Baby Bell Pepper, Baby Banana and a huge Watermelon

The weekend was relaxing after the Birthday party on Friday. If you have not already then you can read about all the fun and games here. I'd also really like to thank everyone who sent their well wishes to Soeren on his special day.

So, what was in his box today. Baby stuff! LOL! A baby bell pepper, baby banana and a baby tomato. He kept saying "But I am not a baby anymore!" The rye bread is spread with a light herby cream cheese and a few meatballs (these were ready made). That cake was the last piece of his birthday cake and that watermelon was actually supposed to be eaten at the party but we never even got around to cutting it up. Now I am left with a huge watermelon in my fridge. But I am sure we'll eat it all up as it is so sweet and succulent.

Adult Version: I like it the way it is. I do not think I want to change it muchl. What do you think?

I am off on a business trip for the next few days. So, there won't be a lunchbox till Friday. Sorry folks! But to keep you busy you can try out a few yummy recipes on my other blog or flick through a few of my pictures on my Flickr photstream. Have a nice week!

The Party

Colored Creativity

A birthday party for a four year old can be so much of fun, this 34 year old just has to admit.

We had planned to have Soeren's party in a playground in the middle of the woods. The whole week we were looking at the skies and checking the weather forecast, as it has been a mix of sunshine, rain, warm and cold the last couple of weeks.

The rest of the story can be found here.

Happy Birthday Soeri!

I am pretty sure that parents around the world will relate to my next comment "Boy! that went by fast!" It really has gone by fast. I still remember the days when he was just a few days/weeks/months old. Now, he's four years old and oh! so grown up. Dang!

Happy Birthday, my Sweetie!

Blueberries, Grapes and Nutella

Another on of those early morning photos. I think I should name these "the bad photo days"!

Remember how I said I spent yesterday afternoon drawing with Soeri's crayons. Well I took some pictures and they cam out really well. I thought on the weekend I'd put up another post and share what went in those goodie bags as well as one or two photos of the birthday boy. Tomorrow is the big day! The big 4! That's why there'll be no lunchbox. I'll be taking a type of healthy breakfast for his group - nothing too elaborate, just fruit salad, some homemade muesli, a few of those chocolate buns and of course a rich dark chocolate cake!

But that's tomorrow ... let's get today's out of the way. We were all in a hurry as there was plenty to do. Soeren helped spreading leberwurst on some rye bread and picked out some blueberries and grapes from our fruit box. He also spread the nutella on the wafer "Fillinis". I just cut up the peppers. So, I can say that he actually prepared his own lunchbox today.

Adult Version: I asked him if mummy was to eat the lunchbox what would you change. He said "I would add yoghurt to the blueberries and a few gherkins!" So, there you go. That was it. Check back in tomorrow and I just might have a little surprise.

Otherwise, happy weekend!

Vegie Burger Sandwich and Melon

It was a pretty interesting afternoon today. You know what I spent the afternoon doing? Drawing! With wax crayons. Actually I had given Soeren the job to draw a couple of pictures on a few small paper bags. We want to use these to put little sweets and pressies for his KIGA group on Friday. Well my son had enough patience for two. After that the neighbors kids came out to play and he wanted to join them. So, I collected the paper bags and the crayons and went out on the terrace and started drawing funny little pictures on them. It was so relaxing and fun.
I'd give anything to be able to spend a few days in the month at the KIGA and just doing this sort of thing the whole day!

Well if not drawing and painting then at least trying to pack colorful lunchbox for Soeren. Todays, is packed with a lovely sandwich filled with a chicken and vegie burger. I used minced chicken and corn, zucchini, carrots and red bell peppers. Along with that two sweet yellow tomatoes. We cut up some melon last night and boy was that juicy and succulent. Soeren straight away put some on the side for today! That is a nougat croissant topped off with roasted nuts. I had one for a late breakfast today and .... yummmy!

Adult Variation: I really do like this the way it is. I would make the burger a little bigger and use a nice nutty bread roll. Add a few slices of cheese and a couple of lettuce leaves, a dash of barbecue sauce and sit back and take a huge bite. Take it easy folks.

Raspberry Pastry, Blueberries and Oranges

Watching CSI Miami! I love all the CSI series. What about you? Which is your fave? Miami, NY or Las Vegas! We get CSI NY on Mondays, Tuesdays it's Miami and on Wednesdays it's off to help the CSI in Las Vegas. I always wonder that after all the stuff that they reveal on these shows .. would the real criminals get smarter. Makes you feel bit funny.

Today I organized all the little give aways and prizes for Soeren's birthday party. If any of you want to share any fun games for a 4 year old birthday party would love a few new ideas ...

Todays, is a real fun one. A raspberry jam pastry, crispy, and scrumptious. Blueberries look so brilliant against the juicy orange slices. Then we have red bell peppers and cucumbers on the side and cucumbers in a wonderful multigrain and multi seed bread spread with cream cheese and a lovely turkey breast with herbs.

Adult Variation:Love it the way it is. No change today so enjoy every bite!

Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes and an unclear picture!

Oh boy! Yet another unclear picture. Yes, it really is me taking these pictures and not Soeren. Well after seeing this maybe he'd take better shots. But it was another early morning and only half awake picture. Maybe I should use my tripod more often as I do for my pictures over at my other blog!

Anyway, the weekend was nice and relaxing. Soeren spent it over at his grandparents and we were able to pretty much do what we wanted to. On Friday evening I went to watch "The Break-Up" with my girlfriend. Yes, a very interesting film even though the second half dragged on for a bit. On Saturday Tom and I went toy shopping. You know, I think we adults are even worse than the kiddies when they are left loose in a toy store. Tom and I had a ball. Running from one section to the other trying out the games and toys. In the end we came out of the store packed with a huge load of birthday pressies for Soeren. The big day is on Friday .... sssshhhh!

So, what you can barely see in this unclear picture is a pretty great tasting blueberry buttermilk pancake (recipe will be on my other blog next week, I promise) with a container full of maple syrup. A plain rye bread spread with italian mortadella and cream cheese. The rest I rolled up and packed it with some carrots. In the fruity corner we have some more blueberries and a few sweet Greek grapes. And then those lovely cute Koala Bears filled with a milk cream.

Adult Version:
Today I suggest a club sandwich. Club sandwiches are great and filling and you can almost use whatever leftovers you have in the fridge after the weekend. Typically italian would be using the mortadella, some italian sausage, sun dried tomatoes, and pesto. You'll love it. The rest stays. Instead of the Koala Bears you can take any type of your fave cookies.
Have a great start to your week!

Potato Roll, Choc bun and a Pudding

It's great to have Soeren back at KIGA. Just knowing that he is more or less fit to attend the KIGA makes me happy. What's more, having a kid at home the whole day is exhausting - LOL!

Anyway, we still had a nice day together and it is always very touching when at the end of the day the little arms are wrapped around my neck and I am told "Mum you are the best, you are my best friend and I love!" SIGH!

I guess that is why I went a little wild with the lunch box today. A wonderful bread made out of potato flour, spread with cream cheese, succulent chicken breast with herbs and a sneaky little lettuce that just decided to sneak into the roll ;-). Some lovely yellow cocktail tomatoes accompany this well. Another chocolate bun - (you caught me again I was cheating on my baker and visiting the other one again) - spread with butter. A beautiful peach and a delicious quark vanilla pudding with blueberry puree. Yummy!

Adult version:
Nope no changes today. Just a sweet chili sauce on the sandwich will make it more tasty for us.

Have a brilliant day!

PS. No lunchbox tomorrow as I am taking Soeren over to his grandparents in the morning. See y'all Monday!

Double Papaya Portion

Why is it that when your kid has an accident that your own heart sinks into your feet? When I picked Soeren up today from KIGA everything was just fine. I was chatting with another mummy and Soeren was plying around with his buddy Justin. Suddenly I see Soeren falling down and he grabbed his mouth/nose and he started to cry. Now I have to let you know, Soeren is one tough kid and nothing whacks him down so easily that would make him cry like. So, when I saw Soeren go down and his face go red and he started whaling I knew it was bad.

Well once I got to him I saw a lot of blood. To make a long story short - he had badly cut his his nose, along the side of the nose. A daddy of a kid helped me stop the bleeding and bandage his wound - now I have to see he did look a little funny with this big bandage across his nose. Anyway I took him to the Doc and by now his nose and upper lip was swollen and a bit blueish. Nothing broken!

Like I said he is a tough kid and as I write this he is sitting next to me watching "Nemo" and munching a cookie.

So tomorrow I am keeping him home and there'll be no lunchbox. But there was one today.

A nice long roll with flax seeds, cumin seeds and other lovely things. I spread it with cream cheese and added some lovely Milanese salami and two cherry tomatoes to go. A delicious puff pastry filled with pudding apples and raisins and a double portion of juicy papaya chunks.

Adult Version:
This is good ... this is real good. I had the same type of roll for lunch today and it was just great. So, I hope you find something similar and enjoy the lunch just the way it is!

Peach Tart, Blackberries and a baby Banana

This weekend I think I outdid myself - in the cooking department. I was just in the mood to cook. I started on Friday and stopped on Sunday evening! No, not continuously but simply for almost every meal. Today, I think I cannot even look at food and will probably fast the coming week :-)

Soeren is magic in these times. His questions and inquisitiveness really make me crack up. For example - I made Paella on Saturday. I needed to get some fresh Mussels and took Soeren along. I told him we need to get mussels. In German the word is "Muscheln" which also means seashells. He looks at me and says "Are we going to the beach?" LOL! Then when we got back home he was truly amazed at these things and could not imagine for the life of him that one can eat shells! So when I served up the paella he was very hesitant ... and then I showed him that you do not actually eat the shells but the meat inside. What impressed me is that he ate everything up - the shrimps, chicken and the mussels. I am not too sure I have seen too many 4 year olds that would be so bold in this way.

We also made a brilliant and easy tart. Which as you probably know is Soeren's favorite hobby. He can bake for hours with me.

Part of the lovely tart is included in today's lunchbox. It looks a little dilapidated because while scooping the slice out of the tin it kind of fell onto the lunchbox. But it still tastes great. It is a simple puff pastry sprinkled with ground almonds and set with a few fresh peaches, apricot jam and roasted almond slivers. EASY!
The rye bread is spread with a bit of butter and some swiss cheese. A vegie burger and few cherry tomatoes go along with it. Doesn't that mini banana look cute. We saw it in the supermarket and although they seemed a little ripe, we could not resist. What a perfect fit! At the moment our farmer's market has a lovely selection of blackberries. They are huge and sweet. We are eating them with natural yoghurt and Soeren added a handful for today.

Adult Variation:
Use a ciabatta tape roll and place the burger in the roll, add the cheese a few roasted onions, mushrooms and bell peppers. A good spoonful of mustard. Voila! A big gorgeous burger sandwich. The rest is really great the way it is. Just do a better job of placing the tart in the container than I did!
Have a nice day!

Grapes and a Pastry

Friday!! It's a little late already and I have had a glass of wine too ... so excuse any typos. It's a weird feeling posting Soeren's lunchbox in the evenings now - a new time slot- It seems you all do not mind it though. Anyway between the time I make the lunchbox in the morning and now so much happens that it is almost a nice little way to reminisce of what was early this morning.

Today's is filled with a nice Wiener sausage. The bread (I'll be blogging about this one) is a gorgeous pumpkin seed bread spread with butter and has a herb flavored slice of cheese. A few cucumbers and a container full of organic grapes went into the box too. The vanilla yoghurt has a few fiber milk cereal as toppings and a great little pastry, similar to a donut. Today's treat a Kinder chocolate.

Adult Variation: I think using the sausage in a salad would be a cool idea. A nice pasta salad with a few vegies like peas and carrots and then chop some of the sausage into it. The rest is just great and I hope you all have a great weekend. See you all on Monday!

Tom's Lunchbox #2

Yet another edition à la Tom. But I thought I'd play a little game with you! He wrapped Soeren's sandwiches in aluminum foil. Let's see if you can guess what was in it? Wanna play? So the rest is easy. A few mini salamis and a radish. Another one of those juicy pears and a handful of blueberries. I added the vanilla pudding pastry and Tom the little Kinder chocolate and the caramel pudding.

Adult Variation:
So once you've guessed what was in the foil you can take that with you ;-) LOL! The rest is pretty cool ... yes even the Kinder chocolate.

Cranberries, Chocolate bun and Pineapple

Phew! It was an adrenalin filled day today. Work, errands, gym, work and now blogging!

Now just before I hit the sack thought I'd quickly share the lunchbox.

I cheated .. on my baker! A new bakery opened in a shopping mall and they had this lovely looking chocolate chip bun. Soeren got only half because it was so huge (I ate the other half!). Me and Soeren were not able to resist. My only thought is Soeren is the type who spills the beans ... not purposely but you know is a talkative person. I can imagine the look on my bakers face when Soeren says something like "mum bought me this great tasting chocolate bun from another bakery ... why don't you have chocolate buns here?" AAARGHH! Anyway I simply spread it with butter and nothing else. Then that rich dark chocolate cake was also from this new bakery (I know I am bad!). That little pear is a gift from a farmer that lives not far from us. They don't look very impressive but boy are they sweet and juicy. He left enough for the entire Partridge family. It'll be pears for the next few days. A few dried cranberries and the last of the pineapple finish it off for today.

Adult Variation: If this would have been my lunch box I would not have changed a thing. That is why I am having a difficult time modifying it for you. Oh yeah I know! How about the whole chocolate bun?
Have a great lunch!

Chocolate filled Koala bears

You know that you have a cheeky little almost 4 year old on your hands when you feel like you're being taken for a ride. Soeren will be turning 4 soon and at the moment he is going around everywhere, where he sees something he likes, saying "Mum, maybe the birthday fairy will get me this?" or "do you think the birthday fairy will get me this?" or "Can you please tell the birthday fairy, I really would like this?"

Of course this is not just done so dryly. He uses complete body language. I mean you've seen those big brown eyes, right? So, he uses these to his full advantage. Batting those long lashes. Then there is that smile, which in combination with the batting of the eyes really bowls you over. Then there are hugs and kisses and sentences like "You know how much I love you and you are my best friend?" But he already knows that his two killer weapons - eyes and smile - have already worked.

My question - how can a close to 4 year old wrap me a grown 34 year old (and many others in different age classes) around that tiny finger. And how did that tiny little baby that I could cradle in my arms, grow up so fast? Any ideas?

Todays was once again leberwurst ..... nothing could budge him there. But at least I could vary the bread. Wonderful spelt bread slices. Apricots and yellow kiwi as the fruits of the day. To enhance the fruit intake I pureed a few apricots and added some pureed peaches. I know it's fruit but to a 4 year old it's mousse which counts as dessert!! Then I bought these cute looking koala bear cookies that are filled with chocolate cream. Today's treat was a little toy soldier!

Adult Version:
The bread stays now that's for sure. I was thinking of something more vegetarian today. How does oven baked bell peppers and a few sun dried tomatoes on some parmesan cheese sound. Instead of the cookies how about a nice fruity cake or tart.
Happy lunching!

Raspberry Pockets & Pineapple

OK! Sometimes, I just do not know why I take such rotten pictures ... does it lie due to the fact that it is far too early in the morning and my eyes are still half closed when I take these pictures. I normally take the pictures and then in the evening check them and upload them for the post. I sometimes shudder when I look at them ... like todays ... Buuuhhh! The lighting in the morning is also not especially too great. I hope you still manage to make out what it is I have packed for Soeren today.

A double portion of fresh juicy pineapple, a wonderful raspberry preserve pastry and a great bun (or rather half of it) with flax seeds and oats, spread with some Leberwurst. Something that Soeren cannot get enough of at the moment. And some crunchy carrots.

Adult Variation: Well I think the raspberry pastry and pineapple is a must. For you lot the whole roll and that with thin slices of parma ham and a tiny bit of butter. How do you like that idea?
Enjoy the lunch!

Mango & A Cheese Bacon Roll

Boy am I glad it is the weekend. We are off on a camping trip tomorrow and I still need to get a few things done. So, I hope you do not mind if I jump straight to the lunch box.

A wonderful roll with cheese and bacon, spread with butter and a herb flavored cheese. A few cucumber slices for the refreshing crunch. Lovely mango chunks and a gorgeous walnut and date cake from my EBPP partner, all the way from the UK. Nice vanila yoghurt with caramel, chocolate crunchy bits.

Adult Varitation:
This is so good the way it is ... maybe a couple of slices of oven baked aubergine out into the roll would make this a more delectable sandwich. The cake was really great and if I get the recipe I will certainly share it with you.

In the meantime have a great weekend.

Tom's Lunchbox #1

As I had a meeting this morning Tom took over making the lunch box today. I am thinking of making this a regular fetaure. Let's see how it goes.
We are planning on going on a short camping trip with SOeren over the weekend - that is if the weather holds out. Within the shortest of time the weather has sunk 15 - 20° degrees. Last week we had temps up to 37°C and now in the mornings it is 12°C and gets up to 23°C during the day .... brrr! Weird!
We've bought a cute little sleeping bag for him and he is all excited about the trip.

So Tom packed slices of herb bread with cream cheese and mortadella. With that a container of tomatoes, which we are getting from our neighbor. Apricots and cashew nuts. A herb babaybell cream cheese and a few mini berry bars. The drink is Actimel.

Adult Variation: How would you do this as an adult version?

Coriander and Garlic Pita

My postcard event over on my other blog has just about come to an end. Phew! It was a bit hectic trying to coordinate to 60 something registrations. All postcards have been sent and we all can sit back and wait till ours arrive. Exciting!

Today's has some more watermelon -the last of it - and a lovely sweet apricot. I found some fantastic coriander and garlic pitas in the store the other day and thought Soeren would enjoy these. This one is spread with herb flavored cream cheese, a slice of Swiss cheese and Italian mortadella. Now that is combining the flavors of Europe, eh? Last night I made a fresh tomato and olive tart. The tomatoes are courtesy of one of my neighbors as a thank you for watering them while they were on vacation. These are home-grown and not only do they look perfect they taste gorgeous. The "fillini" wafers are spread with Nutella. I can see Soeren smiling!

Adult Variation: Perfect! i think I would add a bit of rucola to the pita sandwiches but otherwise this is so great. Oh, yeah I would treat my self to a lovely cafe machiatto!

I promise to go to the Gym again tonight (see I have been missing it lately - bad girl).

Watermelon & Blackberries

Would you all have anything against me posting these posts a little later than usual? It would be my evenings about 20:00 CET. The reason I ask is that I am pretty bogged down with work right now and have to be short and curt in my posts to you so that I can get on with work. Which I do not like. I would prefer to do these with a little more time. So the change would be that you'd be getting the lunchbox idea at the end of the day instead of the beginning. Like yesterday!

Anyway, the weather has started to cool off here and we all are taking a breath of fresh air now!

The lunchbox today has a yummy raisin and cinnamon bagel from a lovely new bagel shop that opened here. I spread it with butter and honey. A pudding and almond cake and a few huge organic blackberries. I also packed some sweet watermelon chunks too.

Adult Variation: You the saying "Make breakfast to lunch"? Well that is my motto today. I love having a late breakfast and early lunch whenever I can. Then I go in for something that typically looks like this lunchbox. Fruit, berries and a sweet spread on a roll. I hope you'll try it out too! Oh and take an espresso with it. That kick starts any slow day!!