Roots...

A few weeks ago we traveled to Nebraska to celebrate my grandparent's 70th wedding anniversary. Meme and Popo lived two blocks away from my childhood home so I spent a great deal of time with them growing up. On our recent trip to their home for the anniversary celebration we were pouring over hundreds of photographs. While the rest of the family was drawn to the traveling photos or the funny family pictures I couldn't believe my eyes when it came to Meme's food creations. Cakes, fruit displays, gingerbread houses...all made from scratch. Seeing the photos reminded me of all the times I ooohed and awwwed over Meme's food displays as a child. It dawned on me that part of why I make these fun lunches probably stems not only from my desire to feed my kids healthy foods, but also carry on this tradition of making food art. I've developed quite a passion for this little project and now I think I know why. Thanks, Meme!

Here's a photo of Meme and Popo with a cake Meme made for a party they were hosting:

Today's lunch was inspired by Meme's boat cake and includes: ham, cheese and lettuce pita pocket with a green bean pole and cheese stacks for the flag, broccoli & carrots, grapes, almond flour cookies (I substituted regular honey with sugar free honey from Nature's Hollow and I use sugar free chocolate chips). The almond flour cookies are VERY filling and are loaded with protein making them a GREAT "desert" to throw in a lunch box. (If peanut allergies are a concern you might consider using this sunbutter cookie recipe.)