Spend time conversing, not cooking. With the help of your local supermarket, you don’t have to spend your holidays slaving over the stove to create the perfect dish. Instead, try products like Salads of the Sea seafood dips, available in more than 20 popular flavor varieties. Just serve dips with your favorite crackers for a convenient snack the whole family – or whole party – can enjoy.

Impress with less. When hosting the festivities, skip the square meal and opt for a classic array of appetizers instead, served buffet-style. Appetizer recipes can be easier to master than entrees, and the relaxed atmosphere is more enjoyable for hosts and guests alike.

Keep it Simple. Rather than attempting gourmet items, hosts should stick to the basics. Simple dishes like these sandwiches can be made using store-bought ingredients, allowing more time for enjoying the festivities. Salads of the Sea offers the following recipes, perfect for holiday entertaining.

Image: Salads of the Sea

Cajun Krab-wich

Ingredients:

• 4 submarine sandwich rolls
• 1 lb. pre-cooked crab meat
• Salads of the Sea Cajun Krab Dip
• Chopped lettuce or red cabbage, depending on preference

Directions: Split each sandwich roll in half and spread a generous layer of krab dip across the bottom half of the roll. Cover the bottom half of each roll with chopped lettuce and/or cabbage. Pile equal portions of crab meat on top of lettuce and finish sandwiches by replacing each roll top. Serves 4.

Image: Salads of the Sea

Savory Salmon and Caper Pita

Ingredients:

• 4 pitas, split into halves
• 1 lb. chopped grilled salmon
• Salads of the Sea Cajun Smoked Salmon Spread
• 1/4 cup capers
• Sliced red onion
• Sun dried tomatoes

Directions: Open the pita halves and generously cover the inside of each with smoked salmon spread. Stuff with cooked salmon until pita is about half full. Add red onions and capers until each pita is almost completely full. Garnish with sun dried tomatoes to taste. Serves 4.

Post from: Blisstree

Cajun Krab-wich

Bailey and I ordered half sandwiches and we split a Ginger cookie. I loved everything about the place. It was easy to park close, they were fast and friendly, and best of all, the food was fantastic. I can’t wait to take my friends over there to check it out.

Here’s what Bay had to say about her sandwich, “It was a ham sandwich, with a white cheese (I think it was Gruyere), honey mustard, capers, and a olive oil, garlicky-tasting bread.” 

I had a half of a Tuna Nicoise on a crusty bread. The texture of the bread was wonderful – airy with a chewy crust. The sandwich had thinly sliced pieces of boiled red potato on it, which is something that I’ve never tried before.  I definitely will copy that idea for my own tuna. The sandwiches are served with a container of pickles that tasted like they were in a rice vinegar mixture. Very good. Bay doesn’t like pickles, so I got to eat hers, too.

I’m going to work on a recipe that I hope will duplicate that Ginger cookie.  It had a nice spice to it and was somehow both soft and crisp at the same time. To go with her meal, Bay ordered an iced Chocolate Mocha with added caramel. I could tell that she loved it – this is her favorite sort of coffee – because she made a bliss-face with her first sip.

I don’t explore as much of the downtown areas of Chico as I’d like. It’s so easy to get caught up in the familiar and not branch out.  Take advantage of the local bakeries, cafes, coffee and tea houses in your area. There is life beyond Starbucks. 

If you are in or around Chico, California, then stop in at the Tin Roof Bakery and Cafe. It’s located at 627 Broadway St.

Image credit: Sxc.hu

Post from: Blisstree

Tin Roof Bakery and Cafe

We usually end up alternating between peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and bologna and cheese sandwiches. Though the kids like them and I know they’re better for them the pre-packaged processed stuff the schools serve now (when did that start?), I do like to shake things up now and then and throw in something they’re not expecting.

One of my favorite ways to surprise them is to add a layer of Nutella chocolate hazelnut spread to one side of a sandwich before slathering on the peanut butter and jelly. They don’t even know it’s there until they take a bite, and I always get grateful hugs when they get home from school!

It’s also fun to switch what I make the sandwich on. Bagel sandwiches are always a hit (especially with cream cheese in place of mayo), and even hamburger buns are a fun substitution for basic sandwiches. Tortilla wraps are also easy to use in place of bread.

I haven’t buckled just yet and gotten a sandwich cutter, though. There are cute ones available, but I figure I’ll only get another year or so out of them before all my girls decide they’re too old for it, so for now I use cute cookie cutters. They’re already on hand and I know they’re sturdy enough for cookie dough when making cute sandwiches loses its novelty! I do like the ones that waste as little of the sandwich as possible. For those that do cut off more sandwich than I’d like, I cut the bread with the cutters first and use the leftovers for breadcrumbs, and then just pile on or spread the sandwich fixings on the cut bread.

What small things do you do to kick up your kids’ lunches?

[image: sxc]

Post from: Blisstree

Spiffing Up the Lunchbox Sandwich

I made a basic tuna salad for lunch the other day but I added a couple of twists thanks to wasabi mayonnaise and capers.

Tuna Salad W/ Wasabi Mayonnaise & Capers Sandwich (Image @ Dexie Wharton)

INGREDIENTS:
3 cans of tuna, drained
2 spoonfuls of mayonnaise
1 tsp of Wasabi mayonnaise
a handful of capers
salt and pepper to taste
bread
slices of cheese

Just combine everything together in bowl. Refrigerate for 30 mionutes before serving. I like my tuna filling cold.

Spread tuna filling on on piece of bread, top with a slice of cheddar cheese, then the other piece of bread. Cut in the middle, diagonally.

Tuna Salad W/ Wasabi Mayonnaise & Capers Sandwich (Image @ Dexie Wharton)

And there you go. Tuna Sandwich with wasabi and capers. The best thing about this was my son was none the wiser. I didn’t tell him there was wasabi or capers in them. Just a simple trick to get him to explore his taste buds without knowing it.

Wasabi Mayonnaise can be found at any Asian stores.

Post from: Blisstree

Tuna Salad W/ Wasabi Mayonnaise & Capers

Not a girlie-girl's lunchbox!

I’m fine with that, except I have not clue what kind of lunchboxes kids carry these days. Yes, I want my son’s lunchbox to be the same design as all the other kids. The reason? My mother apparently waited until the last minute to shop for my lunch box so I ended up with a Six Million Dollar Man one. I was mortified. Back in those days lunchboxes were metal and clunky. I was fine with that, but Six Million Dollar Man? That’s a boy’s lunchbox. I ended up “accidentally” smashing it one day and after that my mother resorted to paper sacks.

This week I browsed Walmart and Target’s selections and even went online, but I’m just not sure what the most common styles are among elementary school students these days. And I can’t make plans to have lunch with my son to spy for myself – at least not until September. (They make us parents wait until then.) So, please help me with that.

Also, our school is a peanut-free zone. What exactly is a Mom supposed to make her son? I’m used to making peanut butter and jelly or peanut butter and honey sandwiches, but those choices are obviously out. I could do deli meat, but won’t the meat go bad before lunchtime? Or do I need to put one of those frozen ice packs in his lunch everyday? That would take up a lot of space. Is there a cool lunchbox that remedies that? Or are there other peanut-free lunch selections out there? Sigh…Am I really this clueless of a Mom? (Don’t answer that.)

Seriously, any help you can give on this matter would be appreciated. E-mail me or comment below, and I would be most appreciative.

Photo, RetroLand

Post from: Blisstree

Please Help With My Kid’s Lunch Dilemma

Southwest Chicken Salad Panini

INGREDIENTS :
2 cups finely chopped cooked chicken breasts
1-1/2 tsp. chili powder
2 Tbsp. MIRACLE WHIP Light Dressing
2 Tbsp. KRAFT Light Ranch Dressing
8 slices Italian bread
1 large tomato, cut into 8 thin slices
4 KRAFT 2% Milk Singles

Heat panini grill to medium-high heat. Mix chicken, chili powder and dressings.

Fill bread slices with chicken mixture, tomatoes and 2% Milk Singles.

Grill 3 to 5 min. or until Singles are melted and sandwiches are golden brown on both sides.

Sounds delish, doesn’t it. It’s perfect for an easy, refreshing lunch on the weekends.

(Image/Source : Kraft Foods)

Post from: Blisstree

Southwest Chicken Salad Panini

Beef Avocado Cheese Sandwich (© Dexie Wharton)

INGREDIENTS:
beef strips
half medium onions, chopped
juice of 1 lime
garlic powder
salt and pepper for seasoning
oil for sautéing
buns
avocado slices
slices of cheese

Heat up oil. Sauté the onions until transparent. Add the beef strips and let them cook. Add the lime juice, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Stir everything together.

Scoop some of the beef mixture on top of a bun. Layer the avocado slices on top, then the slice of cheese. Lastly, the top bun.

TIP : Put the sandwich in the microwave for a few seconds to slightly melt the cheese.

Post from: Blisstree

Beef Avocado Cheese Sandwich

I wonder if some of it has to do with who she eats lunch with at school and maybe they have their sandwiches cut into quarters. Who knows?

So here is a question for ya. How do you prepare your sandwiches? Do you cut them in half, quarters, thirds, or not at all?

Post from: Blisstree

Do You Cut Your Sandwiches Into Quarters?