Score!

Tonight, I prepared chicken and vegetable lo mein, a recipe from "Lunch Lessons" (a new favorite in our house). I'm not sure how copyright issues work with sharing recipes that are published, so I won't do so here tonight. I'll have to look into that as this food blog evolves, but I had to write about it anyway because the dish was a HUGE hit in our house! Everyone loved it! Even Ellie ate more than we could have expected, and she even secretly ate chicken because I had cut it up so small that she didn't spot it when she shoveled in noodles by the fork-full. The great thing about this recipe is it can be served cold, room temperature or hot, so it makes a great packed lunch as well as a dinner. It's also vegetarian (I added the chicken, but tofu could work as extra protein or just skip it) and might be vegan (I'm unfamiliar with some of the sauces so I can't say for sure what's in them).

"Lunch Lessons" was written by a chef who is working hard to revolutionize school lunches and childhood nutrition. The book is excellent reading on those topics, but I've also found it to be a wonderful resource for anyone trying to incorporate more healthy choices into their diets. Markus's new favorite muffins (peanut butter power muffins) came from that book, as did some homemade granola and our dinner tonight. For those of you who are interested, I bought it along with a Laptop Lunchbox for Ellie. Laptop Lunchboxes are an excellent and visually appealing alternative to traditional lunchboxes/bags for kids (and adults!), especially since most kids (like ours) prefer small servings of various foods. A different lunch and nutrition cookbook came with the starter "kit" and it is quite good as well.