Lunches for an Outing: A Day on Lake Champlain

We recently got a boat.  The Hubby is the happiest guy ever because of it.  The weather on Sunday was nearing 90 degrees.

Our house would have been a most unpleasant place to be.  So - we loaded up and got out on the lake first thing in the morning, and didn't come back until dinner time!

We grabbed my mother (via the lake!) on the way, and brought lunches for our journey.  We spent some time tooling around the lake, and even more time just sitting in a bay and swimming.  It was wonderful.

My mother said that she didn't get her mowing done, but she was glad to have been kidnapped for the day.

For lunches, I made wraps with Muhammara (a hummus-like spread), salami, Colby Jack cheese, and spinach, along with sour cream and onion puffs, apple slices, yogurt star cookies, and some potato salad made with tomato basil hummus instead of mayo.

I'm guessing it will be the first of many lake outings for us.  Who wants to go in for lunch?  Bring lunches with you!

Lunches for an Outing: Picking The Girl up from a week of camp, Montshire Museum 7.11.15

The Girl sold a TON of Girl Scout cookies this year, because she wanted to go to more than one session of Girl Scout camp.  She succeeded, selling enough cookies to go to two week-long sessions of overnight camp without paying anything out of pocket!

So, on Saturday, my mother and I took The Boy down to pick her up from her first week at camp.

After we picked her up, we popped over to King Arthur Flour and the Montshire Museum, which are only about 10 minutes away.

Of course, I brought lunches.

For our lunches, we had wraps with hummus, boiled mini potatoes, salami, Colby Jack cheese, and spinach, along with sugar snap peas with Muhammara (a spread with walnuts and roasted red pepper, near the hummus in the store), sour cream and onion puffs, and strawberries.  My mom also brought a big tub of watermelon.

She's home this week, and then goes back for her second session next week.  We've convinced her to be more careful with the sunblock next session... she's a little sunburned.

We'll make sure she gets plenty of sleep this week.  Camp is awesome, but it's tiring!

Lunches for an Outing: Burnt Rock Hike

For our first hike of the season, we decided to tackle a new trail to us (because we don't tend to do mountains twice - there are so many mountains, this is possible!).

After some searching in books and online, we decided to do Burnt Rock Mountain trail.  The trail was much more challenging than we expected it to be.

The website and the books said 5.2 miles round trip, but we logged 6 miles.  I know we took some detours, because there were beautiful waterfalls and creeks along the way.

Alas, due to The Boy's blood sugar dropping too much, we had to stop before the top for lunch.

Still, we powered on to the top (we maybe could have gone higher, but we saw the view...) This trail doesn't really end, per se.  It's part of the Long Trail, so you could theoretically hike all the way to Canada.  You have to pick your end points.

For lunch, we all had a wrap with hummus, spinach, ham, and cheese, along with sugar snap peas, strawberries, blueberries, and trail mix.

We look forward to more adventures to come this summer, with lunches packed for them!

Recipe: Summer Strawberry Pie

I was inspired to buy some strawberries the other day, and began fantasizing about strawberry pie.  The Hubby loves strawberry rhubarb pie (and who can blame him?), but I've never made a plain strawberry pie.

I based my pie on this recipe that I found on The Little Epicurian.  I admit, I used store bought pie crust.  I was very tired when I made the pie, and it was very hot... this was a night when we had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for dinner.  I was set on making this pie, though.

It's a wonderful pie, and I think it would be even better a la mode.  I may or may not have had a piece for breakfast, with my cup of coffee.  That was pretty delicious, too.

Summer Strawberry Pie
(modified from The Little Epicurian)

2 lb (5 c) strawberries, hulled and sliced
1/2 c sugar
3 Tbsp Instant Clearjel powder (from King Arthur Flour - can also use cornstarch)
1/2 tsp salt
2 pie crusts (9", store bought or homemade)
1 Tbsp milk
2 tsp sugar, for dusting

Mix strawberries with sugar, clearjel, and salt, and set aside to macerate while preparing the pie crust.

Roll bottom pie crust out so that it is slightly larger than the pie plate.  Transfer to pie plate and cut excess, crimping edges slightly (the decorative edging will happen with the addition of the top crust, so don't worry about it at this point).  Chill the crust at least 5 minutes.

Spoon filling into crust and spread out evenly.  Roll out second crust and place on top of the pie.

Crimp edges decoratively, and cut several air vents into the top.  I have a tiny strawberry cookie cutter, and The Boy helped to cut the decorations.  Brush lightly with milk and sprinkle with sugar on top of the pie.  Chill the pie while preheating the oven to 450 F.

Cover the edges of the pie with foil and bake at 450 F for 10 minutes.  Lower temperature to 350 and bake for an additional 30-40 minutes, rotating halfway through, until crust is lightly golden brown.

Let cool and enjoy!

Boy's Lunch: 6.10.15 - The Actual Last Day of School

So you know how I said yesterday that it was the last school lunch of the year?  Yeah... then The Boy came home and told me that he needed a lunch for this half day.  It's a "whatever we have around" lunch, since I wasn't prepared.

Lahmacun: 35g, granola bar: 17g, raisins: 8g, sesame sticks: 10g

He has lahmacun on Middle Eastern flatbread, a granola bar, raisins, and some sesame sticks.

Happy REAL last day of school!

Lunches: 6.9.15

It's the last full day of the school year!  Tomorrow, the kids have half days, and they are being given lunches.  For the occasion, I've made.. normal lunches.  I completely neglected to shop for anything interesting or special for this end of the school year.  It's been a busy week, and it's only Tuesday...

Pretzels: 14g, applesauce: 8g, sandwiches: 18g each, sesame sticks: 10g, raisins: 6g

The many adventures of summer, and their lunches, are to come... and plenty of recipes, along with the continuation of the International Cooking Challenge.  So, rest assured - the blog will not lay quiet over the summer!

For this final lunch of the school year, The Boy has some berry applesauce, yogurt pretzels, sesame sticks, raisins, and a couple salami sandwiches on mini buns.  His snack is a strawberry applesauce (not pictured, 14g).

The Girl also has berry applesauce, yogurt pretzels, sesame sticks, raisins, and a couple of salami sandwiches.

I hope that the school year has been fantastic for all of you, as it has for us!

Lunches: 6.8.15

It's the last Monday of the school year!

The Boy was supposed to have a barbecue and field trip to the park... but it is forecasted to rain all day. I packed him a lunch, but I have the day off, so if they do end up doing the barbecue in-school, I will go in to enjoy it with him, and save his lunch for tomorrow.

Lahmacun on flatbread: 35g, sesame sticks: 10g, strawberries: 6g, yogurt pretzels: 14g

In the case of rain, his lunch is some leftover Turkish Lahmacun on Middle Eastern flatbread, sesame sticks, strawberries, and yogurt covered pretzels.  His snack is a strawberry applesauce (not pictured, 14g)

The Girl has leftover Turkish Lahmacun on Middle Eastern flatbread, sesame sticks, strawberries, and yogurt covered pretzels.