chickpeas

A Grown-Up Whole Food Lunch: Spinach Salad

Leave a comment
School Lunch Date

School Lunch Date

The girls and I joined the boys for lunch at school the week before last.  I packed the girls the same thing as the boys, which is shown here.  Here is my “grown-up” version of that meal.  I would have enjoyed it the way the kids did, but I was really in the mood for a salad.  This salad ended up being so delicious, and it didn’t even need dressing.  The juice from the slaw acted like a dressing, and it was so tasty.

Grown-Up Whole Food Lunch: Spinach Salad

Grown-Up Whole Food Lunch: Spinach Salad

This was so simple to put together.  It consists of the following:

Whole Food Kid’s School Lunch

Leave a comment
Whole Food Kid's School Lunch

Whole Food Kid’s School Lunch

At the risk of being redundant and boring you, I am posting yet another kid’s school lunch because I want to drive home the point that lunches don’t have to be a lot of work.  Do you see a pattern here with the foods I have been packing lately in lunches?  More of the same:

watermelon, corn, broccoli/red peppers, Carefree Chickpea Salad, and homemade whole wheat sliced challah bread

Find recipes and foods that work for you and make large batches and serve them several days in a row or freeze.  Do this until your children start complaining about eating the same foods and then switch to something else.  Again, I have my staple recipes that I turn to when I can’t think of what to serve.  These will change as your children develop new tastes or preferences, or possibly with the seasons.  The point is that you can fairly easily pack your children a school lunch that is devoid of processed foods.

Recipe: Carefree Chickpea Cakes

2 Comments

I had some chickpeas that I needed to use, and I thought that they work so well for “tuna” salad that I would try a vegan version of “crab cakes”.  I love the flavor of Old Bay, so I used 2 tbsp., but they were a bit spicy for my kids.  I dialed it back to 1 tbsp. for his recipe, but feel free to use more if you’d like!  I am sure these would be delicious dipped in some fancy sauce, but I don’t have the time for that.  Perhaps you do?  Feel free to share.

Carefree Chickpea Cakes

Carefree Chickpea Cakes

Carefree Chickpea Cakes

Ingredients:

  • 1 3/4 cup cooked chickpeas OR 1 can chickpeas (liquid drained)
  • 1 heaping tbsp. finely diced red onion
  • 1/4 cup finely diced green pepper
  • 1 celery stalk, finely diced
  • 1 tbsp. Old Bay seasoning (2 tbsp. if you want them slightly spicy)
  • 1 tbsp. potato starch, unmodified (you could also use tapioca or corn starch)
  • 1 tbsp. olive oil

Make sure all liquid has been thoroughly drained from chickpeas.  Mash with a fork in a medium size mixing bowl.  Add onion, green pepper and celery and mix together with fork.  Add remaining ingredients and continue to mix and mash with fork.  You want all the ingredients thoroughly mixed together with no large chunks.  Coat the bottom of a pan with olive oil and heat on medium-low heat.  Form mixture into 1 1/2-inch patties and cook on each side for about 5 minutes.  Be careful when flipping these guys; they are fragile.  Also, watch the olive oil. You may need to add a little more halfway through cooking the cakes.  Makes about 2 dozen cakes, depending on size.

Whole Food Friday Lunch – Week 1!

Leave a comment

Today is the first week for the Whole Food Friday October challenge.  Remember, I have officially declared that we will only participate in the first 4 Fridays of the month, as the last is Halloween, and well, I think it is a bit unrealistic to declare that a whole food day.  Please fill out our poll and pledge to participate in eating more whole foods every Friday this month.  Didn’t make it today?  Don’t worry, just get ready for next week.  We are not shooting for perfection, rather small steps in the direction of feeding your family more whole foods and less processed foods.

We were off to a running start in our house.  Literally, running out the door to make it to school on time.  I realized later in the morning that my poor 8-year-old didn’t even eat breakfast. Thankfully I packed him a filling lunch!

Whole Food Friday Lunch - October: Week 1

Whole Food Friday Lunch – October: Week 1

Leftover chickpea salad, whole grain Wasa crackers (just 3 ingredients!), cantaloupe, carrots, yogurt with raspberries and homemade granola.

Whole Food Dinner: Chickpea Salad, Slaw and Roasted Veggies

Leave a comment
Whole Food Dinner

Whole Food Dinner

This is a meal containing only whole foods that can be thrown together in under a half an hour.  Ideally, you would allow the slaw to sit in the fridge for an hour or more, but if this is not your reality never fear!

Here it is:

Carefree Chickpea Salad, Swift Slaw, Roasted carrots/broccoli/zucchini

You will need something to pair the chickpea salad with.  I used homemade bread that I pulled out of the freezer. Always have homemade bread in the freezer!  You could also use a cracker, pita or wrap with any veggie toppings you choose.  I cooked the chickpeas earlier in the morning, but again, you could easily use a can of chickpeas.  The broccoli in the roasted veggie mix was from the freezer also.  I wanted another green veggie but didn’t have anything fresh.  I loved this broccoli because the florets were tiny, and small pieces are often more enticing to children if you are trying to get them to eat new or different foods.

Tip:  If you are trying to get a child to try a new vegetable, roast it with one they already love.  Roast broccoli with carrots for example.  The child may be more willing to try the broccoli if it is next to something that he loves.

Recipe: Carefree Chickpea Salad

8 Comments

This is such an easy recipe…..seriously.  Very quick to throw together if you already have cooked chickpeas.  If not, use a can of chickpeas.  I like to buy organic bulk dried beans and cook them myself, but sometimes I am not so prepared.  That’s why they make canned beans.  I love chickpeas for their neutral flavor and because they offer protein, fiber and calcium to your diet.  This is my vegan version of tuna salad.

Chickpea Salad & Homemade Bread

Carefree Chickpea Salad & Homemade Bread

Carefree Chickpea Salad

Ingredients:

  • 1 3/4 cup cooked chickpeas OR 1 can chickpeas
  • 1/3 cup Vegenaise
  • 1 tsp. kelp granules
  • 1 tsp. yellow mustard
  • 2 tsp. capers

Mash chickpeas with a fork in a large bowl.  Add Vegenaise and mix.  Add remaining ingredients and mix. Season with pepper to taste.

Chickpea Salad

Carefree Chickpea Salad