Egg sandwiches

Lately i have been really busy with school/work, so my cooking has taken a real hit. I also don't have a whole lot of money so simple, quick and cheap meals have been on the agenda - hence a whole lot of egg sandwiches. I like egg sandwiches so this isn't really a problem, and there are a variety of ways you can make them.



In this blt with scrambled eggs i got to use up the last three pieces of maple bacon from the cottage (to be featured in a future post) along with some great veggies (i love this time of year)

Assembly

Two blt with scrambled eggs on marble rye

I also think a good fried egg sandwich is always a treat - and so as i had eggs and bread, i thought a simple one might also do me a quick dinner. Since it was dinner i served this with a greek salad, but since i didn't have too many tomatoes i added some romaine lettuce. I really think that lettuce does not belong in greek salad, but this was pretty tasty and made it look like there was more on the plate.

Top:

Another fried egg sandwich, this one with cheddar and some left over salad

I love picnics

I really do like picnics - i even have these plates from the sixties (a whole set in the box) avocado in colour that i bust out when i get to go. So far this summer i've done two - nothing too fancy but they've been fun. The first was a trip to High Park for Shakespeare in the Park's production of Romeo and Juliet. I went pretty simple for this one - some sandwiches, pasta salad and cherries.

The second was a day trip to Elora Gorge - and i admit i went a little crazy for this one, but it was totally worth it.

All of the ingredients for the trip

(fruit, cheeses, crackers, prosciutto, veggies for grilling, candies)

As it was a day trip we at a few times, this was round 2 -

an afternoon snack of watermelon and salad

I also made hummus for this trip and served it with

pitas and grilled veggies.

Ingredients for my high park sandwiches.

My tacky plates (i now have matching napkins)

And red wine in a coffe cup.

Trying to eat in the heat

This heatwave has ben terrible for my appetite, and not that i would die if i lost a few pounds, i can't just drink beer and do need a bit to eat to get by. I was at the grocery store enjoying the air conditioning when i saw these cute little pitas - and i really like dark rye, so i thought that these might solve some of my eating issues. As a bonus, since i'm studying so much, i also thought i could make them ahead of time and take them with me when i study (in the park) and save a bit of dough!


The first one i thought i would make was a scramble sandwich with extra old cheddar, lettuce, tomato and green onions (along with a little may0). This was more of a breakfast thing - i don't think scrambled eggs would travel well, but hard boiled ones would.

Melting the cheese

YUM

The second one i made was a sort of greek salad sandwich. It was good too, but you have to make sure you get veggies right down to the bottom or your last bites are disappointing just bread!

Make Your Own BLT

Ever since i've started eating bacon i realized the genius that the BLT is - its pretty much the perfect sandwich. Of course everyone has their own preferences for a BLT - proportions, no mayo (weirdos), extra ingredients. While at the cottage i decided to make a little BLT station so everyone could make them just like they wanted.

My sister had picked up these President's Choice Cabatta buns which were pre-sliced and i thought very good for this type of sandwich.

For the toppings i had - tomatoes, lettuce, cheese (extra old cheddar), avocado and basil. Trust me on the basil for these kind of things - just put a whole leaf on it - good times.

Because we had different dining rules - we had two types of bacon - a maple double thick and chicken bacon. I didn't try the chicken bacon, it was very low fat and cooked... well actually it was already cooked, so it heated up very strangely.

Make your own!

Cottage Samis and Tuna Melts

I had a couple of extra pics from smaller meals i made over the last weekend. When you're hard at work a nice quick sami with some salad can be perfect. (with a beer of course) Here are a few of the snacks i made last time.

A selection of samis (poached samon, ham and swiss, tomato and arugula)

Quick store bought salads

Tuna melts with Old Dutch chips

Making the veggie samis

Treeplanting Lunch

It seemed very fitting that on the weekend of Earth Week i spent the time with my family planting over one hundred trees on my parents property in Mono. This was in part a re-forestation attempt as many of the trees are dying of some disease, but it was also a good thing to do for the earth. Planting trees is actually a lot of work, so a easy satisfying lunch was in order to keep our energies high.

I was part of the planting group, so i didn't have anything to do with the cheffing- that was left to my mother and sister - who presented quite a platter of sandwiches and salads along with some beer to motivate us to finish the job.

They made a variety of sandwiches:

Egg salad
Tuna salad
Ham & Swiss
Cajun Turkey & Havarti

The salads:

Fruit salad
A tex-mex rice and black bean salad



And of course some veggies.



Yum!

Country Sandwiches

I don't really eat all that many sandwiches, in part because i never really have good bread at home, and i'm definitely a bread snob. I mean i tend to keep those Ace Bakery baguettes frozen, and some semi-stale rye in the fridge, but a good sandwich deserves some good bread. When i arrived at my parents to look after the place, my mom pointed out that there were two fresh rosemary focatia buns in the fridge that needed to be used. Always one to take a food hint, i was totally preoccupied with what kind of sandwiches to make.

Since my parents have a bbq i had been planning on doing a really nice grilled vegetable sandwich with maybe a pesto goat cheese, but when i was feeding the cat his tuna (yes the cat gets tuna - he's old and its the only thing he'll eat) I decided that i too wanted tuna. I then thought that i would make a tuna wasabi sandwich - but was disappointed to find out that i did not have any wasabi! I had to make something a little more usual. I did my regular tuna salad, onions and carrots with a dijonaise - and added tomatoes, cucumbers and an avocado spread. Pretty sweet actually.

It was my second sandwich that i really made something amazing. Quite a few times i had seen these specialty brown tomatoes - specialty tomatoes can be really tasty, but sometimes they are disappointing. These ones were on sale at Zehrs so i thought i would try them. I did them with avocado spread, extra-old white cheddar, basil and some arugula lightly dressed in a vinaigrette. This was possibly the best sandwich i'd ever had!

Above:

Fancy tomatoes
Ingredients
Tuna sandwich
Tuna ingredients
Best sandwich!

Sometimes it only takes a Sandwich

In general i'm not the biggest bread lover, but that said a good sandwich can really be a enjoyable easy meal. One of the problems i have with sandwiches is that i eat so little bread that buying a loaf really doesn't make a lot of sense for me. I know a lot of people freeze their bread, but i can always tell if bread has been frozen, it just doesn't taste right. I usually buy the Future Bakery's half marble rye loaf as its a smaller amount, and for some reason it never seems to go stale or moldy.

The toasted tomato is a family classic - and in the summer a nice ripe tomato with just real mayo and pepper - DAMN! I will still make these in the winter occasionally - i usually let the tomato ripen in the front window - just like the avocados i feel like this is more natural somehow.

I also just sandwiches to use up leftovers. When i make frittata i usually heat up one of the leftover slices and throw it between a couple pieces of bread - good stuff! Fish sandwiches are also good, but i don't usually have much leftover when i make fish - though i guess you could adapt the talapia double meal for this.

When eric cooked the carponara for me, i made the caprese salad - there were a few slices left over, and i the next day they were the perfect fodder for a sandwich - and luckily i still had some leftover Ace Bakery baguette - a very base. The balsamic and oil had really permiated the tomato and buffalo motzerella. I also think basil is nice in a sandwich.



Above:

Fried egg - truck stop classic
Toasted Tomato - a classic
Caprese salad as a sandwich
Leftover fritata sandwich
Simple tomato, avocado and cheddar cheese