Thursday, November 10, 2011

A New Twist on Sandwiches

If you're a mom, you know how tough it is to keep kids happy when it comes to lunch. Maybe you're blessed with little ones who love to make their own PB&Js for lunch every day ... but I'm not! Actually, I don't complain because our Oldest Girl really likes to fix lunch for herself and The Boy. I mostly let them eat what they like (though they only have fairly healthful choices.) The only thing they really get bored with is sandwiches. They love turkey and cheese or ham and cheese, and peanut butter with jelly or honey. After a long stretch of eating those, though, they start to revolt. As a result of seeing that pattern, I try to vary their lunches each week so they don't get tired of the same thing all the time. I fix hot lunches a couple of times a week and the other days they have sandwiches or something they can fix themselves.

One way I keep lunch interesting is to vary the style of sandwiches. They love fillings wrapped and baked in crescent rolls (meat and cheese or PB&J). Tortillas and pita bread are always welcome, too. Whenever we have leftover hotdog buns, hamburger buns, or dinner rolls, they love to have sandwiches made from those. Of course, I change sandwich fillings, too - peanut butter topped with banana or apple slices, raisins, sunflower seeds, honey, jam, or Goldfish is always a big hit. Even though both big kids claim they hate mustard, I often put Dijon on their hot sandwiches like grilled cheese or in meat/cheese crescents. It's a different flavor that they don't identify as mustard, but gives them some variety. They also like Ranch as opposed to plain mayo. When I have fresh herbs handy, it makes Oldest Girl feel like a chef to put those on her turkey sandwich. Shredded carrots, lettuce (or cabbage!), or celery make a nice crunch while adding a few more vitamins and fiber.

What do you do to keep lunch interesting?

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