Laptop Lunchbox

Chef Ann, Renegade Lunch Lady, recommends packing nutritious and environmentally friendly lunches for our children using the Laptop Lunches system. I had heard of this and poked around to find out what it was all about. First of all, it's a lunchbox with several small inner containers which allows you to pack small amounts of a wide variety of cold foods for your child's lunch. Healthy choices is the goal. Here's an online resource to buy one http://www.laptoplunches.com/.

I recommend reading Biggie's lunchinabox.net blog, which is solely dedicated to helping you build a great lunchbox for your kid(s). She blogs about Bento boxes, which are the original laptop lunchboxes still popular in Japan today. Biggie won the 2007 Food Blog Award for best family/kids food blog so you know she's certified good stuff. Congratulations Biggie.

Here's a quick fruit dish to add to the lunchbox:

Baked (I mean microwaved) Cinnamon Apples

Ingredients:

• 1 apple per child


• cinnamon


• vanilla


• sugar in the raw


• low-fat ricotta cheese (optional)

Preparation:

1. Wash, core and slice (1/4") one apple per child and place in microwave safe bowl. Avoid peeling unless your child will only eat it peeled.


2. Let your child sprinkle the apple with cinnamon and pour a small amount of vanilla on top, say 1/4 tsp. per apple.


3. Cover and microwave on full power for 3 minutes.


4. Remove from microwave, stir and check to make sure they're fully cooked. You should be able to pierce them easily with a paring knife. If not, continue microwaving at 1 min. intervals. Replace cover and allow to sit on the counter for a few minutes while you prepare other items.


5. Remove the lid, stir and allow to cool.


6. When cooled, transfer to laptop lunch system container, spoon a heaping teaspoon of ricotta on top and sprinkle with sugar in the raw. Yum! Be sure to put a cooler pack in the lunchbox to keep it chilled for safety.

Delicious (Almost) Homemade Pizza

Yes, I do love Trader Joe's. I served this pizza to guests with kids and everyone went nuts. They even liked it better than the pizza on the grill I make in the summer. You can make it with three ingredients, but it really shines if you add a few more. This recipe packs the goodness of whole grains, no rBST cheese, and cooked tomatoes, a great source of lycopene. Most importantly, it tastes great. I served it with an arugula salad topped with shaved Parmigano Reggiano and dressed it with Balsamic vinaigrette (all from TJ's too).

Ingredients: (double to make two pies if serving more than 4)

• 1 Trader Joe's whole wheat pizza dough
• 1 bottle Trader Joe's fat free Pizza Sauce
• 1 bag Trader Joe's shredded Quattro Formaggio (blend of Parmesan, Asiago, Fontina & Mild Provolone)
• dried oregano (optional)
• good olive oil (optional)
  

Preparation:

1. Place dough on counter to warm up 20 minutes before cooking.
2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place pizza stone or heavy duty baking sheet large enough to fit a 12 inch pizza in oven. You will be placing the prepared pizza on the hot stone or baking sheet to get the crust to set.
3. Liberally flour work surface, preferably a wooden or metal pizza peel.
4. Turn dough out onto work surface by turning bag inside out and begin to flatten and widen it with your fingertips or a rolling pin, making sure to not let it stick to the work surface. Flip dough over to get flour on both sides. When you can't get it to stretch anymore using your fingertips or a rolling pin, pick it up and use the tops of your hands to rotate and stretch it, just like you see the pizza chefs doing in pizzerias. Your goal is to make a 12 inch pie.
5. Make sure peel is liberally floured under prepared dough, top with sauce leaving 1/4 inch crust, top with cheese, sprinkle with a pinch or two of dried oregano and drizzle with olive oil.
6. Transfer dough to hot pizza stone or baking sheet. This is where technique is important and you may want to ask for an assistant. If you have not liberally floured the peel it will stick like mad. Gently transfer dough using short jerky movements. Don't worry if it's not a perfect transfer.
7. Cook for 7 minutes or more, depending on your oven. You want the cheese to bubble and start to color around the edges.
8. Remove from oven and allow to cool for a minute or two, otherwise the cheese will run. Cut into slices using a pizza wheel and serve. Leave it on the stone or baking sheet to keep it hot.

Enjoy!

Chicken Mole

One of the things I like most about Trader Joe's is their authentic sauces from around the world. Their red mole sauce (which is mole rojo in Spanish) is decadent and tastes like authentic Mexican mole. I have made mole from scratch and it is quite a production, so this product is a huge time saver.

I created a complete TJ's dinner using the mole sauce, chicken breasts, brown rice and green beans (their #1 selling product I'm told). Even my four-year-old like the chicken and he usually skips the protein unless it's vegetarian. Let me know how you like it. Here are the recipes:

Ingredients:

• 1 bottle TJ's red mole sauce
• 1 package TJ's boneless, skinless chicken breasts (4)
• 1 bag TJ's brown basmati or Jasmine rice (or buy the premade pouch of brown rice)
• 1 bag TJ's frozen French green beans
• 1 bag TJ's toasted sliced almonds (optional)
• good olive oil (my favorite is TJ's Extra Virgin California Estate Olive Oil)

Preparation:

1. Prepare brown rice on stove or rice cooker (see my November post on using rice cookers). Use 1 part rice to 2 parts water. This will take 45 minutes. Rice cookers can hold the cooked rice warm indefinitely (huge convenience).
   
2. When rice is done, prepare mole according to bottle directions. Heat in a medium saucepan with a lid that will fit sauce and chicken.
3. Cut chicken breasts into large chunks, maybe 5-6 pieces per breast.
4. Poach chicken in mole sauce by placing in saucepan, covering and keeping heat low so that there is only a tiny movement in the sauce. Do not boil or you will overcook the chicken and murder the sauce.
   
5. Cook green beans by putting in a saucepan with a cover and adding a few tablespoons of water. Bring to a boil and use tongs to flip beans as they defrost to ensure more rapid and consistent cooking. These are delicate beans and they cook quickly once defrosted. Do not overcook or they will be tasteless, lose their color and shred. Remove a bean every minute or two and taste it so you can catch them at their best.
   
6. Cook until chicken is firm to the touch, about 7-10 minutes. When in doubt, take out a piece and cut into it to make sure it's done.
7. Drain beans, place in serving bowl and dress with almond slivers, olive oil, salt and pepper.
8. Serve chicken with sauce in a bowl; serve rice separately.

Que aprovechen! (Bon appetit in Spanish).