Lunchboxes from June Week 4

I've been good about taking pictures but it's been tough getting online everyday to upload pics with random guests and all nighters last week. So here's a week's worth, all in one shot!


Rice rolls with teddy bear cut-outs with marinated beef & fish on the side (the black nori rolls also have either the beef or fish inside) with grape tomatoes & apples for dessert. Completely emptied.

I might need to invest in a new sandwich cutter - I am sick of the dino. Nevertheless... the dino grilled cheese with 4 crab cakes (since the chicken nuggets weren't doing well, I am trying something different) & ketchup, with blackberries for dessert. Again - completely emptied!

Rice balls with star cut-outs, rolled up eggs with green onions, meat balls and leek cakes. For dessert he had strawberries & blueberries. 2 pieces of meat ball came back home.

Black forest ham & cheddar cheese sandwiches & trail mix, with strawberries and blueberries (again!). I got one piece of the sandwich back.

Rice balls with teddy bear cut-outs, sauteed salt & pepper shrimp, and egg roll ups with green onions and nori. For dessert he got strawberries and sammy jammys. He completely emptied this one.

I'm running out of creativity, but at least I'm getting emptied plates, maybe because I've been relying heavily on the TomoTomo container and the portion is small?

Recent lunchbox samplings

I've been a bit lazy so I'll play catch up today and show you a couple days' worth combined. Nothing super exciting other than the fact that I've had fabulous results (i.e., completely empty lunchboxes in the evening!) with these:

Eggs, sausages (boiled, of course), rice rolls, and leek cakes (부추전). For dessert, blackberries and green grapes, with a handful of teddy bear trail mix.

Black forest ham & cheddar cheese sandwiches with trail mix, and bluberries and strawberries for dessert. Justin especially loves having strawberries and whipped cream for dessert after dinner - it's a pity I can't send along whipped cream (I could but it would turn into a milky soup by lunch time!).

It might help that we have a new lunchbox/ container. It's a tomotomo ($1.50 from Ichiban Kan) and it's really the perfect size! The top container is 310 mL (entree) and the bottom is 210 mL (dessert) and comes with a space for the fork and spoon, all-in-one (utensils not included). It's so cheap but the funny thing is the little rubber belt that holds it all together is almost as expensive ($1.00) as the container!

Anyway, he seems to enjoy the portions and the bear on his container. If it works for him, it works for me.

Rice rolls on Monday

Justin used to be the ideal "unpicky" eater. He ate everything except bell peppers. That much I could accomodate. But since he began preschool, he's become very picky regarding what he'll eat for lunch. (He's still relatively unpicky about eating at home, thank goodness!)

Of all the preschools we looked into, most provided lunch, but we had to go with the one that didn't (which was the one that didn't have a 2-year waitlist). So mom has been struggling for the past two weeks to pack lunch in the mornings that will be eaten and will be evaluated as healthy by the teachers (because I think I could pack goldfish crackers and chocolate milk, and he would eat that).

I don't think the teachers mean this as a form of evaluation, but they give you little sheets of what he had for lunch. But for the mom, it feels somewhat like Big Brother is watching to make sure you're touching on the four food groups and packing veges and not using instant, microwaveable stuff that are bad for children!

So here's what Justin got for lunch today:

We had leftovers from the kimbap that we made yesterday (which Justin devoured totally) so this morning was relatively easy. We seasoned rice with the vinegar powder and sesame oil, and rolled it up with beef, burdock (우엉), and cooked shredded carrots. Just because he loves eggs, we cut up some of the rolled eggs as a side dish. And he gets a healthy cup of oranges and strawberries for dessert.

I had a few leftover and so I laid it out on the table for breakfast - to see how he would respond. Not that I had any other options for his lunchbox if he didn't seem to like it. Thank goodness he finished them all - but he did remove a strand of carrot (I tried to dice up the carrots again after shredding them, but unfortunately one strand survived my knife), calling it a "worm". Okay, so he won't eat bell peppers and he won't eat worms. I think that's a good thing.