British Sandwich Week - Two Italian Toasties

Who doesn't love a good sandwich? The mighty sandwich is such a versatile meal, it can be easily adapted to suit individual taste, there really is nothing that you cannot do with a sandwich.

One of our favourite ways to have a sandwich is by toasting it. When you toast a sandwich the flavours transform into something special. So when I was asked if I would like to try the Breville DuraCeramic Sandwich Press I jumped at the chance. Toasted sandwiches are a firm favourite with everyone here so I had a feeling that it would go down well!

To celebrate British Sandwich Week I was challenged to create an international, flavours from around the world, sandwich. I decided to use Italian flavours. We all love Italian dishes and flavours and even more so after our holiday to Italy last year.

Like all families, we have different tastes. I love vegetables, while the Hubby is a big meat eater. So to satisfy all of our tastes I have created two delicious Italian deli style toasted sandwiches, one filled with vegetables and the other filled with meat.

This is what I did...

The Ultimate Syn Free BLT

Who doesn't love a good sandwich? I certainly do but now that I am following the Slimming World eating plan I cannot always have bread. So to keep lunches exciting I have been thinking of ways to enjoy a sandwich type meal without needing to count the syns.

One of my favourite sandwiches has to be the classic BLT, bacon, lettuce and tomato. This recipe was created one hungry lunchtime when all I wanted was a BLT. I got thinking about how I could make it without using bread and, in my opinion, this is even better that the classic bread version.

My Ultimate Syn Free BLT is packed with speedy vegetables and protein so you know that with each bite you are getting nothing but goodness!

This is what I did...

#FloraLunchbox Challenge - Getting the Balance Right

All parents who have children of school age will know how hard it can be to give your children a good variety of packed lunches. But it is not only variety that is important. We also need to ensure that they contain a good balance of nutritional elements that are essential for good health.

Flora have recently conducted a survey regarding children's lunch boxes and their results have shown that this is a common dilemma that parents face. I was not surprised that they had found these results, however what I was surprised about that only 1.6% of children's lunchboxes are meeting school food nutritional standards! This percentage has only increased by 0.5% in the last 10 years! Only 1 in 5 lunchboxes contain any salad or vegetables! The report illustrates that the majority of lunchboxes do meet the standards of protein and vitamin C, which is great, but there is still work to be done.

To help parents Flora has sent out 631,000 lunchboxes and lunch meal planners to retailers throughout the country. The guides are intended to make packing a lunch easier. I was sent one of the lunchbox bundles and have found the guide to be an immense help. The guide sets out exactly what our children need to be having in their lunchboxes.

Delish Fish - Plus a Delish Smoked Salmon Sandwich Recipe

This is the first of what will become a new monthly feature on Hijacked By Twins. A Delish Fish recipe. You will see I have a new badge to the right! I am now part of the Delish Fish Blogger Programme!

I love fish so when Delish Fish asked me if I would like to be part of their blogger programme I jumped at the chance. When it comes to fish it has to be fresh and it has to be good quality. This is something that Delish Fish specialise in. Delish fish have an online shop as well as a shop in Aberdeen and another in Peterhead, Scotland. The business is situated in Peterhead and they have the fish market right on their doorstep, so you know that you are guaranteed to have the freshest fish! Each morning, bright and early at 6am, they go to the market to buy the fish for their customers. As soon as they have the fish it is time to fillet, smoke and package the fish. Delish Fish use a unique way of packaging the fish to ensure it stays as fresh as possible.

The recipe that I am sharing with you today uses their limited edition mustard hot smoked salmon. Delish fish supply a wide range of smoked salmon and fresh fillets. But they do not stop at salmon, Delish Fish also stock shellfish, exotic fish, a catch of the day, gourmet selection such as langoustines and scallops as well as ready prepared, battered fillets.

All of their fish portions come in handy individual packs which are perfect for freezing. When freezing fresh fish you are not compromising on quality. With fish as fresh as what Delish Fish supply you are locking in the goodness.

Today I am going to share with you a Delish sandwich that really is the perfect way to showcase their delicious limited edition mustard hot smoked salmon.

When it came to selecting ingredients for this sandwich I knew exactly which flavours would compliment each other to create a truly posh sandwich!

This is what I did...

Proper Pickle Extra Special Sandwich with English Provender

When I saw that Foodies100 were working with English Provender I was excited to see what delicious pickle they had created. I have got to admit that I do love a good pickle on my sandwiches. So when I decided to step up the the challenge of creating a Proper Pickle sandwich I knew that it would be fun.

Creating the perfect sandwich is more complicated than you think. It is easy to make a regular, everyday sandwich, but I wanted to go one step further. I wanted to create a sandwich that you can sit back, enjoy and truly appreciate every single mouthful. Now how many time have you been able to do that? I know, not many times!

Getting all of the core ingredients at the highest quality is fundamental when creating a perfect sandwich. That is why I decided to make my own bread. You simply cannot beat the taste of fresh bread. Once I had decided on the type of bread that I would bake I had my first ingredient ready. Next comes the filling. English Provender have created four deliciously different pickles. They have made two Traditional Proper Pickles, one that is chunky while the other is finely chopped, a Pickled Onion Proper Pickle and a Beetroot Proper Pickle. To say that I was excited to try the pickles was an under statement. They are all truly scrumptious and exactly what you come to expect from a pickle, and more. My favourite pickle had to be the Pickled Onion Proper Pickle. I love pickled onions and can sit and eat them from the jar. This pickle contains yellow mustard seed so gives a real kick of flavours with every bite!

Once I had my bread and the pickle my focus went onto flavours that would combine well and compliment the pickle. One of my favourite flavour combinations has to be salmon and cream cheese. I know that onions go well with salmon too so I decided to give smoked salmon slices, topped with cottage cheese and finished with a spoon of Pickled Onion Proper Pickle and, WOW, it works so well! I seriously had to stop myself from eating all of the salmon before I had prepared the sandwich in the pictures.

Let me tell you how to make this Proper Pickle Extra Special Sandwich!

Cheese Posties Review

If you love cheese toasties, you are going to love this new, postal, lunch concept!

As the name states the box contains all of the ingredients that you will need to make a cheese toastie. This is a weekly meal subscription and every week they will send you a different cheese toastie. But these cheese toasties are not you average run of the mill, slices of bread and cheese toasted! Imagine delicious dishes such as vegetable lasagna, Italian ravioli and even chocolate cheesecake transformed into a toastie!

That is exactly what Cheese Posties are!

Wow was my initial reaction too!

I love a good cheese toastie but Cheese Postie take toasties to another level. They have created 21 different cheese toasties that are all based around both savoury and sweet dishes. You can even order gluten free bread!

So when I was asked if I would like to try some of what Cheese Posties has to offer I really could not refuse.

This is how I got on...

A Healthier Bacon Butty for Fathers Day!

As it is Fathers Day on Sunday Roberts Bakery have challenge me to create a good old bacon butty as a treat for Dad.

You may have read in previous posts that we are eating healthier as a family, so a traditional fried bacon butty really is a no go! Therefore to make it a bit healthier I have used gammon as opposed to fried bacon and added some healthy extras!

This is what I did...

 

Fun Sandwiches For Children - Bread and Sandwich Week

As it is Bread and Sandwich week I thought that I would share some fun ways to to make sandwiches for the children.

Most children love sandwiches but come on, they can get boring sometimes. The best way to catch children's attention is not just with a tasty sandwich but to make it fun.

There are many ways which you can make sandwiches more fun for children. You can:

• Cut the bread with cookie cutters
• Using different coloured foods decorate the tops
• Using stencils spread over Nutella, Marmite or soft cheese to create a picture
• Use googly eye to bring the creations to life
• Let the children help to make their sandwiches! Sandwiches are a great, easy and safe way to introduce children to the kitchen and food preparation!