Thursday Themes

I thought it might be nice to have a theme day. Where I will maybe share a group of recipes, list of helpful links, and topics. With school in session for most I thought it would be nice to talk about sandwich ideas. Sandwiches seem to be a popular lunch choice because they are easy on moms and what kid doesn't like sandwichs...for a little while anyway. Possibilities are endless when it comes to sandwiches. Here are a few Sandwich ideas for you.

breads

whole wheat sandwich bread

whole wheat pita bread

flat bread

wraps

tortillas

pancakes

waffles

English muffins

bagels
matzo crackers

Melba toast

Spreads & fillings

Hummus

Cream Cheese

Cheese/cream cheese spreads

Sun or Nut Butters

Jams & Jellies

Cheeses & sandwich meats

alfalfa Sprouts

lettuce

shredded carrots

cucumbers

pickles

leftover turkey & chicken

egg salad

tuna salad

ham salad

chicken salad

Another thing I have found a great love for is Sandwich cutters and large cookie cutters. It's much more exciting to open you lunchbox to a Sandwich shaped like a heart or a star. I keep the trimmings of the sandwiches for my own lunch at home so their is no waste. Pinwheel sandwiches are also fun for the kids. Experimenting a few days ago I made some pinwheel sandwiches with lemon almond chicken salad (recipe coming soon) and sprouts they where a huge hit. Its so simple to just slather a spread and veggie on a tortilla roll it up and cut into fourths.

Waffles on Wednesday

Wednesdays are one of our busiest days of the week. The older girls have school then we have about 1.5 hours to change out of uniforms, do homework, eat dinner and go to church. By the time we get home it's time for a small snack, showers and off to bed. Trying to get so much accomplished in such a little amount of time makes me really glad that I always have tons of frozen waffles on hand. I think kids are drawn to breakfast for dinner because it almost feels like your doing something naughty (mind you I don't by into the concept that you should have pizza for breakfast either lol) I have a very yummy basic waffle recipe that you can add just about anything to it. Most popular in our home are Cinnamon, banana, peanut butter & blueberry waffles. I have even started making cheese waffles that are yummy for sandwiches. I have also discovered Organic batter blaster that I like to keep on hand for the rare times that we have no waffles. It's super easy and makes a really fluffy waffle. Making pancakes with it however was a bit tricky because its so light and fluffy then burn quickly. Waffles are great because they have no rules, they can be breakfast with some fresh berries, a sandwich for lunch, A comforting dinner or even desert with whip cream & honey. My 5 year old likes to eat them frozen right out of the freezer (I think that is crazy but she loves them that way lol)

Waffles (and yes works for pancakes too)
1 1/2 cups Whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt (I use a fine grain sea salt)
4 Tbsp Raw organic sugar (or equivalent sweetener of your choice)
2 large eggs
3 cups milk (you can use any kind of milk I generally use 2% or homemade almond milk)
2/3 cup butter or oil
(add fresh berries, chocolate chips, mashed bananas, applesauce, peanut butter etc)
Mix together dry ingredients in a large bowl, Mix wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients careful not to over mix them. Fold in any extras to your batter mix If you are adding fresh berries do not mix them in you will simply toss a few berries on top of the wet batter after your pour it into the waffle maker (trust me on this one)


you will want to take note of the cooking recommendations of your waffle maker. For mine I use 1/3 cup of batter and cook on medium heat for about 3.5 minutes each. You may need to butter your iron or use a cooking spray if your waffle maker requires you to do so. mine recommends it only with you are using fruits and sweet batter because the sugars/juices will make them stick.
This will make about 16-20 waffles

Now as a part 2 to this recipe a new waffle sandwich was born (due to low pantry supplies and over ripe bananas for lunch the other day. We call it the "WWED? Waffle Sammie" (wwed?=what would Elvis do)

WWED? Waffle Sammie
Using the above recipe mix in 1/2 cup of sun-butter or nut-butter of your choice (we used sun-butter) and 1 ripe banana mashed into your batter.
Take 2 cooked waffles and spread Sun-butter over it and top with thinly sliced bananas. And you have a nice healthy Waffle Sammie. We would like to think that if Elvis where alive today he would enjoy this lunch treat.
Enjoy!