What Ana Does

Packing Up My Cup O Noodles for Work So all of a sudden I'm a trendy foodie, I guess. The big thing right now is using mason jars to transport food like salads, soups, cereal, etc. (Isn't it weird how popular mason jars have become?) And maybe because they use these trendy jars and they're super photogenic ( see here ), I've seen recipes pop-up in every magazine, food blog, new recipe book (like Gwyneth's) and Pinterest over and over again. If it's in Martha Stewart magazine, it's a THING. I've been using the cup o' soup recipe from Martha Stewart for the last week and it's been a total success, though I'm going to continue to experiment with other ingredients. What's inside: The noodles are a Chinese bean noodle, I add thinly sliced mushrooms, frozen corn and a few teaspoons of Miso paste. I want to add greens like scallions but I don't have any in the fridge, so today I took the last bite of spinach. Overall, very qu...

Thanks to my CSA, all I eat for lunch in the summer is fruit ... and cheese, of course. Need to meet my daily cheese quota. Plums, Peaches -- and Cheddar (and Rice Cake) (Not shown -- homemade yogurt with a few berries.) 

With summer day camp comes two boxed lunches each day for the kiddos -- and no hot lunch option when I'm not feeling "into" food assembly. Toward the end of the school year, I got uninspired and used too many (by my standard) prepared food. So, I'm attempting to get some of my lunch-making mojo back by snapping a few pictures of the little creations. Here are a few from this week: Leah: Apple Slices and Blueberries, Yogurt, Ham Sammy, Carrots and String Cheese Alice: Applesauce, Watermelon, Ham, Tomatoes and Rice Cakes Leah: Toast Crackers (No Bread in the House), Turkey, Banana Chips, Watermelon, Blueberries and Yogurt By the way, the awesome Ziploc lunch containers that never leaked (top picture) were discontinued. Ugh! I'm so upset with myself that I didn't buy a surplus when I had a chance. Needless to say, I'm treasuring the few I have left.

Today's lunch brought to you by: Appetizers!! Hummus, Pita, Crackers and Cheese!

Because I know you're dying to know what my lunches looked like this week, here's the highlights. Note: The yogurt was an epic fail on Sunday night. I forgot to pull them out of the yogurt maker after my family conference call. So, I made do. Wasa Crackers, Cheese, Homemade Granola Bar and Pears! Rice cakes and Cheese, Yogurt Tube (Swiped from Leah), Pears and Hardboiled Egg Leftovers: Spaghetti Squash and Shrimp (Parsley from My Garden) with Pears I picked up a lot of pears from the CSA last weekend, so I'm eating through them. Delicious. 

More shots of my lunch boxes this week, since I'm now putting together lunch for me and Leah! Leah on Top. She Never Liked Pears, But Will Eat the Pear Granola Muffin With Chocolate Chips! My Lunch on Thursday Had Lots of Fruit! Nothing to Preserve This Week. I Ate it All!

My office has gone ahead and replaced their awesome full-service cafeteria -- once resplendent with a salad bar and grill -- with an automated 7-11 store. Yes, I now have kiosks with processed foods and meals made in a factory at my convenience, all day long. And no one works the kiosks, so I would just punch in my food choices and pay the machine. We went from real people making real food, to machines. Is this the future? Sure, I get that it's going to save the company money. The office population is small and I'm sure couldn't justify having a kitchen staff of five. But I will miss my salad bar. And the yummy turkey burger I got on soccer practice days -- when extra protein was needed. Not to mention the real milk for my coffee and the real utensils for my yogurt and lunch. In response, my mornings will now include a lunch packed for Mom, as well as Leah. Because this girl doesn't eat processed food (or as little of it that I can get away with -- I mean, try...

Check it out ... sandwich kabobs!! Leah's Bento Lunch!

Just an update regarding my new lunch-box style: Leah's lunch friends were super impressed with her lunch. They all wanted to touch the little silicone cupcake liners. Wednesday's Lunch Featuring: Homemade Granola Bar and Hard-Boiled Egg Does it make me feel like Super Mom that Leah will have the reputation of having the coolest lunch at the table? Oh yes! :)

What's the latest crazy mom trend out there? Bento-style lunch boxes! Or, at least it's new to me. I spent Sunday evening looking at Pinterest posts loaded with ideas on these artfully-crafted school lunches from all over the place -- the best using lunch themes, like spring, gardens, or Star Wars. (See my Pinterest Lunch Board here .) After all that review, I've come to the conclusion that some Moms have way too much time on their hands -- especially the ones who cut cucumbers into little flower shapes, sandwiches to look like hearts or bears and artfully chopping cheese sticks. (And that's just the tip of the iceberg, there are books being published and Instagram clogged with little masterpieces.) That's not appealing to me. However, the idea of nutritious (mostly-whole foods) lunches, divided into little groupings that are visually attractive does appeal to me. Very much. And the reusable containers cuts down on awful ziplock baggies and tinfoil. And I ma...