Sunday 1 March 2015

Recipe Round-Up: Vegan Lunch Box

Several years ago, the blog Vegan Lunch Box was all the rage, and the book Vegan Lunch Box was released. It was full of cute lunchbox menus and spawned a wild craze for adorable bento-style lunch boxes. I don't really have such an adorable lunchbox system, but I make do with various containers around my house. I should note that these menus were designed for a school day, my work days are considerably longer, so I often had to add extra snacks.

Quick & Easy Menu Page 28
  • Nut Butter & Jelly Cut-Outs
  • Banana
  • Carrot and Celery Sticks
  • Easy Ranch Dip
  • Soy Smoothie

Nut butter and jelly sandwich; Easy Ranch Dip; carrot and celery sticks; bananas; mango smoothie


I skipped the fun-cut option for my PB&J (strawberry jam is always my choice) and took it as a regular sandwich. The ranch dip was a bit meh and runny if you use all the soy milk. And I took a mango smoothie that I made at home.
Rating: Overall :), Dip :|

Quick & Easy Menu Page 36
  • Bagel with Cream Cheese
  • Green Beans and Carrots in a Tarragon Vinaigrette
  • Red grapes
  • Animal crackers

Bages with cream cheese; Green Beans and Carrots in a Tarragon Vinaigrette; red grapes; animal crackers


This was meant to be mini-bagels, but again I went with a full sized bagel slathered with Tofutti cream cheese. The carrots and beans had a bright, tangy dressing which were nice with the bagel. The animal crackers were an accidentally vegan brand that I bought, but I can't remember what they were!
Rating: Overall :), Beans and Carrots :)

Quick & Easy Menu Page 46
  • Veggie Burger
  • Sweet Potato Oven Fries
  • Wheat-Free Apple Crisp
  • Extra snack: Carrot sticks and hummus

Veggie Burger; Sweet Potato Oven Fries; Wheat-Free Apple Crisp; carrot sticks; hummus


Veggie burger; Sweet Potato Fries; salad


Wheat-Free Apple Crisp


The veggie burger is a construct of pre-purchased goodies - a Fry's burger patty, Toffuti cheese slice, soy mayo and salad. I love the sweet potato fries on the side, they include garlic powder that gives a great flavour. The crisp was nice, but there are nicer topping recipes out there. I added an extra snack for this. It was also meant to have amazake as a beverage, but I couldn't find any.
Rating: Overall :), Burger :), Fries :D, Crisp :)

Ready & Waiting Menu Page 145
  • Veggie Tea Sandwiches
  • Blueberry Lemon Mini-Scones
  • Fresh strawberries and purple grapes
  • Kid's Iced Tea

Veggie Tea Sandwiches; Blueberry Lemon Mini-Scones; strawberries; grapes; iced tea


Veggie Tea Sandwiches


The book gives a range of filling choices for your dainty tea sandwiches - I used cucumber, cream cheese and dill and also Nuttelex, radish and salt. I love little tea sandwiches! The scones are super quick to make and super delicious to eat! The iced tea is a combination of apple juice (make sure to get cloudy!) and tea - I used the Red Green Dreamy mix from T2. I skipped the sugar.
Rating: Overall :D, Sandwiches :), Scones :D, Tea :)

Ready & Waiting Menu Page 151
  • Pizza Shop Breadsticks
  • Sneaky Momma's Tomato Sauce for Dipping
  • Frozen vegetable and bean medley
  • Fresh blueberries and plums

Pizza Shop Breadsticks; Sneaky Momma's Tomato Sauce; frozen beans and vegetables; blueberries; plums


The breadsticks are made from scratch, and they are twirled around a filling of nooch, sesame seeds, salt, garlic and granules. The sauce is nice, with basil, kale and carrots in it. It is meant to be blended until smooth, but as I don't need to hide my vegetables I left it chunky. The medley was literally some four bean mix and some frozen peas and corn (they thaw for a pretty delicious snacks).
Rating: Overall :), Breadsticks :), Sauce :)

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post

Abbey in her birthday hat


I know you want to see more of Abbey in her birthday hat!

7 comments:

  1. I remember that cookbook! Those tea sandwiches look super yummy!

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  2. Strawberry jam is always my choice too. I'll stray and buy a jar of blueberry every now and then, but when I'm done with it I'm ready to go back to my precious strawberry.

    Abbey seems to be thinking "you will pay for this" :)

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  3. I'm a big tea sandwich fan too, they're so cute!

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  4. I'm impressed you put the menus together, they look great. I loved the blog and bought the book but never ended up making anything. I don't know why as I love to have lots of little snacks like this.

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  5. I remember when that blog was all the rage! I think I've only made the 'fishsticks' from it...

    Hi kitty!

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  6. This is good inspiration for me. Since I've been on FAILSAFE I have to take my lunch to work. It's virtually impossible to buy a vegan FAILSAFE meal! I have to say I haven't managed anything as fancy as your lunches, so far.

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