I am the proud owner of two very fussy eaters. The Big One, despite being skinny as a rake, will eat most things I put in front of him with gusto! However, the Shouty One and the Chubby Cheeks One are both notoriously fickle. I posted a breaded rissoles recipe recently, and in that described the battles we have trying to get them to eat anything not covered in breadcrumbs. Thankfully, sandwiches are a bit of a winner, but I'm getting tired of the plain jam, ham, cheese routine (they won't even entertain the idea of a bit of mayo or salad to brighten these up!). So I thought I'd have a go at ringing the changes in line with a current obsession of theirs... Cars the Movie(s)... and make a Lightning McQueen sandwich!
I'd been inspired by the Funky Lunch book... an amazing book with fantastic ideas to make your everyday lunches a bit... well, funkier! The one that caught my eye was for the Mater Sandwich shown below! Awesome, eh?! However, the terrible twin-some are obsessed with Lightning McQueen himself, so I set out to recreate the Piston Cup winner in bread and ham glory!
You will need:
- Sliced bread
- Red food coloring
- Milk
- Butter
- Sandwich filling of your choice
- Blueberries, black olives, raisins, prunes or a 'black' food alternative.
- Sliced chicken deli meat, turkey, white cheese, egg, apple slices or 'white' food alternative.
- Yellow cheese, yellow bell pepper or 'yellow' food alternative.
You will then need to lightly toast the bread to dry out and set the food colouring. You can do that in the oven or in a bread toaster. Once done, create a sandwich with another slice of bread and fill with whatever filling your child loves best. It sounds obvious, but make sure the colored side of the bread is facing outwards. I made ham sandwiches for my two! Then cut a Lightning McQueen car shape out of the sandwich. I created a paper template first and this made it much easier.
Then, it's just a case of decorating the top of the sandwich with appropriately colored/shaped foodstuffs!
- For the whites of the eyes and mouth, I used thinly sliced chicken deli meat.
- For the black parts of the eyes and the wheel hubcaps I used blueberries.
- For the wheels I used bits of the bread crust I had removed, although I would have liked to have used prunes (but the cupboard was bare!).
- For Lightning's bolt, I used a slice of yellow cheddar cheese.
You may need to stick the decorations to the top of the sandwich, and a tiny smear of butter will do the trick!
As you can see the Shouty One was pretty excited at the getting to watch, play, sleep and now eat Lightning McQueen!
As an aside... the Big One was pretty adamant that he was "too grown-up" for a Lightning McQueen sandwich, but as I had already painted his bread red, we had a quick brainstorm for an alternative. I was all for another foray into Angry Birds territory after my recent success with Angry Birds Pumpkins, but he decided to go with a local wildlife treasure... the Red Cardinal!
