we chose L. 's (high)school for the quality of the education given & the values taught there had to be in sync with ours. this means some little "sacrifices" in my schedule & a fair amount of driving in my daily life, because the school is 23 kilometers / 14 miles away from home, and there is no school bus.
when she started grade 6, i first thought she would love to eat there to be with her friends & not with her mom, but much to my surprise the teen girl still likes to eat at home and asked me (with sweet eyes & long lashes begging) if there could still be one day in the week to lunch with me. despite the driving, how could i decline ?!!
we chose monday because her lunch break on that day lasts nearly 2 hours and we have time for the commute. however no time to "cook" and that's why we have some croque-monsieur almost every monday (we are not big lunch eaters anyway. on weekends we have a brunch...)
i try to vary the fillings : swiss cheese of course, but a combination of boursin-raw zucchini-smoked salmon, or tomato-basil-mozarella, is equally delicious. and i always prepare a 50/50 mix of semi-strong mustard & greek yoghurt (or cream) spreading one side of each slice with one teaspoon of this mix *** we eat organic-only whole bread, because when eating non-organic whole bread, cereals, pasta... which is much advertised here & there for health benefits, your body absorbs all the pesticides stocked in the whole grains *** have you ever thought of making some sweet croque-monsieur as a cold season snack, or for breakfast ?! pear + chocolate is wonderful, banana + sweetened condensed milk is yummy,too !
go get some lunch ideas from other corner view participants here !
edit : b&w t-towel in the background is from this shop
No more Monday blues! :-) Yum to 50/50 mix of semi-strong mustard & greek yoghurt spread. I hear you about the bread...thanks! Have agreat day Valerie X
ReplyDeletei was gonna say banana, but you were first.
ReplyDeletewhat i use regularly is feta cheese, it melts down pretty nice too, on robust bread.
but, hm, i want your toaster! the shape of the bread, it is art!
[your daughter will forever remember her mondays-with-mamma!]
n♥
home meals are the best! and that lunch looks so good!!!
ReplyDeletebtw, can I have a chocolate egg the same size of my head?? after see the photo of your girl with one of those, can't stop to think about it!
Hello Valerie,
ReplyDeleteA delicious lunch and i love the red tablecloth.
Have a lovely day.
Hugs, Pauline
toutes tes variantes du croque monsieur ont l'air bien tentantes ... je crois que je vais profiter des vacances des enfants pour en tester avec eux.
ReplyDeleteI want one croque monsieur !!! NOW.
ReplyDeleteHow sweet! I love the your dear daughter still wants to have lunch with her mum... And I like that you make it tasty too. We do a semi-sweet sandwich of pear, roquefort cheese and mango chutney that is really GOOD! Husband does a variant using Parma ham, a strong-ish cheese like cheddar and chutney, which is also good... mmm... I feel hungry now. ;o) Happy Days, Valerie ((HUGS))
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful tradition Valerie! And the croque monsieur looks delicious! I think all of the good ones have been mentioned already. I try to also get mostly organic food for my family and the taste is so much better...
ReplyDeleteBy the way I am also one of those that can not leave messages unless someone else has already started...strange!
Yum! So glad your tea towel arrived safely. Nic x
ReplyDeleteyummy! i am hungry now! and it's only half past 7 in the morning here! of course i haven't had my breakfast yet... ;) that is so sweet L still likes to eat lunch with you! what a special time that must be! and now i need a "sandwich maker." i'm always trying to figure out simple lunches to make or to pack for jed (yes i pack his lunches :) ). xo
ReplyDeleteIt's so funny you posted this: yesterday my Big Bear and I decided to make sandwiches one day per week (we usually make pasta or risotto or salads for lunch... very italian!). Thank you so much for posting your sandwiches habits! We use piadina here, filled with jambon, fromage, Parma ham, or th classic "caprese", fresh tomatoes and mozzarella, with some basil leaves.
ReplyDeleteI'm hungry now!
If only every day could be Monday! :)
ReplyDeleteNow, isn't that sweet. I hope Top3 and Top4 will want us to pick them up at their high school for lunch when they get to that stage... We love croque monsieurs as well.
ReplyDeleteHow sweet that your daughter still wants to have lunch with you. Must be a big step for her to go to a new school and for you to let your daughter "go", but I think a Monday is perfect for cozy togetherness.
ReplyDeleteI'm a brunch fan, too. But my husband loves to cook for us, I guess I'll never loose these 14 pounds "american fat", hehehe Also I'm a bento-fan, I bought one last year on our japanese festival here in Düsseldorf.
Have a wonderful evening!
(>.<) mel
lovely blog and a yummie lunch!
ReplyDeleteYum! Yum! Yum! She will always love Mondays for the rest of her life. Beautiful. I use to make raspberries and chocolate sandwiches for all-girl special occasions. Perhaps it is time to make those again. Carolina
ReplyDeleteoh, i did not know the name of the food ... looks very yummi :)
ReplyDeleteAh, je peux enfin te laisser un message (impossible dans les 2 précédents post) ! C'est sympa (malgré les km) de manger avec sa fille le midi. Moi je le fais 1 à 2 fois par semaine, j'aime bien ces moments là.
ReplyDeleteC'est vrai que le croque-monsieur est une valeur sûre ! On peut y mettre (presque) tout ce que l'on veut. Je sais qu'il y a des recettes avec de la béchamel, mais moi, ça m'écoeure... Je n'ai jamais essayé les versions sucrées, c'est une bonne idée pour le petit-déj ! Bon dimanche.
Oh your descriptions make me very, very hungry. I like healthy food that looks so delicious as to your photos. I think it's not easy to feed me more healthy. There are so many temptations. But I love everything about cheese, and vegetables or salad.
ReplyDeleteThe school of my daughter ends every noon (she goes to a school that is almost 20km away, but here goes a school bus). It is not a full-day school. Your school is a full day school, where you can lunch? My daughter has a day a week teaching to 4 clock, then they go eat pizza or kebabs with their friends. Not so well, but I think a lot of fun.
Have a good week!
madhu : thank you and yes we don't like it with beachamel /white sauce = too heavy/fat
ReplyDeletewoolf : thanks for the feta tip ! i have never used it warm, only in cold salads/sandwiches.
nothing fancy with the bread press : a tefal one i got for free thanks to a customer store card. we can sue it for waffles, too.
RosaMaria : i wish i could help you with the chocolate craving, but these kinder eggs are forbidden at customs on the northern american continent :(
Pauline : thank you ! the table cloth is oilcloth and was purchased in England.
Isabelle : c'est une idée simple mais toujours "satisfying" ! bonnes vacances ! amusant que ça tombe en même temps que notre académie ici
Pascale : help yourself !!! :D
Tracy : delicious ideas that you share here ! and i agree that pear+ roquefort is a winning combo !! happy week to you xo
Monica : we eat organic as much as we can (sugar, flour, milk, eggs, bread, pasta, rice, lettuce, potatoes, some fruits when possible) a 100% is not possible but we avoid heavily processed/industrialized food.
weird about the comment thing... but sometimes i simply close the comment box on some posts, too...
yardage girl ! so glad you could see how much i like it ! i'll PM you this week about your trip...
ReplyDeleteAnna Allen : so sweet that you pack Jed's lunches ! I bet he enjoys being so well taken cared of !!!
Thumbly : Italian food always sounds so delicious. because it is indeed ! is there a single person out there who doesn't it ?!!
Don : well... Friday night & weekends don't sound bad as well !! ;)
flowtops : I'll share the secret, promise ! :D
mecamo : there are no 14lbs fat to be seen on you, dear ! Japanese + bentos are healhty food !
Bianca : thank you x
Muse of the day : hoefully making nice memories, yes. thank you for the rasberry/choc idea. I 'm taking notes !!
dorte : croque-monsieur, fun isn't it ? there is also "croque-madame" but this involves an egg and we don't like it.
Menthe Blanche : c'est normal je n'avais pas ouvert les posts que tu mentionnes aux commentaires ! mais merci pour l'intention :) oui c'est un chouette moment à partager mère-fille. L'école primaire était sur la même commune alors L. mangeait toujours à la maison le midi, maintenant au collège c'est un peu plus compliqué ... par contre elle finit à 15h30...
Quant aux croques, on n'est pas fanas de la version béchamel. Béchamel que je fais à la farine de riz ou maïs (pour les gratins) vu que le blé je ne peux pas...
Li+ Belle : we are big veggies eaters and I've been a vegetarian for 22 years. I heard school timetables are less heavy in Germany -- which is good. L finishes at 3.30pm but back to my high school years it was easily up to 5.30pm and homework to do after that :( crazy !
C'est bien, j'apprends des trucs tous les jours sur les fonctionnalités de Blogspot !!! Au moins maintenant, je ne m'énerverai plus à cliquer nerveusement :)
ReplyDeleteElsa... LOL !!!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful images and lovely text.
ReplyDelete