Foodmomiac

Spring Farmers' Market Chicken Salad

Because I haven't yet purchased those Green Bags that Stefania just raved about (I am shocked that these actually work, and excited to get them), I was faced with the task yesterday of finishing up every last item that Dylan and I bought at the Farmers' Market last week. The radishes went into our Greek Salad, and I made some tea with the mint, but we still had snow pea sprouts and chives. Dylan decided that her school lunch would be chicken salad, so I incorporated everything into that. She declared it delicious, and even twittered (yes, Dylan is now on Twitter - too cute) about it:

Here's what I did:

Spring Farmers' Market Chicken Salad

1/2 chicken, meat removed (we did a mix of white and dark, but most people prefer just white meat, in which case, do that - maybe 2 breasts)
6 chives, minced
1 oz. sprouts (we used snow pea shoots), chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped fine
mayonnaise to taste

Chop up chicken, add veggies, add mayo. Ta da!

School Lunches (or, How Danielle Put Her Foot in Her Daughter's Mouth)

  Dylan's Lunch, September 14, 2007 
  Originally uploaded by Foodmomiac

This was Dylan's lunch today, which I managed to leave sitting on the counter after the photo shoot. It never made it into the backpack.

I proceeded to get two concerned phone calls from her teacher (one on my cell, and one at work). The message was, "Dylan didn't have a lunch today, and she is very upset. I told her she could have a school lunch, but she said that you don't want her to eat that food."

Ohhhh man.

Dylan's school doesn't have a kitchen. They have a couple of steam tables. So, they get lunches wrapped in plastic and heat them up for the kids. They are gross and they aren't healthy, and Dylan is right. I don't want her to eat that food. BUT, some kids get subsidized, and this is the only lunch they can afford. There are some moms who want to change the lunch situation, and once they get mobilized this year, I will do everything in my power to help with that. I don't think that anyone should have to eat those lunches, but I can't make a personal lunch for everyone. Just for Dylie. Dylie and her big mouth.

Any tips on discussing this with her? I don't want her upsetting the other children by deriding their lunches, but she is constantly asking me why she isn't allowed to have the school lunch. Ugh, what a hard conversation.

P.S. Max was chipper as can be at dinner last night (I heard - I was out with a client ) AND slept through the night. My little buddy is back!