Monday, October 26, 2009

Give me this day my daily bread. Also tomorrow. And the next day would be good, too.


This is a compensated review from BlogHer and Oroweat.


I wasn’t exactly a latch-key kid, but I did get home from school before my mom got home from work. Since microwaves hadn’t been invented yet, I became somewhat of sandwich connoisseur, coming up with all kinds of combinations from the inedible to the divine. Cheddar cheese and dill pickle? Not as bad as you’d think. Pizza sauce, pastrami and olive? Precisely as bad you’d think.

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.

38 comments:

  1. I love cajun roast beef with provolone cheese, mayo, mustard, lettuce, tomato and jalapeno peppers on whole wheat

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  2. Me I like toasted bread with meat, cheese and tomato - no mayo.

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  3. I love tomato sandwiches! I'm not from the south, but I've lived here long enough to know they are awesome!!

    Nancy

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  4. My very fav is the Oat Nut bread. I'm not much of a sandwich gal, but I heart a crazy-twist of a grilled cheese sandwich that I learned from an Ex. (eek! ) Cream cheese mixed with diced olives and smeared on Oat Nut, then grilled. Voila'! YUM!

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  5. I love me some egg salad (no pickles or celery in it, thank you) on country white. Mmm! I know it'd be better if I went for a whole grain, and I usually do, but if we're really talking DREAM sandwich here, it'd be on the country white!

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  6. Oroweat's 9-Grain is my fav! Lots of crunchies and texture - I confess, mostly eaten right out of the bag, though toasting or grilled sharp cheddar cheese sammies are incredible (if you can wait that long).

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  7. I like grilled chicken sandwich with cheese, tomato, basil, lettuce and onion. Oroweat Dutch Country Extra Fiber would be a perfect match for this!

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  8. http://twitter.com/tcarolinep/status/5398301439

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  9. http://tcarolinep.blogspot.com/2009/11/giveaway-penne-like-coin.html blogged.

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  10. Mmm, I love a good Turkey Club on Whole Wheat!

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  11. We love grilled cheese at our house.
    jedoggett@embarqmail.com

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  12. My favorite sandwich is egg salad with lettuce and tomato. This would taste real good toasted Oatnut bread.

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  13. Tuna fish sandwich, yummy
    pkbailey@charter.net

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  14. i like ham and cheese sandwich with tomato grilled

    shopgurl101@gmail.com

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  15. tweet http://twitter.com/shopgurl/status/5673565444

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  16. blogged http://sweetqt.wordpress.com/2009/11/13/giveaway-penne-like-a-coin/

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  17. Favorite sandwich: pesto + provolone + roasted red peppers + artichoke hearts on whole wheat, grilled for a few minutes with a panini press! Yum!

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  18. The nutty flavor of the Dutch bread would be perfect for an open-faced tuna melt with cheddar cheese and very crisp bacon!

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  19. Tweeted
    http://twitter.com/ebogie/status/5690587411

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  20. Egg salad with sunflower seeds. On toasted wheat. Yum.

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  21. I love a good grilled cheese/ham sandwich on sourdough, with a bit of garlic butter and dijon with tomato. YUM!

    Amiedanny@msn.com

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  22. Nothing is as glorious as a fried egg sandwhich made while camping, toasted whole wheat or 8-grain, mayo and salt and pepper. So. Good.

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  23. I like to use the oatnut bread for chicken salad sandwiches--with dried cherries, cashews, and dill. Yum!

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  24. I have never tried their bread before but would love to. My favorite sandwich is roast beef with mustard and swiss cheese on Wheat or whole grain. Please enter me in your giveaway. Thanks!
    esterried[at]yahoo[dot]com

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  25. Turkey + cranberry sauce + whole wheat bread! Yummy!

    garlandofroses@gmail.com

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  26. I like the Nut Bread...with peanut butter..no jelly :)

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  27. I love jalapeno ginger jelly on toasted potato bread.

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  28. ok I maybe a simple person but build a pizza on the new sandwhich thins and I am a happy Weight Watcher woman!!! These things rock! If you have not tried them go get some :) You can toast it and put whipped yoguart on them. Make any sandwhich on earth, Make toast with the kids, Oh the possibilities are endless~ I love OROWHEAT!

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  29. I own a home child care business, so we go through a lot of bread! I always buy the whole grain high fiber bread. The kids LOVE pb and honey sammies, we also eat fluff-n-nutter (who knows what THAT is) sammies from time to time to honor my grandmother, who made them for us when we were all small. My favorite? A Wazee Turkey Sandwich, on dark rye (does Orowheat have dark rye?), a little mayo, red onion, turkey and swiss all melted together. yum.

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  30. Plain old delicious tomato sandwich (fresh from the garden if possible) on white bread, mayo, lettuce and a dash of salt. Although I love a good wheat bread this one is best on white...Orowheat Buttermilk is a favorite for this sandwich!!! YUMMY!

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  31. My favorite is Orowheat Oat Nut Bread toasted in my toaster oven with "Better 'N Peanut Butter" spread (which has 85% less fat than peanut butter - I get mine at Trader Joe's) and Simply Fruit spread (100% fruit jam). Yummy comfort food - great snack.
    swd451@aol.com

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  32. Turkey, cheddar, spinach leaves, spicy mustard, and some cucumber slices for an extra crunch on the wheat!

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  33. Tomato and sprouts is my favorite. And the tomatoes have to be fresh from the garden.

    Lori Jones
    ajsahm@gmail.com

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  34. I have had Oatnut before and it is delicious.

    One of my favorite sandwiches is peanut butter and lettuce-I know sounds weird doesn't it ? ;)

    aunteegem@yahoo.com

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  35. We love to make cheese soldiers with our whole wheat bread. My Grandfather from England made these for me when I was a kid and now my son, who is 22 months old loves them too! It's just a slice of your favorite cheese on a toasted piece of bread broiled in the oven until the cheese gets puffy...yum yum!

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  36. This time of year I start looking forward to left over turkey, cranberry sauce (the jelly kind), lettuce and a touch of mustard and mayo.
    Makes me hungary just thinking about it!

    Linda
    findourstar (@) gmail.com

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