mommagreenfish

I find it incredibly hard to even begin to search for a blog to read. I’m the same way with books - I blame it on years of only having time to read my course lists (five English classes a semester times 10-12 novels a class), and therefore never developing a preference for a particular genre.

So when I do find a blog I like (usually by random accident or recommendation), I try to follow it daily, if possible.

A couple of months ago, I discovered Lunch in a Box, a blog written by a woman in San Francisco about bento lunches. After I lost my job, I kind of fell off the internet for a bit, but when I returned, I looked up her blog right away.

I don’t actually do bento lunches (though I do pack lunches for my sons almost every day), but the idea of them absolutely fascinates me.

Last week, I used an idea I read on her blog with one of my kids’ lunches. My youngest wanted plain whole wheat pasta in his lunch. I wanted to get some protein in there, so I suggested some cheese cubes and cut-up hot dog.

As I cut the hot dog, I remembered Biggie’s entry on octo-dogs. I happened to be making chicken stock at the same time, so I used the end of the hot dog to make an octopus for my son’s lunch.

(You can read how to do it yourself here.)

He thought the octopus in his lunch was the best thing he’d ever taken to school. He made a point of showing it to his table-mates, who also thought it was awesome.

It also inspired an idea for soup - which I haven’t tried yet, but may next week. It’s Octo-dog Soup.

I’m thinking of a chicken or vegetable stock, whatever veggies I’ve got on hand, a little rice, and a bunch of hot dogs cut into octopi (octopuses?). It mightn’t be healthy, but it sure will be fun!