Go RED for heart health...

Hi Friends! I hope you all are having a great first week of February. I am so excited to share today's lunch with you. Most of you know that February is the American Heart Association's Heart Month. The AHA promotes Heart Month to raise awareness about heart disease and how people can prevent it. Heart disease is the leading cause of death for men and women in the United States. Every year, 1 in 4 deaths is caused by heart disease. Today, February 7th, is set aside as National Go RED day where the AHA urges people to support the fight against heart disease by wearing (or promoting) the color red.

This month has very special meaning to me for a couple reasons. A few months ago, my older brother had an episode with his heart which resulted in his being diagnosed with heart disease and several blocked arteries. He also had an arterial clot in his heart which very well could have ended his life.These 2 issues resulted in his having a double bypass operation.While a double bypass alone is terrifying, my dear brother took a stand for his faith and chose to do a bloodless double bypass operation. I am happy to say that he has recovered well from this and is taking his heart health seriously now (um, yeah, he better be!!). I am so proud of my brother for his courage and conviction during this time. He is a very wonderful awe-inspiring man.

I also support Go RED day for another wonderful man that sadly succumbed to heart failure over 12 years ago. This man happened to be the father of my very best bestie in the world. I spent many fabulously fun days at my bestie's house as a kid, and I have very fond memories of him. I will forever miss his dry sense of humor and his terrific penmanship.

So, in keeping with the Go RED theme, today's lunch features all red foods (well, minus the pretzels). Today's lunch also honors 2 very great men....my brother Tony Howell, and my bestie's father Keith Arps.

The Lucky Lunchbox encourages all of my readers to "know your numbers". The five key markers below are good indicators of your heart health. By keeping these numbers within a healthy range, you can greatly improve your heart health and reduce your risk of heart disease.

1. Blood pressure

2. Blood sugar

3. Cholesterol
4. BMI
5. Weight

Now, on to the lunch!
This lunch is packed in Easy Lunch Boxes.
* heart shaped peanut butter and all-fruit spread sandwich with cheddar cheese 'know your numbers' (I used a light spray of Wilton Color Mist in red on the sandwich.)
* pretzel balls
* heart shaped red bell peppers with homemade 'Healthy Heart Healthy You' pick
* heart shaped red delicious apple with mini heart cutout in center
* red Hershey's kiss
* linked to: Beneficial Bento/ Fancy sandwich Friday

Some of the things, or similar, things, that I used to make this lunch: