Lunchtime

For the longest time, feeding kids lunch has eluded me. Once they got past the baby food and formula, and into the real stuff, I had no idea what to do for lunch. Breakfast and dinner were just fine, but lunch was impossible. Sandwiches simply aren’t an option for the toddler/preschool age, because they don’t understand why you would stack everything just so and then they can’t balance everything between the bread anyway. Even a simple tuna sandwich would be taken apart, the tuna eaten, and then the bread. For the longest time, I made soup, because it’s delicious and easy, but that was still too messy to continue for long. Then the raw foods craze came out, and I figured it out.

Chicken TendersOur lunches now consist of either chicken tenders or left overs and tons of raw fruit and vegetables. Protein and carbs, it’s a perfect meal for the middle of the day. I cook the chicken tenders in olive oil, so there is a bit of fat, but we get the majority of our fat from breakfast and dinner. (If you don’t know yet, I believe that saturated fat is good for you, and that olive oil is good in small amounts as well.…And actually I think everybody’s body is different so there is no one diet that will work for all.)

So, this is how lunchtime goes for us now. Starting around noon, I heat about a tablespoon of olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Then I add 3-4 frozen chicken tenders (Costco has the best.) After about five minutes, I flip them over and season the partially cooked side with Emeril’s Original Essence. It’s a fantastic spice blend that has become a staple in our household. Five minutes later, I flip them over again and season the newly cooked side. Then I flip them 1-2 more times until they are completely cooked. When the chicken is done, or very close, I get out a plate and pack it with fruits and vegies that are cut up or prepared in such a way that they make easy finger food for my kids. For example, baby carrots just go straight on the plate, grapes are washed and left on the vine, oranges are peeled and pulled apart, bananas and cucumbers are peeled and sliced into discs, and apples are cut into slices.

Fruit and Vegie PlateThen I stick the fruit and vegie plate between my girls, give them each a chicken tender, and we say a prayer on the food. Yes, I make them exercise self-control to not touch the food while we pray. It’s only 30 seconds max, and they handle it just fine. As soon as we’re done praying, they eagerly load their own plates up with whatever looks good to them. There are a few rules that they are required to follow. First, they must have one bite that they swallow of everything on the fruit and vegie plate. Second, they must have at least one more bite, beyond what they have already had, of chicken before they go for seconds from the fruit and vegie plate. They were resistant to these rules at first, but I stood my ground and stick to my word. If they have had one bite of a food and decided they don’t like it this time around, then I don’t make them eat any more of it. When they are finished, I have them clear their plates off the table, but leave the fruit and vegie plate out with whatever is left over for them to snack on whenever they want. Around dinner time, I give whatever is left over after snacking to our chickens, who devour the rest of it.

Sometimes I pick one color as the theme of the plate, and other times I try to make a rainbow of colors. When I first started, almost everything I put out were fruits and vegetables that they were already used to, but over time, I have been trying to expand their palates by trying a new fruit or vegie every so often. In the past I have done strawberries, raspberries, watermelon, cantaloupe, apples, pears, grapes, bananas, oranges, clementines, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, and black olives. This week, I was able to buy more fruits and vegies than normal, so we have cucumbers, yellow cherry tomatoes, sweet peppers, and pineapple to try. When I put the sweet peppers out, the girls we very excited to try them, because they’re actually the ones who picked them out. As it turns out, that’s the one food they only took one bite of. Unfortunately for them, I have a whole bag of them, so they’re going to have to take one bite of them every day this week. Maybe I’ll give them some salad dressing to help with the taste. The cucumbers were devoured so fast that I almost didn’t get any for myself.

2013 Garden Update

We’ve been working on our garden since March, and since we already had two square foot garden boxes in place, I was able to plant as soon as the ground defrosted. It’s been about a month and a half, and we have fantastic lettuce, onions, and radishes on their way to becoming a delicious salad. The swish chard and carrots are taking their time, because I didn’t sprout them before I planted, but they are still coming. I’m trying out red and green cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower this year. These are wonderful for a spring crop, because they can be snowed on and still survive. It’s almost like they do better the colder it is.

Cabbage and Such Lettuce

We’re ripping up grass by the side of the house to make way for more garden boxes. This house came with far too much grass (a.k.a. dandelion field) and I’m trying to find ways to get rid of some of it, so that my poor husband doesn’t have so much to mow. I planted strawberries in these new boxes, in hopes that these plants will survive a few years, and I won’t just rip them out when all the other annuals are dead. Sadly, the deer like strawberry plants and ate the leaves off of some of my precious plants. We’re currently working on a way to keep them protected from the deer, while still getting enough sun and water. The upside to having cooler weather is that I don’t feel totally weird when I cover my boxes with sheets to keep the deer from eating them.

Strawberry Plants Potato Plant

And, in some pots, until we clear out the weeds from the space we intend to plant them in, are some thornless raspberries. We put them in the larger pots, because they were becoming too big for the pots we bought them in. Plus, they’re able to take advantage of the fantastic Mel’s mix we surrounded them with. And, in the other pots are potatoes! What? Potatoes in a pot? Yeah, I’ve no idea if it will work, but they’re growing, and I have a fun blue variety in there.

Raspberry Plant Jonathan Apple Tree

Some of our friends have enough land to plant their own little mini orchard, and in the spirit of having fruit in your backyard, we bought our first fruit tree! Yes, just one, compared to their twelve, but it was all we could afford at the moment, and the only tree I was sure I wanted. We got a Jonathan Apple tree. These are by far my favorite apples ever, with a wonderful tart flavor, and perfect for whatever you want to do with them. We won’t be getting any fruit off of the tree for another three to five years, but it will be wonderful when we do.

In our future, we’re planning to rip out three feet of grass along the entire west side of our house. We’re going to plant eight tomato plants there, and I am super excited for it. We are getting many different varieties this year, some for canning, some for saucing, and most for eating. Since I’m new to canning, I’m sure I’ll even end up freezing a lot of them. We’re getting our plants from here. The guy who grows them lives just down the street, and it’s been really fun to watch them grow from seeds. I, also, have enough weeds cleared for another square foot garden box, and will soon have space for a second.

Protecting My Spring Crop

While, I am extremely grateful to be out of the dry spell from last year, it has caused me to care about plants in a way I never have before. This is the first year in my gardening history that I have taken the time to monitor the weather and cover my plants should freezing temperatures occur. Covering plants raises the temperature around them by about five degrees, so when the low of 31°F hits around 5 A.M. tomorrow morning, my plants should be a cozy 36°F.

To cover our plants, we just used some bed sheets that my mother-in-law gave us when she was decluttering one of her closets. Some of them are flat sheets, and some are fitted. We use them all. The fitted sheets work great around our square foot gardening boxes. The elastic holds them decently in place. We use the flat sheets for our garden beds right against the house. To secure the sheets, especially tonight with all the wind, we take advantage of a pile of rocks left to us by the previous owners. We were going to throw them away last year, but we’re very glad that we didn’t, because I don’t know what we’d hold the sheets down with otherwise.

These precious strawberry plants are now protected from the wind and any snow that my come our way tonight and tomorrow.

These precious strawberry plants are now protected from the wind and any snow that my come our way tonight and tomorrow.