Help! I Can't Have any Butter or Cheese. What Do I Eat With My Sandwich?

My mother, a woman who glorifies nutrition and gives unwanted health lectures to my cat and random strangers, has yet to let go of her habitual coffee with a cheese sandwich in the morning. I suspect she has paid for her wanton ways with unstable blood pressure, general crankiness, nervousness and insane arthritis.*

While it's hard to change our habits, especially if we have been doing the same thing for decades, it's easier to ease into it slowly, substituting one thing, and slowly training our tongue to new and exciting flavors.

This is the first post of my most loved, tasty and easy "butter"/"cheese" substitutions, with my mother's reactions as she tries all of them.

Spreading on a sandwich:

1) Avocado
It is smooth and creamy and fatty, just the right consistency as butter. And yes, avocado does pack about 300 calories per fruit, most of which is fat. We do need healthy fats, though, so slather on.

Mom loved it. In fact, she said it was better than cheese. Creamier and had more flavor.

2) Roasted garlic.
Cut the top of the garlic bulb and roast for 15 minutes on 365 deg F. Spread the roasted garlic on bread and add arugula. Enjoy.

"Very tasty but a bit too dry. The consensus was to combine the avocado with roasted garlic, making a sandwich spread."

3) Pesto or Pistou. Pesto is very easy to make. Combine 1 cup of parsley, basil or any other dark green herb with olive oil, garlic and a little bit of pine nuts in the food processor until it is of spreadable consistency. Spread on whole grain bread. Enjoy. Mom did. Not as much as avocado though.

4) Hummus. Look on any shelf in the supermarket. So many varieties! There's no sense in me writing a recipe, when so many good ones exist elsewhere:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipes/Appetizers-and-Snacks/Dips-and-Spreads/Hummus/ViewAll.aspx

5) Crushed beets with garlic
Fiery and almost purple, it's a very bright, healthy spread.

... more to come. I got sick today, so going to go rest now and dream of some more substitutes...

*Read more about how dairy foods affect arthritis here: USA Weekend.com