Melon and Grapes

Monday, September 25, 2006

Posted by Meeta K. Wolff

Melon and Grapes

So folks, you'll understand if I keep today's post a little shorter than ususal. We've got to pack our suitcases. Finally, it's here and tomorrow we're taking off to Greece. Hope y'all will miss us! When we get back I'll share a few photos and stories with you!

Soeren wanted his beloved Leberwurst today and I spread that on delicious sunflower bread. A Babybel chunk of cheese and a pancake filled with blueberry jam. Today's fruit was grapes and a lovely Italian sweet melon.

Adult Variation:
Give this jam packed Veg Sandwich a go a tell me what you think.

So take care of yourself - eat healthy and miss us a bit ;-)

A'dio!

Oranges, Plums and Grapes.

Friday, September 22, 2006

Posted by Meeta K. Wolff


Friday already! Just one lunchbox more and we are off - yipee.

We organized the last of the things we required - you know stuff like sun protector. I splashed out on some new makeup and a new bikini. Love the preparation for a late summer vacation.

Anyway, I'm kind of beat now so I'll make today's a short one. I bought some lovely sunflower seed bread, spread the slices with herb flavored cream cheese and added a few slices of Milanese salami. A rich chocolate cake with milk cream filling. Plenty of fruit today - orange wedges, grapes and more plums. Yes, we are getting through them - LOL!

Adult Variation: Perfect - as an alternative you could use Panini bread and add a few tomatoes and mozzarella cheese. Otherwise, hope you all have a fantastic weekend. If you're looking for an idea to cook up for lunch over the weekend, try this scrumptious recipe out. Creamy turkey breast spiced with turmeric, ginger, garlic and star-anise topped off with roasted pumpkin chunks.

Enjoy!

Nutty Danish & Sunflower Roll

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Posted by Meeta K. Wolff



Back to full lunchboxes. Thank you to all those asked about Soeren's check-up yesterday. Yes, he came through with flying colors. My one concern was that I personally found that Soeren looses his concentration very easily. When I do certain drawing, learning, playing activities with him he grasps things very fast and then looses interest just as fast. Even at the KIGA his teacher is always amazed at how fast he understands and grasps the things he is supposed to do and how impatient he becomes when it drags on with the others. The doctor confirmed that he is quite sharp and enjoys the attention he gets when he does something extremely well, but I do not need to worry about the lack of concentration. We went through a typical week - what we do and what he does and the doc said that Soeren himself is smart enough to take time out for himself for certain concentration activities that I might not realize. For example he can play for at least an hour (if not longer) with his matchbox cars. Building a highway and role playing with tractors, police cars, ambulance etc.

Apparently this is very important for kids at this age. They need to have a routine but also these moments where they can find their own "peace" zone. The doctor also told me to seriously think about sending Soeren to the International school from next year as he will be able to channel his energy and brain power a bit more focused. PHEW! So, many things to think and worry about when you are a parent. You always want the best and never want to make the wrong decision that might ruin/change your kids life. Tough!

What is not tough is the lunchbox. A sunflower roll filled with a creation I came up with yesterday. A mozzarella cream cheese spread, in which I cut up very finely chopped zucchini, onions and a few cherry tomatoes. I also added a small amount of ketchup and a handful of herbs. It tasted great. Carrots for the crunch and the eyes and more plums. A small pear with a little ladybird chocolate goes into the box too. The nutty, cinnamon Danish was so tasty that I just could not resist keeping half for me.

Adult Variation: If you like you can add a bit of finely sliced turkey breast to the the sandwich, otherwise keep it the way it is.

4 days ..YAAAYY!

Nutella Waffle Sandwiches

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Posted by Meeta K. Wolff

Nutella Waffel Sandwich

If you are wondering "Boy, that lunchbox looks a bit empty today!". You're right! It does, doesn't it?

Of course there is a very good reason for that. I took Soeren to his annual check up today. The German Pediatricians are very finicky about these. Soeren had to draw circles, squares and triangles. He had to go through the colors and tell a story form a picture showed to him. Then there was a hearing test, sight test and speech test. After that he had to do a few funny sport exercises. It was all quite exciting for him.
But both the nurse and I were in stitches when Soeren had to put on these huge headphones for the hearing test. His small head in between these huge headphones looked something similar to those people at the airport that guide the planes to it's parking place. I find that they too have huge headphones.

There sat my little Soeri and these things on his head and he had this huge grin on his face. The nurse and I just could not cracking up. I wish I had my camera with me.

Anyway, as we missed the morning snack due to this appointment I only packed the lunchbox for the afternoon snack.

Today two fluffy waffles with a thick layer of Nutella. A few plums and peaches. That was it for today.

Adult Variation If you have a banana you could always slice some and layer these in between the waffles too. How about trying out this risotto for lunch.

Let me know what you think. Five days to go and we are off to Greece. YAYYY!

Great Grandma's Plum Cake

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Posted by Meeta K. Wolff


Plums, apples and pears are the fruit of Casa Wolff. We're loaded with these.

Soeren's great grandma baked some lovely, sweet plum cake. I'll be making some apple mousse with the apples and freezing those. Thanks to Quelia for that idea.

The cake was really great and Soeren got a nice piece for the lunchbox. I made some fluffy scrambled eggs with some sliced sausages, cherry tomatoes and cheese. To go with that a nice rye bread spread with cream cheese. Fruit (yes a little change from apples, pears and plums) are sweet mango chunks.

Adult Variation: Instead of the rye bread I would suggest a nice dark roll with sunflower seeds and use the scrambled eggs to fill it. The rest is perfect the way it is.

So folks, Desperate Housewives new season starts today and I'm off to watch it.

Pakora Wraps, Plums and Oranges

Monday, September 18, 2006

Posted by Meeta K. Wolff


What did I tell you folks, in this post? The next thing I will be getting are plums. Well guess what? My in-laws sent a huge bag filled with plums and .... more apples - a whole box full. Hmmmn. We'll be going to a farmer who presses apples into juice for us, later this week. There is no way we can finish all these apples in the next week. I have also given a few to other friends but there is such a large amount that the only thing I can think of is making apple juice out of them.

How was your weekend? For me it was fantastic and relaxing. I was out with a few friends on Friday to my fave Turkish restaurant. It's great and on Friday evenings they always have a belly dancer come in and entertain the guests. It was brilliant. On Sunday when Soeren got home we decided to order out from our favorite Indian restaurant.

As I was thinking of what to put together for his lunchbox I thought "Hey, I could use some of the leftovers!" So I warmed the naan bread gently and then spread it with cream cheese and a bit of ketchup. Then I used the vegetable "pakoras" (Indian type fritters) as a filler and made my unique "pakora" naan wraps! Soeren was delighted with these. Two juicy plums, a few dried Cranberries and sweet orange wedges make up the fruit for today. Treat for today - Stroop Waffles. Yummy!

Adult Version: The naan wraps are really a great idea. I would suggest to use a mint chutney instead of the ketchup. It goes well with the Indian taste of todays lunch.
Treat your self to a large fruity lassi (a yoghurt milkshake) too. Have a great week!

Chocolate Donut and Garden Apples

Friday, September 15, 2006

Posted by Meeta K. Wolff


As I was saying yesterday, a friend of mine brought a huge bag of garden pears for us the other day. Well, another brought a bag full of their garden apples. Lovely little things - sweet and sour. At this rate I might not need to go shopping for fruit. The next things I know that are bound to come are plums from some friend, neighbor or family member!

Tom is taking Soeren over to his parents for the weekend. Tom will be staying the night there and I am going out with the girls tonight so I will make this a quick post - need to go and get ready you know!!

I used some rye toasties and filled in up with some fresh egg salad I made yesterday. With that half a wiener sausage. Those sweet/sour apples, a few peach slices and a some raisins. The the big treat at the back - a chocolate covered donut with lovely sprinkles on them. Yummy!

Adult Variation: Fill a ciabatta roll with some egg salad then put a few slices of thinly sliced roasted beef and a nice spread of Dijon mustard. WOW! That is one gorgeous tasting lunch. Keep the rest - even the colorful donut. It's the weekend folks so treat yourself to something good.

See you Monday!

Garden Pears

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Posted by Meeta K. Wolff



Another "cringe" photo! I am just not an early morning photo person I guess. Today kicked off the new year for Soeren's music school. He's been going since he was just over one and a half and this year it really gets interesting as they come into contact with proper instruments for a long period. This year it's all about wind instruments. I think it will be very intriguing for Soeren now. The kiddie singing and dancing is for the major part over. They will be still doing that but more to the theme. Let's see how it goes.

Today we have a very special pear. A garden pear from a friends parents garden. Actually this was not just the one - she brought a huge bag full of these delicious and sweet fruit. It is probably gonna be pears for the next few days now!! If anyone is wondering how I keep them from going brown I normally cover the entire container they are in cling film and wrap it very tightly. It really works! Then there is soft brown bread with flax, sunflower and sesame seeds, spread with herby cream cheese and honey glazed turkey. Yummy! A few green and orange bell peppers give a nice crunch and a whole lot of valuable vitamins. Yes, it's grapes again ... Soeren can't get enough of these and I bought another huge box today!! The vanilla yoghurt has white and milk chocolate crunchy balls sprinkled over the top.

Adult Variation: As I was making this sandwich I also had some lovely roast beef that looked succulent and I figured an type of club sandwich with the honey glazed turkey and the roastbeef would be awesome. Topped with roasted onions and sweet mustard ... heavenly. Hope you like the experiment. I did!

Plums, raisin Bun and Grapes

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Posted by Meeta K. Wolff



What an afternoon! We were at the fair today and it was amazing. Soeren his buddies, Justin, Jeremy, Stina and Cosima + all the mummies got together and decided to make a real kiddies afternoon at the fair. You should have seen the glints in their eyes when we picked them all up at the KIGA and drove up to the fair. They were in complete awe.

I am also a total fair, rides, amusement park type of girl and the apple does not fall far from the tree. Soeren was the only one who wanted to go on the bumper cars with me. The merry go round and the other rides were just not spectacular enough. I love that smirk and look in his eyes when he is having fun. After that we all headed to the big "M" for Happy Meals all around. We mummies chilled with ice coffee as the kids played on the slides.

Phew! I am powered out though. All that noise and "Mummy, can I ....!" really is exhausting. So I am gonna relax in the bath tub and then hit the sack. But before I do ...

Today's has a fluffy raisin bun that I spread with butter and honey. Unfortunately you can't see it in the picture but the bun is a fantastic multi-grain roll with flax, sunflower seeds and oats. I spread that with some cream cheese and mortadella. Carrots for the crunch. Grapes are the hit of the past few days with Soeren at the moment. These are seedless and organic and so sweet. The plums in the back were really juicy but a bit on the soft side.

Adult Variation: Instead of just half go for a whole roll. Add a few slices of pastrami, cheese, a few pickles and a good dollop of relish. Roast a few onions and place these in the roll too. This is a sandwich for the hungry. The rest stays.

Hope you have a relaxing day.

Raspberries and Peaches

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Posted by Meeta K. Wolff


Boy it's getting hot here again. Phew! But at least I get to wear my new pair of shoes that I bought at the sale last week for a few more days.

I have to make a short post today as we are expecting guest this evening and I still need to prepare a few things. If you are looking for some cool ideas for a dinner party and decorations check my recent post about dinner table arrangements.

So today's is filled with a gorgeous brown Finnish bread, spread with a touch of butter and some lovely soft cheese and a few sunflower seeds. A wiener sausage accompanies this. Peaches and fresh raspberries are the fruits of the day and a chocolate cake for the treat of the day.

Adult Variation: It really is a fantastic linch the way it is right? If you like instead of the the sausage you can add some smoked salmon slices and a few lettuce leaves. A nice change.

Muesli Balls

Monday, September 11, 2006

Posted by Meeta K. Wolff


Had a nice relaxing weekend. The three of us headed for the sauna yesterday afternoon. It is a huge place with several different saunas at different temperatures. Great place to relax and spend a Sunday afternoon.

Yet another week in front of us. Two weeks more and we're outta here!! Vacation in Greece. We're really looking forward to that!

So, todays is bit of a simple one. Leberwurst on rye bread. Babybell and sweet grapes. Banana yoghurt with chocolate flakes. Treat today are some crunchy muesli balls. Yummy!

Adult Variation: Ok it does not have to be leberwurst. Why not a Italian Panini. Fill is with some sun dried tomatoes, roasted bell pepper and some spicy salami. Sound good? Let me know how it tastes!

Have a great start to your week.

PBJ - The Premier

Friday, September 08, 2006

Posted by Meeta K. Wolff


First we have to apologize for the fact that there was no lunchbox yesterday. On Wednesday afternoon Soeren went with Tom to a huge building site. some 80 kms from here. Tom had to do some research work there and decided to take Soeren with him. They had dinner there and came home a little later than ususal. Well Soeren must have had some kind of heavy waffle because he woke up and 3 AM and threw up. This carried on till 5 AM. So you can imagine he was in no position to go to KIGA. I gave a tablet and after that he felt much better and even had a few hours of sleep.

The funniest thing though was when he got up the first thing he wanted was a bowl of pasta!! I actually wanted to post another issue of Blog the Bread yesterday to make up for the missing lunchbox, but to my horror I just could not find the pictures I have been taking. This is very unusual for me as I am very finicky with saving my pictures. I am not sure where they have ended but I had a whole folder called bread and that whole thing is missing! I was a very frustrated person yesterday. And mad! Looks like I will have to take those pics again!!

Today, I have a premier of premieres! A PBJ sandwich! OK - so it is nothing special for most, but for Soeren this is his very first Peanut Butter Jelly sandwich!! I know amazing! I used this jelly I made a while back.With that a clementine and a few blueberries. At the back there is a lovely chocolate marble cake - light and fluffy.

Adult Version: You know what I had for lunch today? A PBJ sandwich. After years! It was delicious. So, if you have been missing on your PBJ's lately - just go for it!

So, here are the last few ideas to take down for spectacular lunchboxes:

Blueberry Pancakes - a sweet lunch? Why not?
French Bagel with sweet cinnamon apples - a lovely combination that your kids will love.

Happy weekend!

Pesto Spirals

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Posted by Meeta K. Wolff



It's getting warmer here again. After a few weeks of cold and rain finally it seems to be getting brighter.

I am watching Soeren go through a few funny changes right now. Not sure if it has to do with the move to the older group. The last two nights he woke up around 4-5 am crying. He wanted to come to us in our bed and his explanation for that was because the Birthday fairy said that he was not a good boy. I am not sure how to link that with anything. It seems to really disturb him and right now we just allow him to come into our bed. Over the weekend we'll try and see what it is that is bothering him. If you all have any ideas or thoughts on this it would be great to hear them.

I made these wonderful pesto spirals yesterday, using pesto rosso and pesto alla genovese. I'll be getting the complete recipe on WFLH out soon. A few crunchy organic carrots and some herb flavored cream cheese to dip. Fruits of the day are blackberries and a golden kiwi. Sweet and juicy. Another one of those quark puddings, this time with strawberry mousse on top.

Adult Variation:
The spirals are a great little snack. If you prefer you can make 2 big ones. With this I would recommend a light carrot salad and a nice dressing. The quark pudding can be substituted with a natural yoghurt and add the blackberries to this.

More ideas for those back to school lunchboxes:

Cranberry Mandarin Loaf - light fluffy and full of taste. Think I should make this again too! LOL!
Strawberry Kisses - send a few of these in your kids lunchbox. They'll come home and give you a few kisses in return!
Power Potato Cakes - can't beat these. Either in a bun or just plain they taste great.
Alu Pitta Parantha - fuse two cuisines together. This stuffed pitta with a lovely potato mixture will put smiles on every kids face.

More to come tomorrow!

Croissant Melon and Cherry Yoghurt

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Posted by Meeta K. Wolff


Soeren was invited to a birthday party today. Nora, just turned 4 and she was also invited to Soeri's party. Yesterday we went to buy her a birthday present and I asked him what does he think we should get her. He headed straight to the cars and said "I think Nora would like this Fire Engine!"
"But Nora is a girl!" I replied.
"Oh yeah! Well if she does not like it I can always take it!"

Now that reminded me of a brilliant episode of the Simpsons I saw a while back. It's Marges birthday and Homer looks for a very special birth present for her. As Marge excitedly unpacks her present she is surprised with a bowling ball. "But I don't even bowl!" she says disappointedly. "OK I'll take it then!" says Homer quickly. It is then that Marge sees that the bowling ball has been engraved "HOMER"!
Are men born with these genes? LOL!

Well we got Nora a Mermaid Barbie - every girls dream right. When I dropped Soeren off at the party he gave Nora her present and said "Here, this is a girlie present! Nothing for us boys!" Nora was very excited and found the Barbie really nice. Soeren was not amused as he found no joy in playing with it.

Today I packed a fluffy croissant filled with cream cheese, chicken breast and Swiss cheese. On the fruit side, some juicy and very sweet melon. The yoghurt is a nice organic cherry yoghurt sprinkled with chocolate loops. In the upper corner are 3 nougat rolls and as the treat a few jelly bears.

Adult Variation: I would simply add a few tomato slices to the croissant and instead of the chocolate loops some fresh raspberries. Otherwise it's just great the way it is.

Here are a few more great lunch ideas from WFLH

Poroshki - a versatile russian type calzone. You can fill it with your favorite filling. I used mushrooms and potatoes. (Golly the photos remind me of when I was handicapped due to the fact that my camera got stolen in London!!!)
Vegetable patties - all the goodies of vegies in a scrumptious patty. With a few nice dips it becomes irresistible.
Carrot Coconut Walnut Apple Muffin -sound too good to be true. No it's really not. The best part of it is it's not too sweet and kids love them.
Chunky Chocolate Chip Scones - delectable scones. Light and crispy.



If you are looking for something yummy to cook up for dinner, check out my Paella.

Chocolate cake, Watermelon and a Pesto sandwich

Monday, September 04, 2006

Posted by Meeta K. Wolff



Do you know when it's time to get your kid a complete new wardrobe?

When everything he wears is too short! Soeren is growing like weed. I am being serious. I have this problem with him and his clothing. He grows taller but for some reason his waistline will not grow wider LOL! My dilemma is, when I shop for him, to find pants, jeans, shorts that are long enough but slim enough for his waistline.

I am gonna let you in on a secret. I have a pair of skater jeans for him. The truth be told here: They were in actual fact a pair of normal jeans that I bought for him when he was about two and half years old. The are soo cool that I never had the heart to sort out. So this year as they still fitted around the waist I just folded them up to the knees and turned them into skater shorts. Can you believe that? It's not like he does not get anything to eat. You all are my witnesses ;-).

On Saturday we went shopping for the kiddo. I love the stuff they have at H&M. This time I was able to go a little crazy as it seems the H&M designers realize this problem. All kids do not have the same waistlines So, they have integrated a kind of elastic waist band that can be adjusted to fit your kids waistline. Brilliant! We came back with three huge shopping bags filled with Soeri's new Fall/Winter collection. Trousers, jeans, shirts jackets, socks and some fantastic accessories.

On Sunday I spent the morning sorting his closet out. Three bags in and a huge box out! I do save most of the clothes ... you know "just in case"!

Well today's luchbox celebrates a new week in the new group. It is packed with some lovely rye bread spread with a layer of cream cheese, a layer of Pesto alla Genovese and some Italian mortadella. The sweet baby bell peppers were a huge hit and I think will become regulars in the lunchboxes from now on. In the plastic wrap is a chocolate cake filled with a milk cream. Another container of watermelon and a Spanish clementine that is so juicy and succulent. A box of raisins and a few jelly drops as a treat.

Adult Variation: I believe changing very much here makes no sense. Maybe I would substitute the chocolate cake with a fruity lighter type of cake. But otherwise it looks great.

As this week many kids are going "Back to School" all over the World, I thought I would link up a few appropriate recipes from my other blog WFLH to help mummies all over the world fill their kids' boxes with some scrumptious goodies.

Pasta Spinach Salad - A lovely light salad with cottage cheese, spinach and roasted pine nuts.
Club Sandwich Delux - Melt in your mouth sandwich with egg salad, tomatoes and ham. The great thing about this one is you can keep making these with a variety of different ingredients.
Zucchini and Fennel Frittata - Light and fluffy Frittata with great tasting zucchini and fennel. Trust me, the kids will gobble it up in no time!
Pesto Rosso and Mozzarella tart - Flakey puff pastry with pesto rosso and mozzarella. An easy recipe ro make and easy to carry. Kids will enoy popping these into their mouths.

Check back tomorrow for more great ideas.

Peaches, Kiwi and Physallis

Friday, September 01, 2006

Posted by Meeta K. Wolff



I'm back again! I was on a business trip for a few days and am glad to be home again. Although it is always great to "get out" every now and again, the best part is coming home. Especially when Soeri runs into my arms saying he missed me. AWWWW!

Even though I was away it was an exciting week for Soeren. As of today he is officially part of the older group. YAAYYY! The older group is upstairs and are more privileged as they are regarded highly by the younger ones. Now Soeren and his buddies (Justin, Jeremy and Malte) are all together, free to cause chaos. Actually the four boys are already some what of a dream team and not to mention little heart breakers. Anyway his new teach is called Frau Blümel and will bring a bit of order in that chaos.

Yesterday, they younger group said goodbye to all those moving upstairs and I think it was a bit tearful. As Soeren leaves his other younger buddies Moritz and Nico behind. Soeren was somewhat of an idol to them. The older ones got a candy bag and Soeren and me moved all his stuff to his new box. His sign changes too from being a kite, he is now a red indian feather. How cute!

Each kid in the KIGA has a specific sign. This is found throughout the KIGA on shelves, towel rack, toothbrush, bed, pajama rack and so on. This way each kid recognizes his sign and can sort his/her stuff out.

But all this new stuff was a little too much for him, I believe. He was a bit cranky when I picked him up and at home shut himself in his room and played by himself the whole afternoon. Even though he said it was great, deep inside I think he feels a bit strange leaving behind what he has known for the last two years.

So, back to the lunchbox - I decided to pack a wonderful green bell pepper bread roll spread with a light herb cream cheese a thin slice of chicken breast and a bit of parmesan cheese. That goes well with a lovely organis hard boiled egg. Some juicy white peaches from Spain, golden Kiwi and a few Physallis are the fruit picks of the day. In the back lurking around is a delicious puff pastry filled with vanilla pudding and raspberry jam. A small treat for today is a multi-vitamin muesli mini bar.

Adult variation: I know you would dislike it if I changed to much with this lunchbox. I would not change a thing if it was for me. I would add a nice tomato salad to it though. Would you agree?

And it's Friday again ... shame really. Next week it's back to school time for most around the world. Shilpa over at Aayi's Recopes has a great post about lunchbox recipes. She is asking people to give in their comments about a few recipes and ideas for kids meals and lunchboces. Hope you all check it out.

See you on Monday and have a great weekend!