It’s back to school time! Are yours back in school yet? I remember starting school after Labor Day in New York. My three boys’ started the school year last Thursday. Where did the ease of summer go? Summer weather is still very much here in Los Angeles suburbia yet morning rush, forms to sign and lunch packing has officially begun. Specifically sandwiches. Huge, awesome, stacked sandwiches — not that you really need to go to school to make a hearty sandwich — which had me thinking about how far allergy friendly bread has come.
Thinking back for a minute, to when sandwich bread was a far cry from what it claimed to be, I remember the crumbling sandwiches that fell apart after two bites and stick to the roof of our mouths. Not very sandwich-making friendly but we didn’t have a choice. Gosh, it was hard. Especially for my children (ages 15, 7, 4, 4 at the time) to embrace this new allergen-free journey in late 2007 when our options were terrible. Really terrible. Bread was usually sold frozen and when defrosted became gummy. You couldn’t spontaneously open up a loaf of bread to eat. If you were a sandwich lover back then you were screwed. At least, that’s how we felt. Oh, how we missed a good lunch sandwich. And bagels for breakfast. And cinnamon raisin bread for any time. The selection was slim picking and desperate my friends. Making sandwiches for them now has me smiling knowing they are SO gonna love it!
Gone are the days of gummy, crumbly, chewy and BIG HOLEY bread. Ugh, anyone remembers pulling out slices of bread from the bag only to find big holes through the middle?! During morning rush getting kids’ to school on time?! During a big fat sandwich craving?! Ooh that made me so mad.
Seriously, good bread is a big deal!
Thankfully bread has come a long way. The taste and texture of Canyon Bakehouse bread (a dedicated gluten free facility by the way) are what bread should be, leaving out the GMO’s, corn syrup, bleach, and other crazy stuff other brands have no problem using. Because we’re worth it, right? Of course, we are.
What inspired me to create this back-to-school turkey and fig back-to-school sammie were the sweet figs I found at the farmers’ market so I worked flavors around that. Sliced turkey is a favorite here and figs happily go with turkey, and with broccoli sprouts, butter lettuce, and a shmear of manuka honey on their new Heritage Style Whole Grain bread it made for one heck of a delicious nutritional powerhouse of a sandwich (actually four, since I had one for lunch myself.) that my boys loved — I even got lots of kisses after school. #thebestfeeling
A little sandwich ingredient talk for the nutrition geeks out there like me :):
*Raw 16+ enzyme Manuka honey — bees that pollinate on the Manuka bush resulting in the highest level of anti microbial, viral, and bacterial medicinal properties. of all honey. Brand should be a UMF company. It’s the 16+ enzymes that make this honey superior in its properties. Although cheaper, anything lower than 10+ will not have medicinal qualities. I give a spoonful the minute there is a sore throat lurking – a little goes a long way.
*Broccoli sprouts — higher in Vitamin C and antioxidants than mature broccoli heads, 10-100 times in chemoprotective compounds and contain sulforaphane, which helps slow tumor growth and normalizes DNA methylation. Plus, helps detox environmental pollutants.
*Butter lettuce – okay not really nutritional in anything other than some fiber but it sure tastes buttery and most tender of all lettuces
*Organic gfcf turkey breast packaged or homemade – great source of lean protein without fillers or added nitrates, cancer causing toxin (when organic)
*Fresh black mission figs – full of fiber, high in iron, and a good source of B6, potassium, manganese and Vitamin K. Any mulberry fruit lovers? Figs come from the same family (Ficus carica).
We’ve always loved their smaller sliced bread but the new Heritage Bread has taken over in the sandwich category at our house. If you have never tasted their breads or baked goods you need to get some ASAP. Locate a store on their website and grab a coupon while you’re at it to see what all the fuss is about https://canyonglutenfree.com/. If you can’t find it at a store near you, ask them to carry it and likely they will. Also, don’t miss out on their Sammie Smackdown, happening right now on their site! Vote for your favorite sandwich by one of four bloggers and their favorite charity and you could win a YEAR SUPPLY of products – how cool is that?!
Disclaimer: The kind folks at Canyon Bakehouse sponsored this post. As always, all opinions are my own and I think all their breads and baked goods are absolutely awesome.
Don't miss a recipe! Subscribe here.
Comments