Toddler Lunchbox Series-Menu #2-Sandwich Fest or Canape Carnival! (Creamy Egg Diamonds, Spicy Chicken and Peppery Liver)

For today's post, I'm going to give you 3 different recipes for sandwich fillings, which you can use as a topping for canapes too. You could also use them for stuffing tortillas, dosas, rotis, etc. I am thankful to Vrinda chechi (in Chennai) for the egg and chicken recipes. We made the egg sandwich today and it was delicious. She says these are great to make in large quantities, freeze and store in small tubs, and just microwave and spread on the bread slices when it's time to use them. I guess it's better than buying the readymade bottled sandwich fillings-at least you know what's inside when you make them yourself! The third recipe is one I came up with myself, modified a little from a snippet I read in a magazine sometime ago. It's better to use brown bread (wheat) or multigrain bread whenever possible, even if you like the taste of white bread better :-). For my son, who is not yet 2, I found that presenting the food in attractive shapes and colors enhances the appeal, so when I make sandwiches, I cut out the shapes using cookie cutters. Hence the two ways of presentation in the photograph. With a little improvisation, these are things you could easily serve up as starters too!

So.....I've survived one week of packing lunchboxes for my son and myself.....with oodles and oodles of help from my mom! After all my organization and planning and plotting, trust me to fall back on my mother when the going gets tough....This last week, my son's lunches have been packed by her with delicious curd rice, lemon rice, vegetable pulao, etc., all of which I just didn't get time to photograph or blog about. Getting out of the house by 8:15 a.m. with the little munchkin in tow has taken a good deal of teamwork on the part of both my parents and hopefully the next few weeks should see me more settled and in control...keep the recipes, comments, and suggestions flowing in!

Creamy Egg Diamonds
(I took just 1 egg this time, but it was enough to spread on 6 medium-size bread slices)

1. 1 egg, hardboiled
2. 1 teaspoon butter
3. 1 teaspoon cream cheese (This was my addition to the recipe, as my son likes this. I used Kraft)
4. 3-4 flakes of garlic
5. 1 teaspoon chopped cilantro
6. Salt and pepper to taste

• Just whizz everything together in the blender until it becomes a creamy smooth consistency.
• Spread on bread slices and serve.
• You could also add a dollop of tomato ketchup for a different taste.
• If using the cookie cutter shapes, then put a dot of tomato ketchup in the middle of each one for an added appeal!

Spicy Chicken

1. 100 g boneless chicken (or 1 chicken breast)
2. 4-5 flakes garlic, chopped
3. 1 small onion, chopped fine
4. 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme (or oregano or any other dried herb)
5. Salt and pepper to taste
6. 1 teaspoon butter

• Put the first 5 ingredients in a saucepan with enough water to cover and cook till done.
• Cool and transfer to a blender jar, add the butter, and give it a good whizz until it becomes smooth and creamy.
• Spread on bread slices and serve.

(Adding a dash of Tabasco sauce would be great!)

Peppery Liver Filling

1. 50 g chicken liver, washed and drained of water
2. 1 small onion, chopped fine
3. 1 tablespoon green pepper (capsicum), chopped fine
4. 1 tablespoon spring onions, chopped fine
5. 1 tablespoon carrot, chopped fine
6. A pinch of turmeric
7. 1/4 teaspoon chilli powder
8. 1/4 teaspoon garam masala powder
9. Salt to taste
10. 1 tablespoon butter

• Grind the chicken liver in the spice jar of your blender, until it is pasty in consistency.
• Heat a saucepan and add the butter.
• Now add in all the other ingredients, one after the other, and stir around well.
• Sprinkle some water and let it cook for about 2 minutes.
• Now reduce the heat and add the liver paste, stirring around well. You will see that the paste soon coagulates into a scrambled egg consistency. Let it simmer until cooked, which will take hardly 5 to 10 minutes. You can add a dash of water if you want.
• Remove and spread on bread slices and serve.

Linking this to

Family Friendly Fridays

Keep It Simple Sundays #16