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Hello and welcome to Knauthentic. We’re going to be talking about sandwiches today.
I feels so weird listening to myself do like my intros, but I am going to be talking about a type of sandwich today. So, for me sandwiches is one of those things that, as a kid, I started learning how to cook, like at an early age, and I used to make these really kind of elaborate sandwiches, like most kids, you know, that was that was an easy to go and easy food for most kids to learn how to make. And, so, like, you would, you know, whatever bread you had in your house, whether it was white bread or wheat bread or, usually it was it was pre-sliced bread. It’s like when you become an adult, you start buying the artisanal breads that you have to come home and slice yourself. But as a kid, when you’re starting to have, like your first taste of, like, independence and things like that there’s, you know, pre-sliced bread in the house and you take out two pieces of it and then you go into your fridge or your pantry or whatever, and find those kind of ready-made items that you can throw together.
I know a lot of kids, before it seemed like everyone was allergic to peanuts, PB and J was the way to go, and I still enjoy a PB and J sandwich as an adult, though I prefer to use the,l ike the natural peanut butter with the peanut butter pieces in it. I prefer crunchy peanut butter. I do eat creamy peanut butter for certain things, but I’m veering a little bit, but my point was, is, though, if you if you weren’t eating a PB and J, then you were going into your fridge and you were getting like a ham and cheese or, God forbid, a Bologna and cheese. I mean, we’ve all been there, you know. But these were very simple things that, you know, filled little kids bellies, and they were things that they could make themselves, you know, after school when they were hanging out with their friends or if they were doing homework and mom and dad were busy maybe preparing an actual meal for like, dinner later or something, you just needed something to kind of tired yourself over. So, sandwiches were that.
And the crazy thing is, is I didn’t realize this as a kid that, you know, sandwiches are not part of everyone’s culture, a lot of, kids who don’t grow up eating the standard American diet when they get older and they see people, you know, buying, like these huge sub sandwiches, like they are just like, I don’t understand what that’s about. Like, why is everyone So, obsessed with putting other foods in between slices of bread, you know, so I get it, like in that context, like if you don’t grow up eating sandwiches, but for me, the reason why I wanted to talk about sandwiches today is because of all of my the changes that I’ve gone through, I do look at sandwiches differently. There was once a time where I could go, a week and have, you know, a sandwich every single day. That’s not my reality anymore. At least not in the way that I used to eat sandwiches.
So, I’m going to break down kind of what kind of, like, sandwiches I’d eat now. And, I’m going to walk through another one of my quick meals. So, the video for it, uh, may or may not be up, but I’m going to just kind of walk you through what’s in that. So, if you want to see that, it’ll, you know, be on the socials. But, so for now, I just want to talk about when I eat sandwiches as a kid versus me as an adult. Now with what I know and my restrictions what eating a sandwich is like now. So, let me take a little sip of my tea. My throat’s trying to get a little scratchy. Not good for the audio.
Alright, So, when I was a kid, I was definitely one of those kids who, would go into the pantry. Usually, the PB and J was my go-to. I, like I said, to this day I still love PB and J, but if I knew that I was going to maybe go on like a field trip or, you know, be eating at the table with like some other kids, there was a point in time where, I didn’t always want to have my PB and J around other people because it was kind of sticky and not I mean, I didn’t have a problem, like with people knowing that I ate like peanut butter jelly. I just didn’t necessarily want to eat PB and J around other people. And so, that’s when I started making myself, you know, simple little ham and cheeses and, I don’t remember eating a lot of turkey. I don’t I don’t think turkey sandwiches were a big thing when I was a kid growing up in Texas. It was either a ham and cheese sandwich or a Bologna and cheese sandwich. And I used to eat Bologna because that’s what was available.
But I do remember at some point kind of taking over my sandwich making or packing, like my lunch. And so, I was had more control over what was going in my lunch. And I started putting more of the ham instead of the Bologna in it.as I, you know, my palate was already starting to change, and I just didn’t like it. But I know there’s lots of people who do like it, So, I’m not knocking it in any way. It was just one of those things. Kind of like the Oscar Mayer hot dog to me, the original just kind of base like Oscar Mayer. Hot dog to me just tastes like thick Bologna. And that could be just my memory. Like, maybe that’s not actually what it tastes like now, but that’s how I remember. Which is why I’ve never been a huge fan, but I know that other people are, and I’m not telling people to not eat that.
So, anyway, I remember my dad used to make our sandwiches, and I don’t know if it’s a male thing. Like, I’m not trying to get into the battle of the sexes here, but I feel like more often than not, men seem to tend to take things kind of like to the extreme. With that said, I think my husband is the exception, and I’ll explain why in a moment. But I remember, like my dad making sandwiches for us when we were kids, and he would put like lots of mayonnaise on them and he would stack, you know, several, you know, slices of, you know, whatever the meat was, like I said, probably ham and then, you know, putting the cheese on it. And he would cut it in half. And, sometimes he would toast the bread, sometimes he wouldn’t. It would just depend. But it was just like it had this, like, amazing presentation and it was just a sandwich. And so, when I started trying to make my own sandwiches, I would try to like, mimic what he did with the presentation. I would cut my sandwiches at a diagonal, though I was never one of those kids who wanted my crust to be cut off. I don’t know why.
But even as a child, I just felt like that was So, wasteful. And I’m not harping on you if you don’t eat your crust, but it is wasteful. So, these are just facts. But as a kid, if you cut the crust off my bread, I’d be like, why are you trying to rob me of food? Like, I want all of it.so but I did. I realized that when I was trying to, like, mimic what my dad was doing, but personalizing it to myself, I started putting less and less like mayonnaise on things, because I begin to realize that I never really liked mayonnaise. I just ate it because it was given to me. And once I started having control over what was going in there, I stopped putting mayonnaise on sandwiches. And I don’t even plant-based, like, man, like, I don’t really eat mayonnaise. That’s not really a thing that I do. Which means I don’t eat, like, tuna salad and egg salad and all those kinds of things, like, in their traditional form. I have versions of them that. But I’ve just never been a mayonnaise eater.
Once I started having control over what I was eating. And so, I would, I went through a phase of trying to experiment because I was like, If I’m not going to put mayonnaise on it, what am I going to put on it? And I remember putting like trying to put like mustard on it, realized, nope, I don’t like mustard on any, on anything. Like that’s a real like issue for me is mustard. And I know So, many people like it. And the crazy thing is, is I cook with it all the time. I cook with it because I know that it enhances certain things. But just mustard on its own. Not for me. So, I tried putting mustard on sandwiches.
I tried putting ketchup on sandwiches. I mean, come on, uh, child raised in America on the standard American diet. Of course, I tried putting ketchup on everything. It was not a success. Ketchup doesn’t belong on everything. And now, as an adult, I can’t even eat traditional ketchup because tomato is the base of it and I can’t eat tomato. And so, I did. Sometimes I would have a sandwich that didn’t have anything else on it. Every now and then, if we had something like maybe some plain yogurt in the house, I might spread a little bit of that on it and then start thinking about all of those salad dressings that we had in our home for those salads that we were supposed to be eating, that I don’t seem to have a memory of us ever really eating. So, I started putting salad dressing on my sandwiches in, in place of, like, the mayo or whatever. And, I did that for a long time. But again, now as an adult, a lot of the store-bought salad dressings, I can’t eat those anymore.
I have to make them myself. So. But that’s still like, if I’m going to make myself a sandwich as an adult, that’s probably going to make some kind of sauce that like mimics, like a salad dressing to put on it. It’s not going to be anything mayo based. And so, but, you know, very kind of simple ideas.as I got older again, I switched from eating, you know, ham to having turkey. Even deli sliced chicken sometimes. I did play around with, like, roast beef, but also as I got older, I ate less and less beef. I just didn’t like the flavor of it. It wasn’t like, a cultural, religious or a health thing. It was just I didn’t really like the flavor of it. And I think, before that, it was another one of those things. I ate it because that’s what was given to me. And so, I ate it. But once I started having control over what I could eat, I ate less and less of it till it got to the point where I had gone like years without eating it. And when you go for a long time without eating something and then you consume it, your body doesn’t always react positively to it, like I didn’t get sick or get in the hospital or anything like that, but it upset my tummy just a little bit just because my body wasn’t used to eating it. So. And that’s just a cautionary tale for anyone out. If you are going to be cutting something out of your diet, and then you try to eat it later, that there can be an adjustment period, and that’s fine. But that’s what it was like for me trying to incorporate beef products later on in my life because I had gone so, long without eating them.
So, with that said, nowadays I still don’t eat a whole lot of beef, but there are certain products that I might consume with beef, but it’s always going to be something lean and probably something that I have to make myself. There are some exceptions. And So, now when I make a sandwich, it’s very different from my childhood experience of making a sandwich. I’m also, you know, I’m older and I’m concerned about like, my heart and, you know, my digestion and my weight and all that kind of stuff. And So, one of the things that I kind of a tradition that I’ve created now is I make a lot of open-faced sandwiches. And, I don’t know, I like the idea of, like, So, we, we eat. In my mind, lots of people eat open faced sandwiches all the time without realizing. Because to me, a slice of pizza is an open-faced sandwich. Is that. I don’t know if that makes sense or not. And So, I just like the idea of kind of holding something in my hand and bringing it towards my mouth and biting into it, and it’s not like sandwiched. It’s just open. And I’m like, we do that all the time with pizza. Why can’t I just do that with sandwiches?
So, my process, with my thought process with doing that is it reduces my overall carb intake. Instead of eating two slices of bread, I’m eating one. If you’re not worried about your overall carb intake, then go ahead and throw on the other slice. I like the aesthetic of the open face sandwiches and the low-carb, side effect. Or I guess result is just kind of a bonus, a perk. I have been eating a lot of low-carb breads recently. The brand right now that I prefer is hero, and I’m not sponsored by them, but there are other brands that I will eat from time to time, and I’m not doing that again because I’m trying to. I’m not on Atkins or Keto or anything like that. I’m just trying to manage my overall carb intake. I’m not about counting carbs or like just eliminating them. I’m looking for a balance. I whenever, whatever it is I’m eating, I’m looking to see is there a good amount of fiber in it? And the truth, the reality is, is if you are getting a good amount of fiber, you are also getting carbs. It’s very difficult to consume fiber without consuming carbs, and so, I just want there to be a good balance and if I can get some additional protein in there, that’s great. But I am not one of those protein obsessed people that are like trying to make sure they get one hundred and thirty grams of protein a day. I don’t need that much protein. Every person’s body is different. Everyone needs a different amount of protein. So, I’m not saying that word protein to like, set off alarm bells and, you know, be like, oh, you know, trying to increase our that I’m not I’m not doing that. I’m just looking for a balance.
So, my open faced sandwich tradition is to just kind of try some different things I’ve learned and have been inspired a lot about by other like, content creators, Nisha at Rainbow Plant Life. She is the person who inspired, like, this idea when I saw her making several, kind of, like, open faced sandwiches where she would put spreads and stuff on them and sprouts and, like, sauerkraut and stuff like that. And so, it just inspired me to kind of start playing around with different flavors. And so, that’s kind of like my tradition now is. I toast a piece of bread, something that usually has a high fiber content and high protein content. And then I put some kind of spread on it, usually something that I’ve had to make myself. I usually will put some type of protein on it. It could be an egg if I’m having eggs at that time, it could be a meat.it could be a tofu. Fava bean. Tofu right now is kind of my jam. Especially the smoked kind, but it could be, you know, whatever. So, I always have some kind of protein on it.
I typically like to add other textures as well. I might put like some walnuts or some pepitas on it, some pecans, some kind of like seeds or nuts. And I’ve been trying to consume a lot of sprouts, for all of their, you know, nutritional benefits. Broccoli sprouts are my go-to. But there are other kinds. Sometimes the broccoli sprouts are not available, So, I get the ones that are. And so, I’m always having like some kind of combination of these things. And so, I’ll be showing you guys or talking about some of the different sandwiches that I make, from time to time. But I have one of these open-faced sandwiches, I would say three to four days a week, not every single day, because I just, I just don’t eat bread like that every single day. And another thing that I like to point out about me having my open face sandwiches, I am trying to reduce my gluten intake. So, typically when I have one of my open face sandwiches that is my serving of gluten for the day. I don’t have celiac, and I’m not sensitive to gluten in the in the traditional sense that people who are I have digestive issues, So, anything that’s easier for me to digest is probably what I’m going to be leaning towards.
I have a little analogy here that some may be able to relate to. You know, if you have a dog with an upset stomach, most vets will tell you to give them boiled chicken and rice. Unless you had a dog like mine who was allergic to chicken, and then they tell you to boil some lean beef and rice. But the idea is that you’re putting something in your dog’s belly that’s easy for them to digest. And then once they start to, you know, feel better, you can slowly reintroduce, like, their regular food, whatever that might be. And that’s kind of my mentality when it comes to gluten. I can eat gluten, but, I try to eat things that I know are going to be easier for my stomach to digest. If you think about all of the opportunities that you have to eat gluten in a day, it doesn’t hurt to reduce it a little bit. And I do want to be clear right now and just say gluten is not bad for you. It is not evil unless you have a sensitivity to it. If you have celiac or if you have, you know, rheumatoid arthritis and gluten is a trigger for that. So, there are certain people who, you know, it is, you know, not a good idea for them. But if you’re not one of those people, you don’t need to cut, you know, gluten out of your diet. But don’t listen to me. Listen to your doctor. Talk to a professional, speak to a nutritionist or dietitian or something like that. I’m just explaining to you what my experience is for me. If I eat a lot of gluten, my digestive system slows down and that stuff stays in there a little bit longer than I would like for it to. So, limiting my gluten intake helps to keep things on a more regular schedule.
So, think about it. Let’s say you get up in the morning, and you have toast, eggs and coffee. So, your toast has gluten. Let’s say for lunch you have a healthy lunch, and you have yourself a wrap. Well, your tortilla has gluten in it. And then let’s say sometime later you decide to have a simple, healthy snack, maybe some cheese and crackers. Your crackers have gluten in them. And then for dinner you have spaghetti, which your pasta has gluten in it, and you have a breadstick or a roll on the side that’s more gluten. If you don’t have a problem with gluten, that’s perfectly fine. That day of gluten consumption is perfectly fine again. Talk to your doctors, your nutritionist, whatever. But I’m just saying in a very general term, that’s not an issue. But if you do have some issues like I do, reducing that could be beneficial not having gluten at every single meal, which is why I limit myself typically to one serving of gluten a day. I will go as far as two, but definitely not the five or six servings that I just kind of described in that scenario. Whew. That was a lot. So, that’s, typically why I like to do the open-faced sandwiches kind of first thing in my day, because I get my kind of gluten, serving out of the way and, yeah.
So, let me just explain about the open-faced sandwich that is appearing in my short that I either just put out or I’m about to. I can’t remember if I’ve scheduled it, but it is a piece of, hero branded bread. It is their seeded bread and again, not sponsored and I just toast it up. I do have to toast it on a pretty high setting, because I freeze it because I don’t eat it every day. Sometimes I would say, like I said, three or four times a week. Sometimes it’s like just two or three times. Bread doesn’t last that long. So, that’s why I have to freeze it, because it comes in a large quantity.so after I’ve toasted it, I believe in this one, I added some smoked fava bean tofu that I just very quickly added some liquid aminos liquid, some coconut aminos to. You could definitely add soy sauce or tamari. I am testing coconut aminos right now just because I know I have friends with sensitivities and I want to be able to make things for them, but I want to taste it myself. I am the kind of person that I’m not going to feed someone something that’s alternative, that I’m not willing to eat myself, even though a lot of people seem to think there’s nothing wrong. And I want to be clear that there’s nothing wrong with that, but it still, it will sometimes give your loved ones a sense of other to know that you’ve made something special for them that you yourself are not willing to eat. So, I’m always testing out different things that I might want to feed to someone else, because I don’t want to feed someone something that I’m not myself willing to eat. So, you can use soy sauce, tamari, or the coconut aminos. They all work very well, and I just give it a quick soak in that.
Stick it in my air fryer at four hundred degrees for I want to say I did six minutes, three minutes on each side just to, you know, cook it up a little bit. And then on the actual toast, all I did was put, sweet potato, mashed sweet potato on it. I will do that where I’ll just cook a bunch of sweet potatoes in bulk. I don’t add anything to them, literally. I just take whole sweet potatoes and stick them in the oven. I don’t put any oil, salt or anything on them. I just cook them, mash them, and I have them. I can stick them in the freezer, or I can stick them in the refrigerator if I’m going to be eating them sooner rather than later. And when I get ready to eat them, that’s when I can add something to them. If I want to salt, pepper, sugar, whatever. But this day I just spread the sweet potato on the toast.
And then I put the, heated up, you know, fava bean tofu on top of it. I sprinkled on some pepitas I was using, I think, pumpkin seeds a lot this week because I was out of my walnuts that I usually put on there. And so, after I put on my pumpkin seeds, I then put on my broccoli sprouts and I was ready to consume it. Now, normally I would top off this open-faced sandwich with a drizzle of balsamic glaze, but I had run out of it and I hadn’t made it yet, So, that’s why that wasn’t on there. So, again, I know that was a lot, but this is just me kind of talking about my experience and things. I would love to know.do you guys make elaborate sandwiches? Do you use two slices of bread, or do you like the open face aesthetic? What are some of your health concerns that kind of dictate what you eat or how you eat it? I would love to know and I think that is all that I have for today. So, guys, stay safe and be blessed.
Credits:
Knauthentic number four starring Toi Thomas.
Featuring no one else at this time.
Topics discussed: Quick meals, open-faced sandwich, working with what you’ve got.
Produced by Toi Thomas in association with the ToiBox of Words and Lit Carnivale.
Directed by Toinette “Toi” Thomas.
Thanks again to the Knauthentic community on Substack and YouTube. This is all for you.
Content below is for additional recipe execution.
One slice of crispy toast.
Cooked sweet potato spread across the toast.
Smoked, quick marinated, air-fried fava bean tofu placed on top of the sweet potato.
Sprinkled with salted pumpkin seeds and broccoli sprouts.
Optional- drizzle with balsamic fig glaze.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit toithomas.substack.com
