Lunch Time!

It is so easy for me to fall into the trap of low nutritional value lunches when I feed the kids. It doesn't help that I don't enjoy cooking. I would much rather drive thru McDonalds and give the kids fries for lunch than deal with a nutrictionally sound meal. But then I feel terrible for getting it for them and the kids crash from their high carb lunch quickly and that isn't pretty at all. A problem with the kids is how differently they eat and we eat gluten free (Alex and Lane do eat some items with gluten in them) in our home. That means a typical sandwich isn't allowed here. Gluten free bread doesn't make great sandwiches either. Lane doesn't like pizza so homemade healthier versions of pizza are out for all three of them. Gabriel doesn't like meat and Alex is a picky eater. Thankfully, Andrew came up with a great way to offer healthy food options without too much fuss. I tend to forget about it but I was thrilled when I remembered last week. I took out two platters. One one platter, I placed baby carrots, sliced apples and bananas, and celery. One the other platter, I placed toast with peanut buter and jelly cut in triangles and banana slices with peanut butter on them, and "ants on a log." I didn't put plates on the table. I called the kids to the table and they started devouring the food. It was their own choices and it was all gone by the time they were done with lunch! I'm going to continue this trick until they catch on to it. The cleanup is minimal too because it's only two platters! My favorite part about this photo is that I can see Gabriel's two front missing teeth!