S the Sandwhich Maker

Never before did I consider myself a sandwich lover, but I am starting to grow fond of the all American lunchtime food item.  How can I not like sandwiches you might ask?  Let me explain.

First, I have never been much of a bread lover.  I don’t understand people who love biscuits and rolls to the point where that’s all they would rather eat.  Second, I guess you can say in kindergarten I had a few traumatizing sandwich moments that I will never forget (although now my family laughs at the story now)  And those bad sandwich moments continued well into HS.  Have you even had a tuna sandwich leak out of your lunch box and dribble down the hall?  Or spill into your backpack soaking your folders?  BAD TIMES!  Granted I am very grateful to my parents for making my lunches for many years, I just wish it had dawned on them sooner than later to keep the tuna and bread separate till lunchtime.  J  Hint to parents out there.  Anyways, these are the ingredients for my new creation.

But alas, here I am all grown up and making lunches for myself.  And now I am realizing just how fun, and yummy a sandwich can be.  I have even realized that a loaf of bread is not needed.  Nope, here’s what I use, Bagels and wraps.  MMM MMM Goood!  Now I must give credit where credit is due. My sister is the one who opened my eyes, and mind to making a sandwich with a bagel.  And boy is it now my new favorite way to have a bagel. 

Here’s the most recent bagel sandwich I made. And the base is usually the same.  Just like eating a regular plain bagel at breakfast, I toast it and put on some cream cheese, just a little on one side, more on the other. If you aren’t watching your weight or anything, you can have one side cream cheese and one side with mayonnaise.  Then top with your favorite fixings. 

 If you want to upscale it, then add some red onion to the turkey.  Instead of lettuce, add a little fresh spinach leaves.  And the best part ever, BACON!  MY sister would be happy. J  Adding a dash of hot sauce will but the finishing touch on this perfect sandwich.

BACON IS OPTIONAL!

So lets review,

Toasted bagel

Cream cheese

Slices of red onion

Turkey

And lettuce or spinach

One Pan Wonder! + a Small Pot

So I just got home from the store after stocking up my empty fridge and pantry.   I went later in the day, and now I am faced with the “what’s for dinner question?”  Or the “I have all this food, now what?” question.  The good news is, nothing is frozen.  Bad news is I dodn’t feel like cooking, but I really want something to satisy my hunger.  I looked at my now unpacked bags and this is what I came up with.

“The Noodle Meat Dish!”  (Real original I know ;)  But the great news is, it’s really easy. And Fast. And filling.

All you need is

1 cup Elbow noodles

½ cup Onion (red or white)

Small garlic clove

1 teaspoon chili powder (optional)

Hot sauce (any amount optional)

¼ of a pound of Hamburger

Tomatoes (Grape tomatoes are best, and what I used)

So what you want to do is put a little olive oil in the bottom of a pan, chop up the garlic and onion into pieces and sauté.  Keep a medium low heat so you don’t burn the garlic.  Bitter!

While the onions get soft, start a pan of 2 cups water (for the noodles) and bring to a boil.  When it reaches a boil, add the noodles.  Then while that cooks, add the meat and some salt and pepper and chili powder to your pan with the onions.  While meat and noodles cook, chop up about 6 grape tomatoes in half, or a half a cup of diced tomatoes.



Onion meat mixture-Noodles cooking behind.



The noodles should take about 5-8 mins. to cook, but taste one 5 minutes in to make sure it reaches your desired tenderness.  Meet should take about 5 mins.  You should add the tomatoes to the meat slightly before the noodles are done.  All you want to do is get them soft, hot, not cooked to mush. 

When noodles are done, pour off the water, and add the noodles to the pan of meat.  Mix well with your preferred hot sauce.



Perfect time to add some cheese if you want.  Serve Hot!



Now this made just enough for me to eat the whole thing.  (I was hungry! Don’t give me that look) But it should also be enough for 2 or leftover. If you want to make it for a family, just double or triple the recipe.  Once again, it’s a dish you can add you own flavors to.  Oh, and if you want, add a handful of shredded cheese at the end and let it melt all over.