Baby banana bento

Finally! An excuse to buy baby bananas!

So, that's strawberries and cute bananas, steamed organic carrots with a sprinkling of dried basil leaves (on of AC's faves) and a piece of candy from one of our local (and largest!) Asian markets, Assi in North Wales. On the side, in a glass bowl for microwaving: steamed and diced broccoli and red bell peppers; they're mixed with Annie's Organic Shells and White Cheddar, which was prepared with soy milk and Earth Balance.

The divider for the bottom portion of the bento (the one with carrots) was recently lost. There's no way that we have to buy a whole new lunch box for the replacement piece, right?

TEN!

Happy birthday, monster!

We spent the morning at FDR skate park, stopping for lunch with Rodney at Kingdom of Vegetarians (where we had the best wonton soup EVER), back to FDR for a couple hours, then to Grandma Sam's for a little family party with Avery's dinner choice of vegetarian tacos and a cheesecake birthday cake. It was so wonderful to have everyone (little bro Aren, Leanne, Rodney, Brookie, John, Mike, Sam and Jason) there celebrating. And, of course, giving gifts! :P

I'd never been to Kingdom of Vegetarians before, which Rodney recommended - mistakenly as "Vegetarian Kingdom." But, dude. Isn't KINGDOM OF VEGETARIANS, so much cooler? Seriously. A kingdom? That would imply rulers. How do I get voted in? Man... I would own that wonton soup.

Chickpea and Spinach Curry

I made the Vegan with a Vengeance chickpea and spinach curry (pg. 170) for dinner a little while ago and it was scrumptious. It made great leftover lunches for the week for me, too :)

For dinner, I served it with short grain brown rice cooked in vegetable stock and Bragg's, and a a side of Cascadian Farm "French-Cut Green Beans with Toasted Almonds." Apparently, the string beans are part of Cascadian Farm's "gourmet box" line. Who knew I was so fancy? They were a mistake purchase; I meant to grab two boxes of spinach, but grabbed one of these instead. I'm not a big prepackaged food person, so they'd been sitting in the freezer for a month or two, until, in a search for something green to serve on the side of this plate, I had reason to use them. I was pleasantly surprised! They look and tasted fresh, and the very light seasoning let the natural flavors of the beans and almonds really stand out.

Wow. This is a gripping entry, eh? Shall I try again?

Dinner was good. I recommend both the recipe and the beans.

That is all!