After Thanksgiving Special

Just because I didn’t write about it immediately does not mean I didn’t eat a sandwich after thanksgiving

Oh goodness, heavens no!
I had myself an amazing after thanksgiving day sandwich!

While the world was going crazy and fighting over DVDs and TVs, I was fighting my own little battle at home
Was it wrong of me to hide my intended sandwich ingredients in the back of the fridge?
Perhaps, but it made my sandwich oh-so-much better!

This year’s after Thanksgiving spread was much more sparse than previous years, so I’m left wondering if we ate more on T-day or if we made less food
If the fit of my jeans are any sort of indication, we ate more

Regardless of the shortage, I still had my favorite ingredients for my sandwich
I like to start with toasted, buttered homemade white bread

This year, my dad tried to pull a fast one and used frozen loaves of breads
While looks may be deceiving, upon first bite I knew I was chewing an imposter
We baked fresh, homemade bread later that evening, and what a difference that made in my late night sandwich snack

After you’ve got your slices slathered, I lay the slices side by side and build each side of the sandwich separately
It doesn’t make a difference in the sandwich flavor, but it does set you up for open-faced sandwiches should you build too high

In one corner we’ve got garlic mashed redskin potatoes and in the other we’ve got sausage stuffing

The stuffing is absolutely key to the sandwich
Not only does the mushy goodness provide a food glue to bind everything together, but the stuffing itself is full of flavors like celery, onions, sausage, and a hint of pumpernickel bread. I believe the sausage and pumpernickel are imperative to a good stuffing, but I’m certainly not knockin’ yo’ momma’s

Load your turkey on top and if you’re lucky, which I was not, drizzle gravy over the mess



Pop it in the stove for some warming, or the microwave if you’re impatient like me, slice, and devour



I wish I had enough leftovers for more than one sandwich, but alas, that was not meant to be
“Leftover” sandwiches are great, but nothing compares to the after Thanksgiving special

Grilled Cheese is the Bee's Knees!

Today I felt like an ooey-gooey grilled cheese for breakfast, but instead threw together the ingredients for a fabulous, age 2 and up *, sandwich

My lunch bag consisted of a loaf of freshly sliced pumpernickel bread, butter, and deli delicious Monterey jack and pepper jack cheese

I set this sandwich up like I always set up grilled cheeses:
Slathered the butter on each slice of bread with probably too much butter
Stacked one buttered slice on top of the other buttered slice
Stacked two pieces of Monterey jack and two pieces of pepper jack on the unbuttered top of the pile
Threw on another piece of Monterey jack for good measure

Now, the difference between a homemade grilled cheese and an office grilled cheese is the grilling
As it turn out, our office only has a toaster oven, so I guess what I really made was toasted cheese

I learned a few things about office grilled cheeses… here are my sandwich tips from today’s lunch:

1. If you’re using a toaster oven, do NOT butter the outside of the sandwich. While the flavor is still mighty fine, the bread will remain soggy and you’ll end up with probably too much butter on your fingers. Butter the inside of the slices to ensure the buttery flavor without the buttery mess.

2. Don’t overwhelm your sandwich with pepper jack cheese. While I did enjoy the sinus relieving effects of the pepper, I probably would have been good with only one slice to my overload of Monterey.

3. Don’t be afraid to mix cheeses. I’m wondering how the sandwich would have turned out had I also brought my mozzarella and asiago shredded cheese. Just think: Monterey jack, pepper jack, mozzarella, AND asiago on one sandwich! I believe I just decided what’s for dinner…

4. Unless you’re a better person than me and plan on sharing, do not bring a full loaf or full bags of cheeses to the office. They will not be there at the end of the day.

5. If using a toaster oven to make your sandwich, maybe still butter the outside of the slices because that sandwich was a lot of fun to eat.

Sadly, I ate my sandwich surrounded by a pile of papers and a busy email inbox at my desk, but I highly recommend you take some time out to really appreciate your grilled cheese sandwich.


*Correct me if children younger than 2 can handle grilled cheese

I call it the “Road kill Dog”

To celebrate Halloween I finally decided to test an idea I’ve had for a while

If bologna tastes like hot dogs as it is (I think it’s the paprika) then what would happen if I grilled a piece of bologna like I might grill a hot dog? On my Panini press, of course.

If you grill a piece of bologna, you get a road kill dog
The grill marks look like tire treads if you have an imagination
Load your dead dog with blood and guts, or ketchup, mustard and relish, and you’ve got one tasty open-faced hot-dog

I laid my corpse on a piece of white bread because that’s all my roommate had, but I think it’d be much tastier on a dry, crusty, onion roll

Unless you have the same childish eating habits I do, you may want to keep this culinary disaster tucked away until you’re either in the company of children or celebrating Halloween




*Photos not available... it wasn't pretty*

GO FISH!

You know how most sandwiches, or any food, for that matter, taste better when prepared by someone else?
That rule does not apply to tuna fish.

I grew up on tuna fish sandwiches that were drowning in mayonnaise and relish.
So boring, and not to mention so unhealthy.

Honestly, I don’t really care about healthy because I like to pair my tuna fish sandwiches with a bag of Doritos (sadly, no, I don’t mean a snack bag), but really, lighten up!

At Whole Foods, I tried the Parmesan and basil tuna fish salad, and this is what I came up with for myself.

Sorry Whole Foods; I can’t afford organic.


How Liz Does Tuna Fish

Ingredients, Part I: for sure amounts

3 cans tuna (I prefer my fish in water, not oil)
1 red pepper, diced
1 green pepper, diced

Ingredients, Part II: test your taste buds
More or less that a cup of Parmesan cheese
About a ¼ cup of basil
Sprinkle of salt and pepper

How to:
Drain the tuna so it’s mostly dry, but still has a bit of moisture
Add the diced peppers and mix
Fold in the Parmesan cheese and basil
* I alternate between parm and basil to balance the flavors*
Sprinkle in the salt and pepper
VOILA!
You just made it my way!

If you must, choose mayo last and add it little by little.

I spread a generous amount on a pita or on Flatout bread to up the health factor. Equally delicious, and South Beach diet friendly, is to spoon the tuna mix into a large lettuce leaf for lettuce wraps.


*I apologize for the large quantity, but fear not! Tuna keeps for about three days.