This is a compensated review from BlogHer and Oroweat.
One of my favorite stand-bys was the over-easy fried egg sandwich on lightly toasted bread with mayo. The way the egg and mayo melded together and soaked into the toast created a messy, eat-with-a-fork treat that I had at least twice a week.
My sandwich experience was supplemented when I got a job in the deli of my small town’s grocery store. Suddenly I had access to all sorts of exotic ingredients. But the best thing I discovered was Oroweat OatNut bread. First of all, it was big enough to hold TWO fried eggs. And secondly, it had the one textural element my masterpiece was missing. Crunch. Teeny little bits of numminess that made all my sandwiches better. Since then, I have exclusively eaten OatNut bread, and even raised my kids on it. While OPKs (other people’s kids) need pasty white stuff with the crusts cut off, my kids think all bread is tan, has crunchy bits and is big enough to make a good sized PBJ out of one slice.
That’s why when I was asked recently if I’d like to try some new Oroweat breads and tell you about them here, I agreed. Here’s the deal though…all of the new types I tried had one thing in common. SMOOTH TEXTURE. One of my favorite parts about OatNut is the UNSMOOTH texture. Or so I thought. Once I tried these, I realized I really need to expand my bread horizons.
Day One – Dinner after football practice.
Dutch Country Smooth Texture 100% Whole Wheat.
I started out by just trying a piece…and while it was good, I really felt like it had a stronger flavor than I’m used to. I decided to try it toasted, and that made a big difference, it tasted nutty and mellow. For the ultimate test, I made my husband’s favorite sandwich from his childhood. The Grilled PBJ. When he first made me one, I thought he was completely weird, but now they’re one of our family’s favorites. (And they say you can’t change people.) I made a big pile, half with crunchy peanut butter, half with creamy, all with raspberry jelly. And they rocked. The kids gobbled them up. I asked opinions on the bread and got jelly smiles and positive nods all around. I also appreciated that this (and all the ones I tried) have no high fructose corn syrup. We served them with chicken noodle soup.
Day Two – Breakfast
Smooth Texture Extra Fiber
To be honest, I don’t really think about fiber. I guess I’m supposed to, but it’s not ever really been an issue with me, you know, digestively. Anyway, I chose this one for a warm breakfast sandwich of bacon and scrambled egg. I didn’t notice a huge difference from the whole wheat from the night before – but that’s probably the point, huh? Give you something that’s good for you and make it taste the same as everything else. If that’s what they’re aiming for they hit it, but I can’t say I’d ever seek out this bread strictly for the fiber. If I needed a good wheat, and it was in front of me, I’d get it. The kids loved the breakfast sandwiches, by the way, the 12 year old had seconds and thirds while he finished up his math homework. The 9 year old dipped his in warm syrup.
Day Two – Lunch
Smooth Texture Premium Potato
First of all, yum. I ate this straight from the package and loved it. I immediately started picturing myself sopping up gravy with it. Which is a good thing. With the kids off at school, I indulged myself with a sandwich only I like. Braunschweiger, spicy mustard and thinly sliced tomato. The Premium Potato bread was the perfect complement to the strong flavors. My only complaint would be the size. While most Oroweat breads are huge enough to make a kid-sized sandwich with a single piece or a substantial deli-sized one with two slices, the Premium Potato is really on the smallish side. Taste wise, though? Loved it.
Day Three – Lunch after football games
Dutch Country Smooth Texture 100% Wheat
Good old-fashioned BLTs…only half the family eats them with avocado and one person eats them with no tomato and another person adds cheese, so really we had BLATs, BLs and BLTCs. The whole wheat was a great size, toasted up nice and had a nice mellow taste. And you know what? All the sudden, with my crunchy lettuce and crisp bacon I am starting to appreciate this smooth texture thing. Genius.
Day Four – Lazy Rainy Day late lunch/early dinner
Smooth Texture Extra Fiber
Creamy tomato soup with Grilled grafton cheddar & gouda sandwiches.
I’d like to say that my grilled cheese with tomato soup is just as good, if not better, than my husband’s grilled PBJ with chicken noodle. But I’d never hear the end of it, so I won’t. (But it is, really it is.) Again the extra fiber bread did the job, and the smooth texture made even grilling super easy. But I think for the smooth cheesy sandwich, I really was missing my OatNut.
Day Five – Dinner
Smooth Texture Premium Potato
Grilled portabello mushrooms with hummus. Delish. Brush the whole mushroom with olive oil, grill it for about 5 minutes, schmear the potato bread with plain hummus, add the shroom and DEVOUR. Seriously, this is so good I’d consider being a vegetarian. Until I smelled a hamburger, anyway. Again, the potato bread came through like a champ.
All in all – I’m a changed woman! I no longer will head straight for the familiar green package of OatNut when there really are so many other great Oroweat tastes to try – now I’m obsessed with having all of them.
So – what’s your favorite go-to sandwich? Are you a PBJ kind of person or a braunschweiger gal like me? What sandwich do you crave when you’re home alone, what do you make for company? Have your spouse/room-mates/co-workers introduced you to any weird stuff that you ended up liking?
Let me know in the comments and recommend the best Oroweat bread to put it on and…get this…you’ll be entered to win a prize pack of Oroweat breads to try yourself! Or you can leave a link to your post on your own blog in the comments below. The contest will begin at 10/26/2009 and will end 11/26/2009. Make sure that the e-mail address you leave is correct.
Plus – if you check out the other reviews on Blogher.com, you can win a $500 grocery gift card. That's a lotta bread, man.
Rules:
1. No duplicate comments.
2. You can get an additional entriy by linking on twitter and leaving a link in the comments.
3. You can get an additional entry by blogging about this contest and leaving a link in the comments.
4. This giveaway is open to US-residents, aged 18 and over
5. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will notified by e-mail.
6. You have 48 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
7. Please see the official rules here.
