It’s very difficult to be foodie-fancy on a day to day basis. On days that D and I work and Beans has school, it’s go-go-go in the mornings. A chant shared by all working-moms around the globe…

I raised two adorable monsters aged 14 and 50, whose pickiness in food knows no bounds, so despite extreme time constraints, I try to whip up next-level lunches so they don’t starve to death. I am not exaggerating. If I don’t pack them lunch, they literally will not eat anything else until we all get home, THEN I make meals after a 12-hour shift. Welcome to my life.

My constant go-to are sandwiches. We usually grill on weekends, and true to my Asian heritage, I always cook more food than we can eat. This habit, coupled with another truly Asian one of not wanting to throw things away have made me resourceful with our left-overs.

True, anyone can throw two pieces of bread with some sort of filling and call it a sandwich, but it takes some effort (and yes, a touch of OC), to make it a really great one. Attention to ingredients and proper “layering” maximizes and enhances flavor to truly make a good sandwich.

Here’s how I make sandwiches for my two picky eaters:

I like to slice it thick so that the inside of the bread can still be soft despite the toasty exterior. I don’t like it all crunchy and breaking apart when I bite to it. But you need some sort of firmness and dryness so the condiments and jam don’t soak the bread either.

If we were eating at home, I would add tomatoes. But if the sandwiches won’t be eaten until the next couple of hours, tomatoes will tend to seep out a lot of moisture and you end with a soggy sandwich.

I like that I’m able to make left-over steaks  find a new life as sandwiches we take for lunch. D balks at having meat during weekends so I have to make it extra special so he can’t resist it. Beans always find this as a better alternative than any of the food offered in the school cafeteria.

I swear, I make this in less than ten minutes. I’ve tried different variations using grilled chicken or turkey. This is why I hoard various kinds of mustards (we don’t do mayo in the house) and every kind of jam known to man.

So there, sandwiches are done. Cross that off the to-do list for the day. Five hundred more to go.