You know how I mentioned below that the new issue of Vegan Lunch Box would be out in March? Well, as so often happens in the world of professional publishing, there’s been a change of plans. The publisher has decided that it will be much more exciting to bring the book out in late July/early August, in order to generate lots of excitement at back-to-school time. I can see the logic there, but I’m still sad to have to tell you all that the book won’t be available for several more months. Doh!

Reviewed by special guest blogger Shmoo.

1. The drive is often the best thing about traveling.
2. I love a good snuggle with my husband when I'm cold.
3. I often use pasta when I am cooking.
4. I'm reading Little Women right now; I love it.

Shmoo has been begging for a peanut butter gummy worm sandwich ever since reading the Captain Underpants series.Now, on his second-to-last day of homeschool partnership school, I am finally able to oblige this repulsive whim thanks to vegan sour gummy worms, the first vegan gummy worm ever!

He also asked for potato chips with whipped cream, another gem from the Captain, but I drew the line and merely surrounded his wormwich with Pringles Minis.

A Vegan Lunch Box reader named Melissa emailed me a few months ago suggesting that this recipe for pupusas would make a tasty vegan lunch. Pupusas are traditional El Salvadorian corn masa "cakes" filled with meat, cheese, or beans that are patted flat and fried. They are often sold by street vendors in El Salvador and Honduras.

Sometimes readers ask to see what we eat for other meals around here, like breakfast. So, leaving lunch boxes aside for now, here's a picture of one of my son's favorite weekend breakfast treats: waffles and eggs. That's right. In fact, he likes a fried egg placed directly on top of his waffle, just like this, so he can eat them both together. Yes, indeedy.

APRIL FOOLS!

Were you fooled? Did I getcha? Oh my gosh, I'm so bad at pranks it was hard to even write that paragraph!

It's that time of the year again when Major League Baseball hands out its annual awards. On Monday, the first two awards will be announced, and that is the AL and NL Rookie of the Year awards.
Here are my choices for the awards and the days they will be announced:

Nov. 12: AL Rookie of the Year: Dustin Pedroia
NL Rookie of the Year: Ryan Braun

Here it is, all alone at the bottom of the box: a final unsold copy of Vegan Lunch Box. Yes, I've turned off my ordering buttons and closed up shop, ready to devote myself full time to shmoo's third grade year.

But don't despair, vegan lunch fans! I'm excited to report that a brand new, completely revised edition of Vegan Lunch Box will be coming out from Da Capo Lifelong Books in March 2008.

Here's another new vegan product I picked up while on vacation: Road's End Shells & Chreese.

1. The last compliment I got was from my husband; he/she said I was doing great on a project I have undertaken.
2. I'm reading The Septembers of Shiraz by Dalia Sofer.
3. I woke up today and thought T.G.I.F!!!!!!!

Remember the Jif Most Creative Peanut Butter Sandwich Contest? Back in February shmoo and I sampled the Texas Roll 'Em Up, and today I finally got around to making my second favorite entry: the Rocking Rainbow PB & J. Although neither of my vegan-friendly favorites won the contest, they both made Runner Up.

UPDATE: Please note that this sale expired August 1st.

That's right! We're crazy, crazy, crazy for slashing prices this low -- must be the heat! Visit VeganLunchBox.com to take advantage of my Summer Clearance Blow Out Sale: from now until August 1st buy TWO COPIES FOR $30.00! You heard right: two copies of Vegan Lunch Box for just $30.00! *

Oh, yes I do! I just received word today that I Love Obento! is finally open for business.

The store features bento boxes (Japanese lunch boxes) and the little lunchtime accessories that you see in many of my own lunch box creations: plastic picks to skewer bites of fruit or vegetables, paper dividers and cups, tiny sauce bottles, rice molds, and more.

It's sometimes hard for natural, healthy foods to compete in an age of dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets and neon-colored pudding tubes, so lunch boxes and accessories like these are a great way to turn a healthy lunch into a special, fun treat for your kids (or yourself!)

Lately my favorite non-dairy frozen treat is a simple frozen fruit sorbet: I push frozen bananas, pineapple, and strawberries through my Champion Juicer, and out comes perfect, creamy sorbet with no added sugar.

As promised, here's the first lunch in Daddy Shmoo's new bento box.

A grilled portabello mushroom fish with baby cucumber scales and snow pea eyes is set adrift on a bed of somen noodles with blanched snow peas and parsley "seaweed".

I really wanted to include a Lotus Root Salad next to the somen -- wouldn't that have looked lovely? But alas, I can't find fresh or even canned lotus root here, so I settled on roasting a red pepper and cutting it into sand dollars and little fish shapes, with fresh basil tucked here and there.

1. My favorite song of 2007 was "The Face of Love" by Sanctus Real.
2. I'm most tempted not to do housework by reading a book.
3. Today I want to stay home and relax.
4. The last thing I took a picture of was my daughter.

It was such an awesome surprise to come home after work, well, after Starbucks, after work… and find something crammed into my mailbox in the lobby. I saw the return address and wondered, “Hmmm… what would that Torontonian Nutbar be sending l’il ol’ me?”
← It’s her new book, and it’s really great.

I could not wait. I ripped into the package there in the elevator.
Let me introduce you [as if you don’t already know who I am talking about] to the coolest chick in blogland → Patricia Storms.

The sun sank, and they both felt its final shudder of warmth.
Turning, he looked into her eyes.
“I feel as though you are the one I have waited for, all my life. And now you are here.”
“I’m not even sure if I believe in such a thing,” she whispered.

After seeing my recent pea-filled St. Patty's Sandwich, Vegan Lunch Box reader Roxy shared this tip: "I like to blend peas into guacamole--it adds more nutrition to the already nutritious dip and you really can't tell the peas are in there. I use about 1/4 cup of peas to every large avocado. Yum!" Thanks, Roxy, I love it! In fact, it inspired me to make a post especially for sharing these kinds of ideas.

Here's one of my lunches for a change, photographed in a colorful Melamine 3-Layer Tiffin from Pearl River. I actually bought the lunch box as a gift for a friend who collects melamine (shh, don't tell!) but couldn't resist posing a lunch in it before passing it on.

On the upper right is a big serving of Asian Salad made with baby lettuces, cucumber, edamame, carrot, and daikon.

What’s your favorite book that nobody else has heard of? You know, not Little Women or Huckleberry Finn, not the latest best-seller . . . whether they’ve read them or not, everybody “knows” those books. I’m talking about the best book that, when you tell people that you love it, they go, “Huh? Never heard of it?”

I love all the little napkins, containers, and toys I've been using lately in our lunch boxes. I thought some of you might want to join in the fun, so I've put together a selection of Lunch Box Accessories Kits for sale!

Friday Fill-In #49
1. I love the nostalgia surrounding Christmas.
2. Blue is/are my favorite color(s) for the Christmas tree lights.
3. The non-existent candles in the window have non-existent bulbs.
4. A Christmas Story (You'll Shoot Your Eye Out!) is one of my most favorite Christmas movies.
5. My favorite Christmas lyric(s) is/are

I have been trying hard to resist joining any new challenges. I have my work pretty much cut out for me for 2008. But when Michelle at 1morechapter.com announced her Pub'08 challenge to read at least 8 books published in 2008, I couldn't resist. Here is what I am planning to start with:

I saw this meme at Fraternity of Dreamers. It's a weird one but it'll give you an interesting view of my world:

What kind of soap is in your shower right now? Ivory Body Wash and Dove Bar Soap (with the little nibblets in it).

Do you have any watermelon in your refrigerator? No but I do have a Pomelo.

1. How did you come across your favorite author(s)? Recommended by a friend? Stumbled across at a bookstore? A book given to you as a gift?

2. Was it love at first sight? Or did the love affair evolve over a long acquaintance?