Sometimes a simple quiet lunch in the kitchen is better than any fancy meal out. It is all about finding those spaces between that help stretch out summer days in a good way.

After dinner last night, we had pasta left over. Keep even a small serving of leftover pasta for a day. It is good in a pinch and perfect if you use the best way to reheat pasta.

Cut up a favourite vegetable. If none are favorites, put a few on a little cutting board or platter, lay out a face with them, use a zigzag cutter, just have fun with the presentation. Even better, ask the little one to choose a ‘grow food’ at the market and serve that at lunch or dinner.

As for mom’s lunch. A Montreal bagel is smaller and less ‘bready’ than a traditional NY bagel so it is perfect for this summer sandwich. I bought Whole Foods’ own batch of hummus at Fresh Pond because I noticed lately that many of other brands started adding guar gum which I seem to be allergic to. There is no reason for guar gum to be in there anyway! I toasted my bagel, spread the hummus and topped it with slices of pickling cukes from Lindentree CSA. I left the other half of the bagel naked just in case I wanted a little sweet honey on it for ‘dessert’.

You might notice that my son’s lunch was missing some protein. He’s not a huge protein eater and I think that protein is over emphasized in the country for some reason. But rest assured, he had a mid-afternoon snack that included peanut butter. For a non-protein eater, we take what we can get and if it is ingested in a fatty, salty, sugary way so be it…