By Ruth Graham

When you are thinking of keeping party expenses down, a little shopping research is a good way to start.

For your carbohydrate you can buy potatoes, rice, sandwich bread/wraps, pasta. Make a list and write down the different kinds you find in your local supermarket. In my area , for potatoes, I would find russets, Yukon golds, Reds. Under rice, I can find arborio which is used to make risotto, jasmine, brown, white, wild. For sandwiches, aside from ordinary sliced bread, there is French or Italian bread, mini baguettes, tortillas, tacos and so on.

After you rate the carbohydrate per portion, the least expensive on the bottom, the most expensive on top, do the same with protein.

You have poultry, beef, pork, lamb, fish which are sold as fresh, prepackaged, deli counter, or chilled. For fish, there is fresh, canned, frozen, or chilled.

Now, we want to base our menus on the least expensive. In New England, where I live, I would find the least expensive to be ordinary sliced bread or a variety of potato, with home prepared chicken, or ground beef, or pork. Obviously, it all changes from week to week as supermarkets and grocery stores have sales.

One important point is to be careful about the spices you choose. Some are very expensive. They will be rarely used in your kitchen and will eventually be thrown out, having cost you $50.00 or more per pound. Some spices are more than $100.00 per pound.

For sandwiches, sliced bread with home prepared protein fillings would be the choice. But let's start with the filled potato. It's very simple and takes about an hour to prepare.

You can only ruin it if you don't pay attention and you burn the ingredients in the saucepan, so no talking on your cell phone or practicing your reggae.

If you cook the onion/meat mixture in the morning, you can cover and refrigerate. Then you can bake the potatoes and fill them with reheated meat mixture. The best way to reheat is to bring 1/4 cup broth, chicken or vegetable to a boil. Turn the heat down and add the meat, stirring. Do not boil. Stir until heated through. Add the potato and mix lightly. Fill the shells as directed below.

For eight people:

• Eight medium sized baking potatoes
• Two chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
• Two hot dogs, sliced thinly
• one pound of ground beef
• one red pepper, 1/2 of it diced, the other 1/2 cut into eight equal strips and then halved, cut on the diagonal
• Three onions, diced
• 1 teaspoon of soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon of garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon ground oregano
• 1/2 cup of red wine, or broth, vegetable or chicken
• 1/2 cup olive oil or canola oil
• 4 ounces of frozen peas, defrosted
• 2 sticks of butter, each cut into 8 pieces for a total of 16 pieces
• Salt and pepper

Saute the onion in the oil. Remove. Add the ground beef and cook until it loses its color. Remove and set aside. Cook the chicken quickly until the pieces are medium firm to the touch. Remove and set aside. Add the remaining ingredients and cook for 15 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add the onion, the peas, and the meats. Toss lightly and keep warm, covered tightly, adding broth if the mixture starts to dry out.

When the potatoes are done, about one hour, allow to cool so you can handle them. Cut each one in half carefully so as not to damage the shell. You now have 16 halves. Cut the potato in small chunks and mix lightly with the meat mixture. Spoon the mixture back into the potato shells and then arrange the potato halves on two large platters. Covered lightly with aluminum foil and keep warm in the oven for up to 15 minutes or they will dry out. When ready to serve, put a piece of butter on each filled potato and add a strip of red pepper. Optional: a blue cheese sauce you make yourself with to ounces of blue cheese crumbled into a cup of mayonnaise.

Pass a plate with sliced cucumbers, pickles, olives. Then all you need is something to drink.

Another idea for your Teen Party Menu Challenge is to have a Cafe party where the cooking is done as everyone watches. You have all the ingredients prepared ahead and then just put the sandwiches together. Maybe you can find a chef's hat for the cook. Have a buffet table or a counter set with glasses, soft drinks and juice so they can help themselves.

Hot sandwiches:

• Grilled ham and cheese sandwich
• Toasted turkey club sandwich
• Tuna melt

Or Cold sandwiches:

• On Fire Egg
• Salt Mountain Cheese
• Tennessee Smokies

Find recipes for the sandwiches on the Recipe page below.

More "Must Have" recipes for the sandwiches plus starters, entrees, cakes, and entertaining tips on http://americanmadeyes.com/recipes/sandwichesandwraps.html These are carefully chosen, tested and affordable. Photographs and presentation ideas are included, and our famous "Depression Sandwich" is there as well.

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By Renee Pottle

Rising food prices have sent many of us back to the kitchen to save money. And while there are many benefits of a home cooked meal, preparing dinner from scratch still takes valuable time from our busy schedules. But it can be easy to prepare simple entrees at home, saving you both time and money. So move beyond burgers and fries and fix one of these dishes tonight! All are easy to prepare and ready in about 30 minutes.

Soups: Soup is one of the easiest, most wholesome, well-received family meals. Unfortunately though, most canned soup offerings are high in salt and chemical preservatives and lack any distinguishable flavor. You can do better. Start with either low sodium broth or a combination of water and tomato juice. Don't worry about exact measurements - you can always add more water later if necessary. To the soup pot add; chopped or instant minced onion, cut up cooked meat or drained, canned beans, your favorite frozen vegetables, a handful of rice, barley or pasta, and dried herbs like basil, thyme, rosemary, bay and/or marjoram for flavor. Simmer until heated through and the rice or pasta is cooked, 20-30 minutes. Just before serving add a splash of balsamic or red wine vinegar and season with freshly ground black pepper. To make a soup extra special, top with dumplings, serve over a slice of toasted French bread or serve in a purchased bread bowl. Cost: Deli soup $2.59, Homemade $1 per serving.

Stir Fries: Stir-fries are a great way to use up odds and ends of leftovers. Heat olive or peanut oil in a skillet. Quickly cook small pieces of chicken, beef or shrimp and add cut up vegetables like carrots, zucchini, broccoli, bell pepper and green beans. Make a simple but flavorful sauce by mixing together broth or water and orange or pineapple juice. Add a dash of cayenne pepper, your favorite herbs and a little cornstarch. Stir the mixture until the sauce thickens, adding more water if necessary. Serve over rice or noodles. Cost: Lunch counter rice bowl: $5.49, Homemade $2.50.

Casseroles: Mom was right. Casseroles are easy to prepare and money saving too! Start with cooked rice, pasta or millet. Use brown rice instead of white rice or pasta shells or ziti in place of spaghetti noodles for variety. Stir in cooked, chopped meat and your favorite vegetables. Peas, carrots and corn are especially good choices in casseroles as they maintain their flavor even when baked at high temperatures. Mix everything together with a thickened broth or a can of low-fat, low-sodium cream of celery soup. Add herbs for flavor. Top the casserole with dried bread or cracker crumbs and grated cheese and bake until hot and bubbly. Serve with a tart relish, chutney or dill pickles on the side for a complete meal. Cost: Food court baked ziti $3.49, Homemade $1.

Sandwiches: Traditionally considered lunch food, sandwiches are now a dinnertime favorite too. Keep whole-wheat sandwich rolls or pita bread in the cupboard to make your own Hoagies, Grinders or Italian sandwiches. Start with a flavorful mustard (Walla Walla Sweet Onion by AJ's Edible Arts and Seadog Beer Mustard by Raye's Mustards are good choices) and stuff with deli meat and cheese, prepared hummus, chicken, tuna or egg salad. Add slices of bell pepper, tomato, spinach, avocado, olives and pickles and top with a splash of olive oil and red wine vinegar. For an even heartier sandwich, add marinated artichoke hearts, pineapple chunks or grilled eggplant slices. Cost: Sandwich shop grinder $6. Homemade: $2.

Stick with simple meals and dinner will be ready in no time. Better yet, you'll save money and have a healthier family too!

Renee Pottle is a Home Economist and the author of I Want My Dinner Now! - Simple Meals for Busy Cooks and The Happy Lunchbox - 4 Weeks of Recipes and Menus. She can be reached thorough her web site: http://www.winebarrelgourmet.com

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By Kathi Dameron

"Arrivederci Roma. Goodbye, goodbye to Rome."

The lyrics sang across my heartstrings as I climbed aboard the train and settled in for the three-hour journey.

As the clanging and puffing high-speed Eurail train rolled out of the station, I reached into my travel bag and pulled out the rustic country bread sandwich – the panino I had purchased earlier that morning from an irresistible display of authentic edible hearth-baked masterpieces.

It was a great adventure to be traveling across Italy by backpack and rail with dad’s blessing and dad’s financial backing. Even though many years have come and gone since that passage of time when the world stretched wide open with its panorama of possibilities, my memories are as fresh as if they had just been baked.

At the time, my dad’s third wife suggested to me that I should journal my experiences.
“Write some travel articles, dear, that you can later put into a book,” my high-achieving stepmother with her freshly inked PhD advised. But instead I gave her prophetic suggestion “the boot” and simply stepped into each day of my Italian adventure with gusto and verve, allowing the experiences to become forever pressed into the pages of my memory bank.

Like any traveler enthralled with a new destination, I reveled in the delight of discovery.
I learned that new culinary discoveries are often as memorable as the magnificent art and architecture of the places visited.

On that day my panino lunch, enjoyed during the stunning and scenic train trip to the great renaissance city of Florence, left a lasting impression on my idea of a great tasting picnic sandwich.

True Italian panini’s are expressions of simplicity, anchored in absolute freshness with perhaps occasional bursts of pungent, aromatic, fruity or creamy richness.

Having once savored a true panino, it is difficult to say arrivederci to this great tasting edible masterpiece of pure simplicity.

More Ideas from Kathi

If the splendid days of springtime beckon you outdoors why not create your own Tutto Italiano or “all things Italian” spring picnic? Whether you are into styling your own backyard trattoria or are more in the mood for an adventurous jaunt to some hideaway off-the-beaten-track with a picnic basket in one hand and the hand of a companion in the other, you are bound for an adventure that will satisfy more than your taste buds. My picnic menu begins with panini sandwiches, to which you might add:

A pesto-laced and garlic-infused antipasto pasta salad of rich jeweled morsels of sun-drenched tomatoes, ripe olives, creamy imported cheeses, al dente pasta and artichoke hearts bathed in fruity olive oil.
A basket of luscious strawberries, red grapes and figs.
A rapturous homemade tiramisu torte with just the right high-octane notes of java for a sweet edible finale.
Perhaps a few select Italian-flavored musical CD’s, a good bottle of Italian vino and perhaps someone wonderful with whom to create a new memory.

(c) Kathi Dameron, Kathi Dameron and Associates


My recipe for how to create a classic panino picnic sandwich is posted at http://www.letsentertain.blogspot.com

Kathi Dameron is a food writer and former caterer. She writes a regular newspaper column called: Entertaining with Kathi.

If you would like to read the Entertaining with Kathi column in your local newspaper or favorite magazine, you can perform a wonderful random act of kindness by sharing my writing with interested parties!

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By Anna Fiori

If you are an Italian and you plan on hosting a great get together, you obviously already know what you must not leave out in regards to serving the guests and that is the fine Italian cheeses. This is something that basically goes hand in hand with socializing, and without cheese on the table you can bet there will be some confused and upset guests. Cheese is a very popular item when it comes to not only nibbling, but with larger scale meals as well. Whether it is pre-sliced, or it was left as a whole and you break it off yourself cheese is a big-ticket item that few partygoers forget.

No Cheese Equals No Lasagna

If you are going to make a great Italian dish such as lasagna and you forgot the cheese, then you can basically wipe that dish right off the menu for the night. The fact is that you cannot make this recipe without cheese, and this defiantly broadens the actual importance of the cheese as a whole. There are hundreds of various Italian cheeses that you can choose from when it comes to picking something out for a recipe like this, finding the right cheese however, is key and will be noticed by the diner that tries the lasagna. Lasagna is not the only great Italian dish that defiantly needs a form of cheese to complete it; in fact there are several dishes that depend on the use of cheese to make them a success.

The Cheese Is Everywhere

The great thing about Italian cheese is that it is virtually everywhere. You will not have a difficult time finding a cheese that you can use for a recipe or for a cheese and cracker plate for snacks. Cheese is something that the Italians have been making for thousands of years, and they have actually become authorities on what a wonderful cheese is meant to taste like. Italian cheese is appreciated from the standard snack tray, all the way up to some of the most delicate Italian recipes that are considered world class. Some of these fine recipes are only found in the most prestigious of restaurants today, and the chef will grade the quality of the cheese long before it reaches the recipe. Many of the fine cheeses that are used for the great recipes, are actually made in house at the restaurant for the specific use by the chef for the recipe.

A Simple Choice

Along with fine Italian recipes that use great cheese, you will also find those occasions where someone would just prefer to use a great Italian cheese on a great sandwich. The cheese in combination with some divine Italian lunch meat of fantastic hard crust bread, will definitely tickle your taste buds. You will fine many cheeses that will actually bring the most out a strong Italian lunch meat, and actually change the taste of it. This is what is so wonderful about the cheeses of this delightful tiny country of Italy.

Anna Fiori writes food related articles for the Italian Traditional Food website at http://www.italiantraditionalfood.com

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By Ana Maria Da Costa

Italian salami is not often named as a typical Italian product, even if it is really present in Italians daily diet.

This simple cold cut is commonly used in Italy in an antipasto or, more commonly, inside a sandwich that a young Italian student eat at school pause.

Generally salami is made with 1/3 beef, 1/3 pork and 1/3 fat. This proportion varies depending on the kind of salami. For example, the felino one is usually made with precious meat and less fat, being considered a gourmet one.

Outside Italy, cold cuts are not always fresh and often are considered as something conserved, not appropriate for a daily diet.

This false impression is due to the fact that often these cold cuts are not consumed often in these countries, associated with fat and conserved food.

They are indeed conserved, and one should not base the own diet on cold cuts. But it is not a drastic choice, as they have high nutritional values.

Italian salami has a protein percentage range that goes from 24 to 30%, and contains potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and B1, B2 and PP vitamins.

Besides salami, there are a wide variety of Italian cold cuts that can be easily found in any Italian market, for daily use. The cold cuts counter has always a queue of people buying salami, prosciutto, mortadella, between other varieties.

Many times the word-of-mouth fails. The famous Italian raw prosciutto
Between the Italian raw hams, one of the most famous one is called Prosciutto di Parma. This product has the European Quality Brand PDO (Protected Designation of Origin), so as 7 other Italian raw hams. But often people just say "Parma" thinking they are saying "Italian raw ham".

Prosciutto di Parma is a wonderful product, so is the Tuscan one, but they are different. The Parma one is sweeter, and the Tuscan one is salted (it is salted because originally used by the shepherd s with the Tuscan bread, that has quite no salt).

Italian raw ham is a gourmet product and is used in all diets, including the children ones, as it is a healthy choice, being rich in proteins an easy to digest.

The "poorest" cold cut is mortadella. It is considered poor because who could not afford buying raw ham, bought mortadella. But it is not poor in taste, rather it pleases all. A fresh and crispy piece of bread with a tiny slices of mortadella is one of the taste major delights.

Mortadella is made only of pork. During the '600 a cardinal settled a prohibition of including beef into the mortadella recipe, prohibiting also the production of this specialty outside the city of Bologna, as it was difficult to control these productions. These rules have changed, as it is produced in many other cities now, but a good mortadella must always contain only pork.

In an average Italian family, cold cuts are used for children sandwiches at school - it is surely a better choice comparing to extra sweet snacks, as antipasto and as an alternative dinner.

Specially when one is hungry, the vision of a table set with cold cuts as Italian salami, prosciutto and mortadella together with a couple of baskets containing fresh bread, some good Italian cheeses and a bottle of Italian red wine is surely an excellent choice.

Ana Maria da Costa. Economist, living in Italy since 1983 and proceeding the studies in Food and Wine culture. The website http://www.all-about-italian-food.com gives useful information about Italian food

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By Harwood E Woodpecker

Italian sausage and salami is amazing. Every bite of fresh Italian salami is a flavour sensation, it takes a cheese sandwich to a new dimension; if made with Italian cheese it really blows the roof off!

Added to a tomato sauce and left to cook for a couple of hours either Italian salami or Italian sausage can add a real twist to a meal and transform a tomato sauce into something much more varied and deep.

Italy is famous for its varieties of sausages and salamis many of which are famously produced in the Lombardy region of Italy.

Around Pavia, south of the River Po, are a number of villages where sausages are still smoked in the traditional way.This is the area where salame di Varzi is made. Only the finest pork is used to make this Italian sausage, and only wine, pepper, salt, and saltpeter are added. The sausage is matured for three to four months. This comparatively long maturation brings out the flavour. A whole salame di Varzi as sold is a medium sized, coarse-grained sausage weighing about 2 pounds (1 kilogram).

Salame di Milano is a very fine textured Italian salami made from pork, pork fat, beef, and spices is matured for about 3 months and weighs up to about 3 pounds (1.5 kilograms). It has an essential place in any antipasto misto starter of mixed Italian sausage, and is popular well beyond its place of origin. It is probably one of Italy's best-known food products along with Parma ham. The imitations available elsewhere do not necessarily do justice to the original. Salame di Milano is a king of Italian sausage.

Sausages called salsiccia luganega are usually of fresh meat, and cooked or heated in water before serving. The meat is a finely ground mixture of fat and lean pork, flavoured with pepper and spices. Luganega is an example of this type. The meat is filled into long casings, divided into sections and sold by length rather than weight. Luganega is often served with polenta in northern Italy. It can be fried, broiled or braised as well as boiled. A delicious Italian sausage to cut up into bite size pieces to make meat balls and added to a basic tomato sauce.

Cacciatorino is a small well hung variety of Italian salami consisting of two thirds lean pork, tender veal, and various types of fat. It was originally devised as a convenient type of Italian sausage for those working out in the forests to take with them as supplies. That may be the source of the name, cacciatorino which translates as small hunter.

Salametto is a small, well-hung sausage, similar to cacciatorino. It is ideal as a lunch time Italian salami or to be taken on picnics as it is easily carried. This is a beautifully delicate Italian sausage which is perfect to be eaten on its own.

Italian sausage and salami do taste that much different to those of other countries and do lend themselves to being added to Italian meals, such as pizzas and pastas. If cooking an Italian meal and trying to make it as authentic as possible be sure to add Italian salami or Italian sausage.

I try to pass on my musings on life and experiences in a way that people may find interesting to read.

Italian Salami

Please feel free to republish this article provided a working hyperlink remains to our site

You may not always agree with my writings but I hope to inform.

Harwood E Woodpecker

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By Margaret W

This sandwich recipe was inspired by a trip to New Orleans. I had heard about the famous muffuletta sandwich, and was excited to try it. I was not disappointed.

The main ingredients are salami, mortadella, Italian ham, provolone, olive salad dressing and of course, the muffuletta bread. The olive dressing is the core of this sandwich. It is Italian in nature and consists of olives, olive oil, cauliflower, carrots, celery, sweet peppers, capers and spices.

I went to my local supermarket when I returned home, and was happy to find the dressing. I found it in the aisle by the pickles and olives. When I ran out of the ingredients in my home for muffulettas, I decided to experiment with the dressing. My first attempt ended up as my best. This is the recipe I came up with:

What you need:

1/2 c cooked chicken breast, shredded
raw baby spinach
2 T light mayonnaise
4 very thin slices of ham, or shaved ham
2 slices multi-grain or whole wheat bread
2 T Italian Olive Salad dressing

What you do:

Spread 1 T mayonnaise on each slice of bread. Layer baby spinach on one slice. Place chicken on top of spinach. Place 3 slices of ham onto chicken. Spread olive salad dressing over ham. Cover with remaining slice of ham, then remaining slice of bread. May alter mayo and/or olive salad amounts per taste.

My family as well as myself, are infatuated with this easy to make sandwich recipe. I hope you are as well.

If you enjoyed this article and recipe, please visit Easy Breezy Recipes at http://www.easybreezyrecipes.com for cooking videos, articles and quick and easy to make recipes.

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By Mark Hewitt

Part 1: The Sponge

The sponge adds extra texture and body to the finished ciabatta, and it needs to be made the day before.

• 1/2 teaspoon of yeast
• 1/3 cup of warm water
• 1 cup of bread flour

If the yeast is the dry active kind, mix it with the warm water first and leave it for about 10 minutes or until a goodsized lump of gack floats to the surface - that shows the yeast has activated. Then mix in the flour. If it's instant, just put it all in a bowl and mix. Then cover it in clingfilm and let it stand for 12-24 hours. The yeast will grow, feed, turn the mixture to bubbly froth and then die. Don't feel sad for it, yeast dies every day and also is non-sentient and therefore unable to regret it's own mortality. Just enjoy its delicious bubbly leavings.

Part 2: The Dough

• 2 teaspoons of yeast
• 2 tablespoons of milk
• 2/3 cup of warm water
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 1/2 cups of bread flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt
• The sponge from yesterday

As before, if you're using dry active yeast, activate it in the water first. Otherwise mix everything together and either knead or (if you're relatively lazy like me) pound it in the food processor until the magic smoke comes out. Then put the dough in a bowl and put in a warm place to rise - keep it a little damp somehow, either cover with a damp towel (I always find it sticks when the dough rises) or put a pan of water next to or under it (my approach).

Let the dough rise for 1 and a half hours, then gently turn it out onto a floured surface - just tip the bowl and gently help it out with your fingers, try to keep it in roughly the same lump. Now press it down lightly till it forms a round as in the picture, cut it in half, and shape each half just a little to be more like the standard ciabatta loaf.

Now cover the two ciabattas with a wet towel (you'll probably have to wet it again a couple of times to stop it sticking) and let them sit for another hour and a half to rise just a little more. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees, and heat the baking tray in there for a few minutes. Whip it out, and turn the two ciabattas over onto it so the floured side is now on top - the dough should be quite firm and easy to lift without misshaping them too much.

Now you just bake the ciabattas at 200 degrees until they are golden brown and sound hollow when you thump them. They will develop a thick crust in the process, but thanks to the sponge and long rising times they should be light and airy in the middle. Let them cool for a good hour (or the crumb inside will get mashed up when you cut them).

After that it's time to play a little game I like to call "how many ingredients can I get in a sandwich?" Today, in honour of the noble Italians who invented both this marvellous bread and Al Pacino, I'm going to be making a fairly classic Italian sandwich with sausage (a mixture of hot and sweet - my beloved local butchers Clarks have just added both to their repertoire), sauteed pepper and onions, garlic mayo and some of my home-made pesto. Woohoo!

The other one goes in the freezer - they freeze really well and defrost surprisingly quickly with no loss of crustiness. Good to have stocked away for emergencies, like when you really want a sandwich.

Mark Hewitt is an English foodie, cook, philosopher, geek, shaman and writer. At the start of 2007 he sold or gave away almost all his possessions and left on a backpacking journey round the world, the purpose being (at least in part) to figure out why he would want to do such a thing. You can follow his journey and find other articles at: http://www.scadindustries.com/sael/journal.html

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You do not have to have a specialty panini sandwich maker to make great and authentic tasting panini grill sandwiches; you can make them on your outdoor gas or charcoal grill or indoors with your George Foreman grill or even on a griddle or in a skillet. The secret to making a great panini is a bit of pressure while cooking and your panini grill sandwich recipes.

A panini sandwich is made with the filling placed between the two slices of bread that is grilled very quickly and the sandwich is pressed together tightly while it is being cooked. This pressure causes the ingredients to meld into a more delicious combination and because this is all done with high heat, it also results in a crispier outside, too. And that is why panini are so popular, the combination of super flavorful and a bit of crunch in the crust. When you look for panini grill sandwich recipes, you'll find endless variations, but the best ones will consist of thinly sliced meat or fish, grated or thinly sliced cheese and everything will be as fresh as possible.

The bread is another important choice in selecting a panini grill sandwich recipe. The bread you use should be hearty, not light and airy. Ciabatta bread or focaccia are the traditional Italian choices, but any dense bread, especially an herbed bread, is a good choice. Make sure it is flat so that it grills evenly.

Your choices for fillings are as varied and interesting as you'd like them to be. When choosing meats you will want them to be precooked or cured as the grilling process is meant to heat the sandwich, not cook the fillings. Favorite meat choices include prosciutto, salami, roast beef, chicken, turkey or pastrami. Thinly sliced salmon is a wonderful choice, smoked makes a delicious sandwich and using last night's leftover grilled fish is sublime. The smoky flavor from grilling is tailor made for the flavor melding that panini are known for. Look for panini grill sandwich recipes that use the flavor melding to its fullest.

Most panini grill sandwich recipes will tell you to use a specialty panini grill. While it is nice to use the proper equipment to make these sandwiches, if you don't have one and can't get one, don't despair. You can make a panini sandwich on your outdoor grill; this is a great choice for adding flavor through a cooking method as well as ingredient choice. You can also use a two surface grill such as a George Foreman grill or even a skillet or griddle. If you have a waffle maker, that will work, too. The key is to make sure you preheat the surface well and apply pressure to the sandwich while cooking. If you are using a grill or skillet you can use a foil wrapped brick or a pie pan filled with rocks or sand, or you can just press the sandwich firmly with your spatula.

There are many options for panini grill sandwich recipes, but the simplest and the tastiest panini grill sandwich recipes are the ones you come up with yourself. Your family will appreciate the personal touch and you'll want to make them again and again.

Yum, those lovely and delicious Panini Grill Sandwich recipes. For more tips and ideas on outdoor bbq grills.

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By Maggie Rahn


Finding recipes for kids lunch boxes can be tricky. Most parents just reheat last night's dinner left overs and send their kids on their way. Lunch is a pretty important meal during a child's day, though, so if you have more time to think about and make what your kids will be taking to lunch at school, put in the extra effort. Making sure your kids are eating right in the middle of the day will definitely pay off in the future! Here are four recipes for kids lunch boxes:

· Tortilla Wrap

This is easy to do, and you can still use the leftovers! Wrap some meat and vegetables in a tortilla. You can add salsa, cheese, and/or sour cream if you like. Brown rice and beans are good additions too! Roll it up and put it in a sandwich bag or you can wrap it up in foil so it's easy to hold. It's a no fuss recipe that most kids will love, and it covers four of the five major food groups. Plus, you're sure it'll be healthier than anything your child can but at the school cafeteria!

· Chicken Salad Sandwich

Put some chopped chicken, lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumber between slices of whole wheat bread. You can add cheese or salad dressing to this sandwich to make it yummier and more appealing. Remember that you don't have to use chicken. You can substitute chicken for tuna, sliced beef, or sliced turkey. Almost any member of the protein group will go well with this sandwich, and so you can actually mix it up and have a different one everyday!

· Meatball Sub

Grab a mini baguette and line it with mustard (if your kid likes mustard), mayonnaise, cheese, tomatoes, and pickles. Put in some meatballs cooked in tomato sauce (you can use the leftovers from the spaghetti and meatballs you served the other night), and top it off with some sour cream. Wrap this well in a sandwich wrapper or foil, and your kid is ready to go!

· Croquettes

This recipe takes a bit more time to prepare. You can do the prep for it the night before, and just do the frying on the morning you're going to pack it. While frying isn't the healthiest form of cooking because of the excessive oil, croquettes are easy finger foods for kids. You can shape them into ping pong balls to make them easier to eat. Stuff them with mashed potatoes, tuna, turkey, or other healthy proteins. You can also just stuff them with bechamel and cheese, and your kids are in for a tasty treat!

Always try to put in a juice box and fruit cup into the lunch box apart from the above suggestions. Yogurt and granola bars can also work as a sweet snack. Ask your children what "extras" they'd like in their lunch boxes and keep them healthy!

Wish you could find more healthy recipe ideas for your kids? Need an easy way to feed your kids healthy foods? There is a place with your answers! Check out healthy recipes for kids and begin trying these quick and easy kid friendly, healthy recipes now!

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