Recipe: Kid's Lunch

Lunch is difficult. Breakfast is easy because you can make fruit the main course. Dinner is easy because you can plan to eat at home and use a salad and rice, potatoes or quinoa as the main dish. But lunch is difficult because the kids are eating at school and you may be meeting a friend or client or eating at the office.

I try to let go of some of the lunch decisions for my family. I feel they are only nourished by eating whole foods and abstaining from meat/wheat/dairy. BUT, I also feel they need to learn to made their own choices, live with the consequences and even eat a little crap out of shear rebellion!

That said, here's our favorite sandwich: Almond Butter/Banana/Honey Sandwich

Almond Butter - I use Whole Foods almond butter. The ingredients listed on the glass bottle are: almonds. They grind the whole almonds and package. The problem becomes that the natural oils rise to the top. You cannot just buy the jar, open it and stick a knife in to grab some almond butter. The first time you use it you need to take about 5 minutes to very carefully mix the almonds with the oil. If you take time to thoroughly mix it the first time you open the jar, the rest of the time you can just do a little stir through on the top. I recommend using almond butter because peanuts are 1. overused in kid's food 2. not farmed properly in the U.S. and 3. have a high mold count and spur allergies whether you are "peanut allergy" or not.

Honey - Try to use a local, non-filtered honey of the highest quality.

Spelt Bread - While I am against flours, it's hard to make a sandwich without it! I love the spelt bread in the cold cases but it isn't always kid-friendly. Whole Foods and Central Market make lovely spelt breads. This way the kids are getting a whole grain with the germ and diversifying their mineral intake: kid's menus are overwhelmed with wheat flour product.

Bananas - Remember, organic produce is important when eating the skin but not as important when buying a thick skinned fruit or vegetable. I buy conventional oranges, bananas, cantaloupe, watermelon and grapefruit in bulk at Sams.

Toast the spelt bread. Spread with almond butter. Slice bananas. Drizzle with honey. La Voila!

Let the kids make the whole thing. Supervise, don't touch! It's important for you to be the Mom and make them eat whole living foods. It's also important for them to feel empowered. They get to decide how many bananas and, anyway, it's always fun to drizzle honey!