Butter me up...

My (almost) four-year-old son goes to preschool now and he absolutely loves it. At his age the focus is on socialization. Part of that is learned through the kids sitting down for lunch together. I've hung out during this meal time on several occasions and it's hysterical. Kids really do say the darndest things!

Lately, he has really been into sandwiches for lunch. His favorites are peanut butter and jelly, turkey, grilled cheese and B.L.T.. Unfortunately, the school does not allow us to pack them anything containing peanuts since some kids have severe peanut allergies. That would make p.b. and j's completely out of the question. Almond butter, on the other hand, is fine.

While shopping at Trader Joe's one day, I came across their Almond Butter With Roasted Flaxseeds. I bought a jar of it to have with some whole wheat English muffins for breakfast. Almonds are an excellent source of protein along with a ton of other vitamins and minerals. The almond butter keeps me full for a long time and I have much more energy from it than the buttered toast I used to have. Flaxseed contains high levels of Omega-3 fatty acids which can improve your cholesterol and help fight off heart disease, cancer and diabetes. Oh, and it happens to be delicious too. The chunks of almonds and flaxseed give the butter an incredible texture and nuttiness. It also tastes less sweet and more natural than a lot of the name brand peanut butters. Probably because there are only three ingredients: almonds, flaxseed and sea salt.

One morning, my son had a bite of my English muffin with the almond butter and loved it. That day I started putting almond butter and jelly sandwiches in his lunchbox. Problem solved!