Peanut Butter and Apple Sandwiches

This is a great resource: All Recipes has a section dedicated to lunch box recipes:

One idea is to give peanut butter and jelly sandwiches a makeover. How about Peanut Butter and Apples? Here are more tips they---and I---suggest:

• Because apples get brown, spritz them with citrus/water mixture (I use limes, All Recipes suggested lemon)
• Substitute bananas for apples. Try almond or cashew butter instead of peanut butter, or chunky peanut butter instead of smooth. 
• Wrap sandwich ingredients in whole wheat tortillas instead of using bread.
• Freeze a small carton of milk or bottle of water to keep lunches nicely chilled until ready to eat.
• Use crispy apples! Have your kids try different apple varieties, so they become 'apple experts.' They will feel super lucky and smart when they find their favorite Pink Lady or Granny Smith layered in their sandwich.
• Have a PB&J taste party: try different nut butters, different apple varieties and of course different combinations. Do they prefer the Golden Delicious with Hazelnut Butter? Let them decide---your lunches will be that much more successful.

I am a big fan of letting kids have ownership in the food tasting, deciding and vote-giving. At the end of the day, they vote anyway: by eating or not eating. If you can't beat them, join them!

mini-muffins for my muffins.

I don't actually call my sons my little muffins; though when they were quite a bit smaller, I did occasionally call one of them peanut and perhaps even 'my little pumpkin.'

Now that they are a bit bigger I call them sweetheart, doll and darling. No more 'how is my cutey-cute?' Or my 'sweet little munchkin.'

Name-calling aside, even bigger kids like mini muffins; it just takes fewer bites to inhale a mini muffin than it used to.

I am a big fan of mini muffins; they are easy to eat when in a hurry, less messy than a large muffin and a nice way to tuck in some fruits, nuts, bran, oat, etc., into lunch. Sometimes I use muffins as a replacement for sandwiches---just to keep the whole brown bag experience interesting. After all, the goal here is to keep the brown bag blues at bay.

These mini muffins were from a mix, so use your favorite recipe or mix and pull out the mini muffin tin to bake off a lunch time treat.

because basil is better.

My very wise son appreciates basil. On sandwiches, he asks for basil instead of lettuce. Hey, let's be frank: I am just tickled he wants greens with his sandwich.

A good friend of mine, a few years ago, was piling basil on a sandwich. My eyes grew large, and of course I was riveted and even mildly giddy at the sight. Happily the bystander, I now had a new way to experience sandwiches: a flavor that had been sorely missing from my sandwiches, a flavor profile that makes so much sense, and is so delightfully consumed, I cannot imagine how I came to be so far along in my life without basil on my sandwiches (big apologies for the run-on, but it was in all one breath).

So my son now gets to enjoy it at a younger age: basil on his sandwiches. His sandwiches may very well consist of turkey, maybe a bit of mayo and olive oil, a slice of white cheese---white cheddar perhaps---and a pile of stately basil. In this particular picture, the sandwich has the special presence of being compiled on an Italian roll. The roll smelled so good, it is surprising I had time to build the sandwich before it was gobbled up.

Try this: instead of other salad greens on your sandwich, use basil. You will have a sense of... being good to yourself. No boredom here, just a measure of self-care.

subway my way

Sometimes we need food fast. When we are on the road, and/or in a rush we can usually locate a Subway. We occasionally stop to eat a sandwich and over the years, my boys' preferences have solidified: one always orders salami and shredded cheese, warmed with olive oil, salt and mustard. The other jumps in with the turkey/ham/bacon melt which means a warmed up meat sandwich with provolone, olives, olive oil, balsamic, salt and pepper.

The other day I found a bag of mini-baguettes and decided to load up their lunches with their favorite subway sandwich made via yours truly. Does your child have a favorite sandwich? Consider buying a special roll or deli-bread, or use part of a baguette sliced lengthwise to create a fun twist on an old favorite. So when they open their brown bag lunch, they aren't met with the usual. In fact, far from being bored they are delighted to find such a treat made by you!

The ubiquitous PB&J

My son went to visit a new school, to help him decide 'where to go to school next year.'

He knew some of the kids at the school, and met others that he really enjoyed. Not too long after his visit, I was having coffee with my new, favorite friend who also happens to be a mom of one of the boys in this particular 5th grade class.

I had to share with her. I mean, how often do you get the fun, social scoop on your own child? I had asked my son what he thought of her son. We were having lunch and he peered at me over his fork and said, "yes, I remember him, he is very sanguine." And, perhaps noting the demise of my education on such highly appointed verbiage he paused to share the definition: "happily confident."

I smiled, to pretend I understood and mask my amusement at his use of vocabulary. As if it were normal. As if his mom even knows how to pronounce, let alone define the aforementioned word. Sanguine. It does roll of your tongue, though, doesn't it?

So I shared with my friend that she had a very sanguine son. And then, adult to adult, I shared the definition. We had a good chuckle and drank our coffee, like grown-ups should.

You would think 'nice' or 'friendly' or even 'outgoing' would have come to mind. Sort of like when you make a PB&J you would describe it as simple, basic, or standard.

But that is not always the case. In fact, PB&Js can be so much more. It is the quintessential sandwich to initiate good ideas; the ubiquitous combination that is the foundation for unveiled ingenuity... (Touché---mom knows big words too!)

I emailed some friends to ask how they reinvented the PB&J; here are some of the responses to my PB&J query, to bring these slices of bread and condiments beyond 'classic,' 'nice' or 'usual.' Here are personality-filled sandwiches that might even be considered sanguine:

• Erika from Tummy Treasure had this to say: "My favorite is a peanut butter and banana sandwich with a sprinkle of toasted coconut. When blueberries are in season I also like fresh blueberries and almond butter on whole wheat bread."

• Stefania from Family Food had this amazing rendition: THAI-STYLE PEANUT BUTTER SANDWICH. Serve on a toasted, halved whole wheat bagel (or wheat toast) spread a layer of creamy peanut butter. Then top that with chopped salted peanuts. (You could use chunky peanut butter but this method is waaay better.) Then, top the peanut-y peanut butter bagel with: thin slices of red onion, thin slices of cucumber, Thai or regular basil leaf.

• Michele from What's Cooking? has reinvented PBJs twice over: her daughter loves hers open faced on Naan with lemon curd, her son isn't allowed to have peanut butter at his preschool, so she uses sunflower seed butter and jam. He can't tell the difference---and the kids at school are safe!

• Julie from Bad Home Cooking offered this: "my son loves his PB&J's...but he also likes peanut butter and honey sandwiches (me too: especially with creamed honey and crunchy peanut butter!). A Japanese version of the ubiquitous (hey---that is where I got that word from---thanks Julie!) American PB&J that my kids love is Onigiri.
  

• Alisa at Go Dairy Free offered her toasty "PBJ": I love almond butter on toast with just cinnamon or a bit of honey and cinnamon. I like it in toast format, but a sandwich works as well. Also, very un-nut-like, I am addicted to Toby's Tofu Pate with tomato slices and lettuce. Still a non-meat spread though, only partially with the theme.
  

• Karen's son prefers FlufferNutters made with REAL marshmallow fluff; she likes to sneak in the occasional crunchy peanut butter & piece of milk chocolate---a PB&smores! You can find more of her ideas at Family Style Food.

• Janelle from Talk of Tomatoes (Okay, that is kind of a joke, since that Janelle is ME---I write on talkoftomatoes as well as brownbagblues---follow THIS link to my article on the Wellfed Network where I uncover the unusual way my kids like their PB&Js!) talks PB&Js, too.
  

So instead of landing a basic, borderline boring PB&J in your brown bag, aim for better, brazen and brilliantly revised PB&J's! Please share your brown bag brilliance so we can all bag some novelty sandwiches! And to continue to curb your appetite for PB&Js:

• PB&J according to Wikepedia
• PB&J ideas by the bagful
  
• Consider an Elvis Sandwich, Nutella or Ed Levine's article on building a perfect PB&J