The morning after I get back from a trip to New York is always something of a culture shock.

When I travel, part of my job is to eat. And part of my job is to eat the foods of some of the country’s top chefs. So when I travel I tend to eat really, really well.

Highlights of this trip included popcorn truffles by Christina Tosi (of David Chang’s Momofuku fame), a duck ragu with shaved foie gras at Perla, and carnitas with pistachio guacamole at Empellon Cocina. All amazing stuff.

Which of course made today’s 7 a.m. coffee and Parker’s yogurt parfait seem kind of… a wonderful return to reality.

Much as I love the great food when I travel — and I love to bring the ideas home (don’t worry, I’ll be making and sharing that pistachio guac) — I wouldn’t trade my regular, dull life at home for it.

Today I’m kind of winded. Lots of late nights in New York (totally not my style at home) and an ultra-late flight home yesterday. And an ulta-early wakeup by the little guy who was excited to see me this morning. That last part was worth it, though I’m not sure I’ll be conscious when it comes time to pick him up from school.

So I kept lunch simple today. Leftover whole-wheat pasta with red sauce and Parmesan, a foursome of fruit and a special treat I grabbed him in New York — bacon caramel popcorn.

Now it’s time for a nap!

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Day No. 2 of lunch duty on the road.

I was kind of fumbling for inspiration on this one. Partly because of the usual challenge of needing to pack it two days ahead.

But also because I ran out of time to get to the grocery store during the weekend. So when it came time to pack stuff that would stand the test of time, my options were a bit scarce.

So I leaned on an easy and surefire hit with my little guy — graham cracker sandwiches. There’s just something about graham crackers that reminds me of being a kid.

When I was Parker’s age, my mom used to give me graham crackers and a little honey to dip them in. Loved that.

For Parker, I use them in place of bread to make mini crunchy PB&Js. I also made him a couple of cream cheese and strawberry jam versions. Like eating an inside-out strawberry cheesecake.

To round out the lunch, I gave him a yogurt and a fruit salad of blackberries, sliced plums and kiwis.

Now just to finish business in New York and get home!

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OK… So I get a little indulgent when I head out on business trips.

Can’t help it.

But packing Parker’s lunches for when I’m away is one of the most challenging parts of lunch duty. I usually pack them on Sunday shortly before I leave.

The trick is to pack foods that will hold up to being packed 24 to 48 hours ahead of time. Because I didn’t just pack today’s lunch, but tomorrow’s, too.

So today I went with meat “sushi” — turkey and ham layered with cream cheese and wrapped up in a whole-wheat tortilla. Roll it and slice it and you have sushi bites.

I resisted the urge to add greens to the sushi. Was afraid they might not hold up quite so long.

So instead of greens I gave him an indulgent yogurt parfait. There’s some logic for you.

I layered plain Greek yogurt, blackberries and crumbled graham crackers. For a sweet touch, I drizzled on some honey. And for an I’ll-be-home-soon touch I sprinkled on some chocolate chips.

OK, not the healthiest lunch.

For more tips on how to turn just about anything into faux sushi, check out my post today on Rachael Ray’s site.

Meanwhile, I have a crazy day ahead with meetings, meals and covering the James Beard Awards this evening. More craziness tomorrow, then back home late tomorrow night.

Hope everyone has a great day!

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File this under… It was worth a try. And maybe worth trying again.

I got inspired this morning and decided to see what would happen if I combined snickerdoodle cookies (Parker’s favorite cookie) with banana bread and my go-to recipe for whole-wheat pancakes.

The idea was good, but the execution needs some work.

When I make this pancake, I usually just dump everything in a bowl and mix. This time, I dumped the usual ingredients in the food processor. Then I added two large stale snickerdoodle cookies and a banana. A bit of pulsing and I had a nice smooth batter.

The pancakes cooked up beautifully. And the banana flavor was just right. Trouble is, the snickerdoodle flavor was lost. For the last couple pancakes I cooked, I sprinkled the tops with cinnamon-sugar before flipping. This produced a perfect snickerdoodle-like topping for the pancakes.

I think next time I’ll leave out the cookies entirely (which clearly add sugar, but no flavor), keep the banana and stick with the cinnamon-sugar topping.

For today’s lunch, I used two of the spare pancakes to make a cream cheese and strawberry jam sandwich (tastes like cheesecake). I also had a bison steak left over from last night’s dinner, so I seared that and prepped carpaccio — Parker’s current favorite meal. Add berries and we’re done.

By the way, a word about using Instagram to post pictures of your own lunches. Most of them haven’t been coming through. Still sorting out why, but it may be that folks trying to do it have their Instagram account set to private. This prevents the photos from showing up. Try making them public and we’ll see how many great lunch ideas we can gather.

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I had such a good plan heading into lunch duty this morning.

Which, of course, ends up being further proof that sometimes I’m just kind of dense.

Yesterday we tested a recipe for a summery pasta salad inspired by carbonara. It has all the elements Parker loves — pasta, pancetta, cheese, an eggy sauce. And Parker loves pasta carbonara. So using the leftovers as the heart of today’s lunch was a no-brainer.

I sliced some strawberries, then grabbed a container for the pasta salad. Then I dumped the salad into. Then I stared at it for a while.

Peas. Lots of peas. An awful lot of peas.

Part of me wanted to tell him to suck it up. But as veggies go, peas are one of his least favorite. And I’d already warned him that we were having company tonight and he’s to be on his best vegetable consumption behavior at the dinner table.

So forcing him to eat peas (or, more likely, pick them out and throw them back into his lunch box uneaten) seemed too much.

Which left me with… a ticking clock, a container of strawberries and not a lot of inspiration.

It’s because of mornings like this that I try to keep at least a few emergency provisions stocked in the freezer. Today I reached for steamed pork buns from Trader Joe’s and a bag of edamame.

Both heat quickly in the microwave and pack well in warm thermoses. I used a standard thermos for the edamame (sprinkled with sea salt, of course) and a wide-mouthed thermos for the pork buns.

From lunch crisis to packed lunch in less than 5 minutes.

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Finally get to share this awesome video trailer Rachael Ray and I made to preview the release of “Beating the Lunch Box Blues.”

Take a look and let me know what you think.

Parker is home today, the last weekday of his spring vacation. How is it possible that when he goes back to school on Monday he’ll have just six weeks and two days left in the school year? Or rather, 32 lunches left.

I hear that unmistakable sound of Legos being tumbled about in the living room as I type this. He’s being a good boy occupying himself while I try to work. I’ve promised him a play date in the park after lunch.

Meanwhile, to give you a sense of the warped life he leads… He and I had this exchange on Wednesday.

“Parker, get your shoes on. We’re going to the park for a play date with Rachael.”

“Rachael Ray?”

“Um, no.”

Though I’m sure Rachael Ray plays a mean game of tag.

Yesterday’s lunch was mostly a hit. The smoked trout? Not so much. For perspective, please consider this.

Six months ago while I was in New York City for work, he called me right before he was to go to bed. I happened to be in a taxi at the time. And I was kind of busy. I was interviewing Tyler Florence. But it was Parker, so I figured I’d better take it. Just in case.

“Daddy! You won’t believe what I had today! Smoked salmon. And I LOVED it!”

“Um, great. But Daddy’s kind of busy right now. And you’ve had smoked salmon plenty of times before and you’ve always liked it.”

Fast forward to yesterday afternoon. Picture Parker with a deep scowl on his face as I pick him up at vacation camp.

“Why did you pack me smoked salmon?”

“I didn’t. But you love smoked salmon.”

“No, I don’t. I’ve never liked smoked salmon.”

“You do. You once even called me in New York to tell me you did. But I didn’t even pack you smoked salmon. I packed you smoked trout.”

“Same thing. I didn’t eat it.”

And there you go. An 8-year-old boy to the core…

Woops! Almost forgot to name the lunch gear giveaway winner. Congratulations to Melanie S.! Hope the boys love the frog bags! Enjoy.

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Yesterday we did the heavy stuff. And I was blown away by the response. Thanks so much.

Today we get to relax with a bunch of lighter items.

First, I’m probably late to the party on this guy, but a friend just made me aware of David Laferriere. He calls himself the “dad who draws on sandwich bags.” I love it. Wish I had even 1 percent of his talent. Check out this video of him explaining what he does.

Second, today’s lunch!

Parker headed back to vacation camp today — bowling. So back to lunch duty for me. I decided to make him a spicy peanut chicken wrap. I mixed peanut butter, seasoned rice vinegar, soy sauce and a splash of hot sauce to make a peanut sauce. Then I chopped up leftover grilled chicken thighs from last night’s dinner. Toss it all together, then pop it into a whole-wheat tortilla. Done.

For sides, I dumped a coconut yogurt over some fresh berries. Then I assembled a box of small-bite odds and ends — a couple hunks of manchego cheese, a piece of bacon left over from breakfast, a couple hunks of chicken sausage (grilled in the same pan as the bacon) and some smoked trout. Not sure how he’ll handle the smoked trout. I don’t think I’ve given him that before. I decided it was best if I didn’t mention what it was until I pick him up this afternoon.

Finally, today’s Free Lunch (Box) Thursday giveaway. For that, we have a medley of items, including three eco-friendly reusable lunch bags (to use in place of plastic bags), kid chopsticks and a great container that is water tight.

Just leave a comment to be entered to win!

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