap and I'm pretty sure grains keep longer when you seal them in an air tight glass jar.

To show you just how dorky I am, I took some pictures of how I store grains in glass.  If you are reading this and are still interested enough to continue, you probably lead a life about as exciting as mine.

I have a few fancy candy-jar-looking containers I got at Ikea and I think they are so nice I leave them out on the counter:

I don't have enough of these containers for everything I want to store so I keep everything else in the pantry in old pasta sauce jars.  I'm a little embarrassed at how unpretty these are but here goes:

You can see that some of the original labels are still on the old jars.  Throw "12 pack of Ikea glass jars" on the list for the lunchbox fairy.

This is probably the most boring post I have ever written.  Don't worry, camp will start soon and I'll go back to blogging lunches!

More containerization - stainless steel edition

I haven't blogged about the stainless steel containers I use yet because I have just so much to say about them that I wasn't sure where to start.  But I have to start somewhere.   Here are a few things in my rotation for lunch and home use.  I'm not someone who completely shies away from plastic, as we all know it's everywhere and there is no avoiding it.  I just wanted to try to find a way to avoid using it when I could, particularly when it came to food storage, and so I started using the following sets.  I actually don't think any one of them is the perfect solution but they are a great start.

The three compartment stainless steel lunch container I used to make this lunch is the trio from Lunchbots:


Pros: The entire thing is made of stainless steel, absolutely no plastic.  That is pretty cool.  It also allows me to keep foods separate (this encourages me to get creative with the size of food I pack).  Fairly easy to clean.

Cons: The container looks like it is cheaply made.  The first time I opened it, I noticed that one of the interior steel "separators" is bent.  This doesn't really effect the storing of food but it's poor quality control and it just irks me.  Every time I use it I try in vain to straighten it.  Also, the inside edges seem slightly unfinished.  I don't think Juju is going to cut herself on them but they just don't feel smooth.  Something about this set makes me think the factory does not pay a lot of attention to detail.  It also makes me think these containers were originally for another use and were just repurposed for school lunch containers without much thought to how toddlers and kids work.  Also I am not sure these are 100% leak proof.

Another set I use a lot and featured in this meal are this trio of stainless steel Kids Konserve containers:

I bought mine at Whole Foods for $26 which I thought was really expensive but I have to say, I like these containers a lot.

Pros: Very high quality.  Someone clearly thought about these when they were designed.  Three sizes which allow me to back various foods, portion sizes, etc.  When not in use the three bowls nest inside one another which make for easy storage and, because they are sold that way, means they weren't sold with a lot of wasteful packaging.  Very good for liquids, so far totally leak proof for us.

Cons: The colors.  I know that they now sell these in more colors but the standard set of three still comes in puke green, rusty old orange, and kind of cool neon green.  I wish they had more fun with the lids.  Also, the lids are made of plastic but since they usually don't touch the food, I am not too concerned.  My other problem with these bowls is that they are great for food storage, but when it comes to eating from them at the lunchtable, the size just isn't right.  I wish they were more like bowls you would eat from with a more round bottom and shallower walls.  I think it's hard for Juju to work a fork or spoon in these.

I don't have any recent photos of Juju's lunch using the Thinkbaby set but it's also part of our rotation.  We have this orange set:



Pros: The bowls are the kind of bowls you would normally eat out of but they also have lids for storing and transporting.  Juju loves the mug and when she drinks from it she likes to announce "this is my coffee."  Fun, kid friendly colors.  Definitely high design.  Made for babies which means you can transport your baby food in the appropriate size containers.  Washes very well.

Cons: The surfaces of all of the containers and mug are stainless steel but they do use plastic on the outside of everything.  This is either for insulation or for looks.  Either way it's a lot of plastic, even though it doesn't touch the food.  The lids for the bowls are also plastic and slightly flimsy but still functional.  The fork and spoon are made completely of plastic.  Designed for babies so the containers are a tad small for everyday use once your child grows up.

At home I try to use stainless steel plates and bowls but I don't have too many.  I use the Thinkbaby bowls above and I also have the Lunchbots Children's Stainless Steel Dish set:



Pros: First of all, I really like that this set exists at all.  I looked around and there are so few options for home feeding in stainless steel so bravo to Lunchbots for offering one.  This one is definitely made of higher quality than the lunch container above.  They are clearly using a different vendor for these and I wish they would move everything over to this factory.  The bowl is a great size and happens to be the same size as one of the Thinkbaby bowls so I can use the lid from that one for this one if I want since this set comes with no lids.  The mug is also a great size and shape for kids.  These are very easy to clean.

Cons: I do not like the shape of plate.  It seems like it can't decide if it is a bowl or a plate so it ends up being sort of like a shallow soup bowl and you can't fit much food on it.  I wish they just gave me a normal plate.  No lid for the bowl means you can't store food in this set unless you also have the Thinkbaby set.  Price.  I paid $19.99 for one set.  I wish I could find a set that would give me 4 bowls and 4 plates and 2 mugs for around $50 - $60.  That would be ideal.  I realize stainless steel costs more but I can't believe it's really this cost prohibitive.

I also use a set of stainless steel food prep bowls with lids I got at Target for around $5.  It came with three small bowls with three plastic lids.  The bowls are small so they are great for dips, sauces, or small amounts of food.  They are very easy to clean and fit nicely in nooks and crannies of a lunch box when it's otherwise stuffed with the above containers.

That's pretty much all I use around here in the stainless steel variety but I'll check my drawer later to make sure I'm not missing anything.  And, I have a few more stainless steel recommendations and things on my wish list which I'll post about soon.  I will also post about the ceramic and glass we use around here too. 

Kids Konserve at a discount

I am working on a post (which means I have a note to myself to start it) about the Kids Konserve containers I use in Juju's lunch.  But, I just noticed that they are doing a Kids Konserve sale on Gilt Groupe in the children's section.  They aren't selling my favorite things but there are a few stainless steel or disposable plastic alternatives included so it's worth a look.



Happy shopping (and saving!).

Lunch on April 22 - Passover Provisions and a Pink Puppy

As I mentioned it's Spring Break so I only had to pack a lunch one day this week but in addition to Juju's lunch, I had to pack food for three adults as well.  And it's Passover so I had some extra limitations.  But, I think I made out pretty well.

I mentioned my friend Annie H. gave me a great baby frittata recipe perfect for kiddos.  I didn't follow her recipe exactly, I mostly used my own (this one features leeks, mushrooms, and spinach), but I did use her idea of baking in mini muffin tins.  I also baked some of the frittata in large muffin tins for the adults. 

I wanted to find a nice complement to the eggs, something that could easily take the place of bread.  I settled on a new Passover favorite: quinoa.  I realize some very observant people don't consider quinoa kosher for Passover but I am not one of those people; abstaining from bread and grains and a whole bunch of legumes and peanuts is plenty deprivation for me.

I haven't had time to shop for groceries for a few days since we've eaten out the last three nights so I made up a quinoa recipe with things I had around the house.  I'd give it a B, maybe a B+.  I was trying to replicate a sweeter quinoa salad that was served at my second seder but fell short.  This is good, just not exactly what I was going for.

Here's how I made it: I toasted 1 cup quinoa with 1 tablespoon of oil in a small pot on the stove. When the quinoa was toasted (but not burnt!) I added 2 cups of water, let it come to a boil, then simmered it  covered for about 15 minutes.  I usually cook quinoa with a clove of chopped garlic but since I was going for a sweeter taste, I left it out (but I did add some salt).  Once the quinoa was cooked and cooled, I threw it into a bowl and started mixing things into it.  I cut up some scallions and threw in a pack of dried raisins and cherries my friend Marla brought me from Seattle.  I also threw in some chopped walnuts since I wanted more of a crunch.  For the wet stuff I added some oil and vinegar.  With quinoa you can really add any oil: vegetable, sesame, olive, etc.  Then I squeezed the juice of a lemon Juju picked at a friend's house the other day and voila, quinoa salad!  I am hoping the flavors blend a bit more tonight so the salad is even more flavorful tomorrow.

Here is how the adults' lunches came out - everyone got two regular size muffin tin frittatas and the quinoa salad.  I like presenting things on lettuce for the color and it helps to keep the two dishes separate which I think makes them more appealing.  Since these lunches are for adults I packed them in glass, my favorite way to store food (but sadly not very kid friendly).  These are Snapware Glasslock containers that used to be really hard to find but are now everywhere like at Target and Bed Bath and Beyond.  I think the best prices for them are still at Costco which used to be the only place I could find them.

 

I gave Juju a small cup of the quinoa salad (not shown), four baby frittatas, mango, cantaloupe, and clementine segments, and three Passover macaroons.  The pink puppy is yet another Japanese style lunch "fascinator."

 

Only 4 more days of this holiday to go.  Then I'll focus on another eating challenge: we are considering going vegan for a week sometime in the near future.  Can you believe it?  I can not.  More on that later as I work up the courage to plan it out. . .