Monday Makeover...Sandwiches

Sandwiches around here are fall asleep boring most of the time.  My kids get plain turkey, roast beef or SB and Js.  Boo, boring...snooze fest.  So I decided to make over sandwiches beginning this week. Not only did I want to add flavor and fun, but it wouldn't hurt if we could make them healthier. It would take 5 steps.

1.Recently I started making my own version of lunch meat because of the sheer number of ingredients in store bought prepackaged types.   This can be fun because I can brine or marinate turkey, chicken, ham or beef.  Then I use my handy dandy electric knife to make thin (not deli thin, though) slices.  So now that I've revamped the meat...how can I make sandwiches even healthier?

2. The toppings!  This is where I need to get more creative.  I started using my mandolin to cut thin slices of cucumber, carrots, tomatoes, pickles and radishes to layer in.  Gavin likes lettuce in his, so that is an easy one...we always have salad stuff on hand.

3.Next I worked on spreads.  I could use hummus or avocado for great flavor, good fats and another serving of vegetables.  We use the kosher Lipton soup mixes (because no milk or egg in them) to jazz up some of the spreads (it's amazing how the taste changes with a little ranch, vegetable or onion soup packet in it).  Chelsea is a big fan of mustard, so if all else fails...I turn toward the little yellow bottle.

4. Onto the bread....we use whole grain sandwich thins or wheat bread mostly.  Chris loves kaiser rolls and english muffins so sometimes we use those.  I make bread a lot, but haven't found good sandwich bread recipes for my bread machine (but that is another post).

5 The last change is how we prepare them.  Sometimes we will be toasting the bread first.  We'll also pull out the panini maker to make warm delicious sandwiches.  Some of the best sandwiches come from pulled warm meat from the crockpot.

BONUS:  One way to make a sandwich delicious no matter what is to add bacon.