The Sandwich

This week we have 2 little visitors in our house.  They are both amazing eaters and so, I am having a blast making and trying things that I love to eat.  Hubby is a meat and potatoes kind of guy for dinner time.   But at lunch time, all bets are off.

I know many of you are Facebook Friends and so I am sure, like me, you see all the recipes that get posted.  Some look ridiculously complex, others look downright gross and still others look really yummy.

The second night of our 10 year old friends visit, I read her a recipe that I had seen on Facebook for an amazingly healthy sandwich for lunchtime.  (Like I said, lunch is mine to do as I wish...my little friend is a real foody so I was going to seize this opportunity to experiment...)
My young friends eyes got huge and she totally was on board for making this amazing sandwich. I truly did the happy dance.  This was so exciting.  So late that night after little sister was sound asleep, we trekked off to purchase our ingredients  We had made our list and we checked it twice.  Good old Walmart had all but one of the items on our list.  Being new to the area, I made a guess at the most likely place to find our final ingredient.  SUCCESS!!!  We were ready for lunchtime on Day 3.  And neither of us could wait!!!

Seeing as this is a Blog about Life and food is life giving and to our total delight, the sandwich was actually excellent on top of being healthy, I thought I would share what we made with you all. But first let me tell you that the conversation during our lunch was also amazing.  I watched a 10 year old formulate ideas of having a restaurant some day where she could serve healthy food to people.  This is how little things like lunch turn into big things for young minds to mull over and expand on, dream about and one day turn into multimillion dollar enterprises.  I mean really, who knows.... She was also super excited to pick a name for our sandwich.  Which we did.

The Bible tells us that we should teach our children the ways of the Lord.  But we should also teach our children the ways of Life.  It has been so much fun to introduce new foods, new ways, new ideas, new routines to these young ones.  I think they call it "expanding ones horizon".  I think I often forget that what is common or usual to me, may be totally new to someone else.   Jell-O for example...I grew up with Jell-O molds at every family party, barbecue and holiday.  But it can be a total unknown, even a little weird to someone else.

Anyway back to THE sandwich...Like I said, this Facebook idea was actually excellent and totally easy and extremely healthy to boot!  So here is what we did:  (I may have taken liberty on the ingredients - I was doing it from memory.)

Ingredients:
1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 medium size soft avocado, pitted
1 small lemon (but you only use half of it...my young friend made lemonade out of the other half - so smart!!)
alfalfa sprouts
1 small tomato
handful of spinach leaves
Whole wheat bread - we got Great Grains Bakery - 100% Whole Wheat and Honey

Process:
Add the garbanzo beans and the avocado meat (not the skin) to a food processor. Squeeze the juice from half of the lemon into the food processor.  Then process to a spreadable consistency.  We made sure all the lumps were gone and it was perfect for eating and spreading consistency.

The Natalie Naturally Healthy Sandwich 
        To be introduced at the "Naturally Healthy Sandwich Shop" which will be open for breakfast 
        and lunch only -- so she can be with her family at night.
Using a spatula, spread the bean/avocado/lemon mixture onto the first slice of wheat bread.
Add the spinach leaves as the next layer
Add a thin slice or two of tomato as the next layer
Add a handful of alfalfa sprouts on top of the tomato
Using a spatula, spread the bean/avocado/lemon mixture onto the second slice of wheat bread.
Add the second slice of wheat bread to form a sandwich.
Cut in half and thoroughly enjoy!!!

BONUS:  We discovered that the bean/avocado/lemon juice mixture is also an excellent dip for tortilla chips.  She decided she was going to serve Tostito's Tortilla Chips at her restaurant (that's what G-Mi had) because they were so yummy!!  But the people could also have salsa.  I am guessing that might be our next food experiment!!!

What an exciting lunchtime!!!  I truly hope you are able to enjoy your family mealtimes as much as I enjoyed this lunch!!!  Now, That's Life!!

She ate the whole thing!!!