Frequently the Forum includes threads about what to pack for lunches. The traditional idea of sandwiches and chips for lunch doesn't work for either As or Os. Type Os do well with the meat, but not with two slices of bread or with cheese. Type As are ok with more bread (though wheat bread is not good if they are watching their weight), however As are more limited in their meat choices. Plus As don't need meat for both lunch and dinner. Chips, in the traditional sense, are good for nothing and no one.

Yesterday was pretty typical of lunch in our family.

My husband has access to a microwave at his office. So I pack lots of leftovers for him. Yesterday I sent black beans, rice, and a veggie burger for him to warm up. I added a carton of grape juice, dry roasted peanuts, and rye crackers with buttery spread. I included a bag of raw veggies (carrot sticks, radishes, celery sticks and Swiss chard sticks) and a bag of raw fruit (apple slices and dates). That sounds like a lot of food, but he holds back one item from lunch to eat in the afternoon as a snack.

We had eaten salmon the night before, and salmon is one of my daughter's favorites, so I sent salmon in her lunch. She does not have a way to warm her lunches, but room temperature salmon is ok with her. I included a carton of apple juice and a slice of spelt/rye bread with buttery spread. I sent the same raw veggies with her that I sent with my husband. She likes to dip veggies in peanut butter, so I added a little plastic carton of peanut butter to her lunch.

After Monday's field trip, her classmates were more curious than ever about the vegetables in her lunch. She said, "It was sad, Mom, some of them didn't know what a radish was." Then she said, "They wanted to know what the red stuff was, but I wasn't sure so I told them it was red celery." I laughed - red celery is as good a name as any - probably better than saying Swiss Chard.

It's been a long time since I mentioned Swiss chard sticks, so I will explain again. My vegetable cookbook says to strip the leaves from the Swiss chard stems. It says to cook the stems separately or serve them raw. I love the cooked greens and will eat a few of the stems. My husband and daughter won't touch the cooked greens, but love the stems - which do look just like red celery.

My Type O lunch - salmon, cooked Swiss chard, grilled onion, and raw carrot sticks with pumpkin seed butter.