Lunchbox, Miso Soup and Salmon

As I've mentioned, the girls have a half day of school every Wednesday. This is actually really nice for us. We can take the afternoon to do kids activities that are normally to busy during the weekends, when everyone is out of school...like the Discovery Museum, or Denver Zoo. Lately we have been back on a library kick. I have a favorite kids section there as well. It's learning through food.

This section is in the kids section and is geared towards teaching kids about other cultures, historical events, and other educational topics through cooking and food. Last year M1's class was talking about the civil war and Abraham Lincoln. We picked up a couple of books in this section that talked about the two sides of the Civil War. 1) Civil War Cooking - The Union 2) Civil War Cooking - The Confederacy. There is a whole series by this same publisher about Lewis and Clark and the American Indians. ​

Anyways, the books chronicle the difference in rations given to the soldiers and talks about why the war was fought, and what the differences were between the two sides. You would think that the foods would be the same, but historically the Confederacy had poor rations, and the reason is discussed in the books (this is not a history blog). We made the different recipes and tasted some different foods. Hard tack was really fun for the kids to make, but not to eat! It did teach them a couple of lessons

1. enjoy the food you have, because I may send you to school with hardtack if you complain about the sandwiches
2. it links the lesson with the taste, and experience of that food. My kids will always remember bland black eyed peas and hardtack with the Confederacy. 

I like food based lessons. If you are planning on doing this, look up books on the Library website first. There are far more available in other sections of the library  than what is present on the kid's shelf. 

​This is our newest Library Recipe Book. One of my goals for this year is to become better at growing, cooking, foraging, harvesting foods that are local and have been cultivated by Native Americans. Foods that are meant to be in this region. As well as gathering and using wild edibles. Wish me luck!

Main Lunch:

• Miso Soup: I made this little beauty this morning. There is nothing better than fresh hot soup for lunch. Quick fix. 1 cup bone broth, 1 tbsp yellow miso, 1 diced green onion, 1 small carrot diced. Boil on stove until carrots are soft, add and dissolve miso at the end.
• Leftover Sesame Ginger Salmon: This salmon is King Salmon from a fishing trip Hubby and I did in British Columbia. Does not get healthier. Yes, that is white rice.
• Sesame Kale: This recipe is much better next day as a cold salad. Clink here for the recipe.

​Snack Time:

• Veggies and Ranch
• Apple