Banana Dog with PB&J and Strawberry Relish

Easy, convenient, healthy, delicious, and colorful. That's how I would explain this Banana Dog. The kids love it and so do I. (I devoured mine while waiting for this picture to load)

Banana Dog with PB&J and Strawberry Relish

• whole wheat hot dog bun
• banana
• PB and J, mixed (I used Simply Fruit Black Raspberry) about 1 T. each
• 1-2 diced strawberries

Smear PB&J mix on both sides of hot dog bun. Add banana and diced strawberries on top. Wrap tight in plastic wrap and then foil.

Nutella, Cream Cheese & Strawberry Bagel Sandwich

Heaven in a Lunch Box was another name I considered for this sandwich. This is beyond delicious! And true, not the most nutritious by any means but on special occasions (like my children will be testing all day today and all week) maybe I can justify a little Nutella. Besides, Strawberries are known to remove harmful toxins from our bodies, so maybe this one time.....

Aw heck, why am I trying to justify this sandwich?! It's delicious! You don't have to make it if you don't wanna, but if you decide to, you won't be disappointed! I try to make sure my family eats lots of healthy foods, and I am much more determined to have us eating lots of fruits and veggies than I am determined to not let them eat a treat.

There you have it. Lorinda's philosophy on food. Eat lots of good healthy nutrient filled foods and a little bit that is just for pleasure.

And strawberries are a super food- very, very good for you! Did you know that strawberries are higher in Vitamin C than oranges? And oranges always get the Vitamin C credit. Ain't that how it goes?

Nutella, Cream Cheese & Strawberry Bagel Sandwich

• Nutella, or any brand of Hazelnut Spread, about 1 teaspoon
• Whipped Spreadable Cream Cheese, about 1 strawberry, sliced
• Bagel Thin

Spread Nutella on the top part of the bagel and the whipped cream cheese on the other side. Add sliced strawberries to the cream cheese side and top with the Nutella covered bagel half. Wrap and add to lunch box knowing that you have just made one very happy lunch box recipient!

Sides: Cinnamon Cream and Berries

I found the most gorgeous, most plumpest blueberries just the other day and I was happy to send off some fresh fruit in the lunch boxes today after resorting to fruit strips for a day or two.

What kicks this simple (but delicious) side up a notch is adding cinnamon. If you have a cinnamon grinder, all the better. Cinnamon is a great source of manganese, fiber, iron, and calcium. There have been a lot of studies that have shown that cinnamon can help relieve pain, boost cognitive function and memory, is a natural food preservative, has an anti-clotting effect on the blood, reduce the proliferation of leukemia and lymphoma cells, and much more.

Don't you love it when someone tastes great and has amazing health benefits?

Cinnamon Cream and Berries

(makes 1- easily doubled)

• 1-2 fresh strawberries
• 5-10 blueberries
• 1 spoonful of vanilla yogurt (I used Activia)
• cinnamon, preferably fresh ground

Dice strawberries in bite sized pieces and add to a 4 oz. container. Add blueberries and top with a spoonful of yogurt. Sprinkle cinnamon to taste, cover and pack.

Sides: Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

Do your little Valentine's deserve a little treat in their lunch box? Why not Chocolate Dipped Strawberries? Use dark chocolate for a more intense chocolate flavor and because dark chocolate is a potent antioxidant. Sorry milk chocolate lovers, the milk in milk chocolate interferes with the absorption of antioxidants and therefor cannot be called health food. Strawberries are high in vitamin C (even higher than oranges) which is great, especially this time of year.

You can read here about tempering chocolate and washing fruits here.

Happy Dipping!

Look for more healthy Valentine treat ideas this weekend.