Sandwiches…

Okay, maybe a weird post, but when we were having lunch Saturday Randy and I were talking about how we don’t eat lunch meat.  You know the sliced packages of turkey, ham, and bologna.  This seems so crazy to some.  What on earth do we put on a sandwich (and we eat a lot of sandwiches) if we don’t use these?  And Why? 

Fried egg sandwiches are probably my biggest life saver.  We are getting over a dozen eggs a day from our Rhode Islands, so this is a perfect way to make a quick breakfast, lunch, or dinner for next to nothing.

Hotdogs!  I know what you’re thinking, “yuck,” and “that is so not healthy.”  Well, Randy LOVES hotdogs.  It’s the one food he would rather not give up.  So we compromised.  We eat Hebrew National (and we eat them in moderation) until I can find an even healthier hotdog that catches my eye.  They aren’t perfect.  What pre-packaged, man-made food is?  They are kosher, and I can get these at my local grocery store and I even found them in extra-large, quarter pound variety at Sam’s.  Hebrew Nation also carries deli meats, lunchmeats, polish sausages, and condiments, but I have yet to find these anywhere.  If I ever find polish sausages I will probably clean them out.

Chicken salad is another biggie at our house.  After I have roasted a chicken, every last bit of meat gets picked off the bone before I toss what remains into the crockpot to make broth. 

We do lots of burgers.  I know all the anti-red-meat-eaters will cringe.  Cringe away.  We buy only locally raised beef, sometimes grassfed, and never from a feed lot.  We eat them on homemade bread with home canned pickled green tomatoes.

Sloppy Joes are another quick meal at our house.  As I said before, our hamburger is local.  We would love to buy strictly grassfed, but for now we do what’s financially feasible.  Our ground beef is always mixed with ground venison, half and half.  These are served on homemade bread with home canned sweet green tomatoes.

Grilled cheese sandwiches are another favorite, especially with a bowl of homemade tomato soup.  We are finishing up the last of our sliced American cheese (American cheese isn’t even really a cheese) and switching over to block cheese until I can start making my own hard cheese.  I have found Tillamook cheese at my local grocery store.  It is expensive, but most healthy food does cost more.  So, we will use it sparingly and hopefully get motivated to buy/build a cheese press and begin making our own.  Again, not perfect, organic, or homemade, but it gets us by until something better comes along.

We also do open-faced shredded chicken sandwiches under the broiler in the toaster oven.  These are a great way to use up roasted chicken.

Lunch meat is a processed meat filled with chemical additives.  Sodium nitrite (warning…this is in the Hebrew National hotdogs) is one of these additives.  It is used to give processed meat it’s “fresh” color.  Lunch meat is listed as one of the worst foods and leading cause of certain cancers such as colon cancer.

That’s all I can think of for now.  There is life without lunch meat.  I know our hotdogs aren’t a pillar of health, but we do what we can and still allow ourselves a “treat” everyonce in awhile. 

Have a great day!