Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Parenting Hack: Bread Heels

Last night I was preparing to serve Laura a supper of grilled cheese sandwich and applesauce. Yes, I know it sounds like a lot of work, but for my children I go the extra mile. I realized that I had two bread bags, each with both heels left inside and nothing else. Tell me truly, isn't it always the Mama in your house who eats a sandwich made from the heels? Sure, you may like the heels (such a grown-up opinion to have!), but the heelwich will not be eaten by children, in my experience. When I make myself a sandwich using the heels, I do so with a faint sense of noble sacrifice. Anyway.

So I thought, hmm, a grilled cheese sandwich made from heels is less-than-optimal, because the diminished porosity of the heel side makes for less butter absorption. It is also, I admit, less cosmetically appealing than a sandwich made from the mid-slices. Then I had a fiendish realization: I could turn the heels over and hide them on the inside of the sandwich. Then the child would not notice the heeliness, as it would be sealed inside by the melted cheese, and the bready side would be soaking up the butter in the pan. Why had this never occurred to me?

So I did just that, and the heels went unnoticed and were consumed whole. The real test will be whether Hank will eat a covert PB&J heelwich. Is everyone already doing this but me?

I just realized that I tend to post about grilled cheese a lot. Two times is a lot, I think.

Go check out more of these little problem-helpers at the Works for Me Wednesday round-up.

24 comments:

Michele R said...

A cheese quesadilla is the new grilled cheese at our house for dinner. Plenty of regular grilled cheese for weekend lunch too. I had never thought of turning the heel over. Am quite impressed with your problem solving skills.

danajk said...

You are brilliant! I am very impressed! Make sure to let us know if a PB&J heelwich passes the test. . .

I am a new reader, but I want you to know that I love your blog!

Wendy said...

This is totally BRILLIANT. I'm impressed. I have never made a grilled cheese heelwich but I'm a big fan of heel toast, so I generally save those for myself anyway. No sacrificing at my place!

Melissa said...

I ran into exactly the same problem the other day and wound up just throwing the heels away, thinking there was no way to get this past the children. I opted for a hamburger bun sandwich instead, which was eaten, but there was some moaning to be endured. Clever girl!!

Amy said...

Your parental judo astounds me! Nice work. We are also big quesadilla makers at our place, but I will have to see how a heelwich goes over.

Casey said...

That's brilliant! I hate eating the heels but I always do. Grr.

Jessica said...

i am the heel eater of the house. i also make these heelwiches for the kiddos--inside out of course. no problems so far!

so, how'd it go? did they protest?

The Dental Maven said...

Yeah, you may need to incorporate "grilled cheese sandwich" somewhere in the name of your blog.

Leciawp said...

I grew up in a house where nobody ate the heels, ever, and it shocks me that my husband eats them, to prevent them going to waste. This morning I had him make sandwiches for the kids and actually scolded him for using the heels on one of the sandwiches :)

Fantastic Forrest said...

Ingenious Matron, that's you.

One of my favorite sandwiches is an open face tomato, bacon and cheese, stuck under the boiler until the cheese gets melty. You could use the heel for that. In fact, it would provide greater structural integrity.

What a Julia Child moment. H & L are so lucky to have you.

UnfinishedMom said...

Yes! A friend taught me this trick several years ago. The kids never know it's a heel!

Cassie said...

I just started doing this about a month ago with sandwiches at our house. Because, quite frankly, bread heels make me gag. My kids kind of gave it a funny glance at first but ate it up no problem.

Christy said...

That is so funny, I am right now eating a grilled cheese sandwich with the heel turned in. I even thought to myself as I made it..."I am the mom who else will eat the ends?"
BTW I have been doing this since I was the mom, and I will give one to a kid- no one has ever complained.

Zion said...

That is a great idea. Sometimes my husband eats the heels, but most of the time (and I know this is terrible) I throw them away.

gretchen said...

Jude has, in fact, consumed a P,B & J heelwich, and never said a word. Strangely, I just discovered the heelwich recently as well. What does this say? Something "heelwich" has entered the collective consciousness of the world and entered out minds at a similar time? Like when two tv shows about the same subject come out the same year? Or when everyone in the same year all get the same idea to name their daughter Madison? Hmmm...

Rachel R. said...

I love that - heelwiches. In our house, nobody likes them, so we let them sit out and get dry and then grind them into breadcrumbs.

Anonymous said...

awesome problem solving! i'll be staring down that problem tom. morning, as I think we are down to the heels. i'll try the inverted pb&j sandwich.

delaine said...

I can't believe that after raising three children and being faced many times with the end of the loaf I NEVER thought of your flipping the heel trick ! Genius !

Christine said...

They never notice an inside out PB heelwich at my house because the peanut butter matches the toasty color of the heel. How would you handle cookies that have not been shut properly and go softish which isn't quite the same as stale? Those I toss.

Keely said...

Bwahhahhahah! I have to say that never occurred to me, but X is still in the "eating everything in front of him" stage. When he arrives at the point that he notices things like heeliness, I'll keep this in mind.

Anonymous said...

Why we always turn to the Matron for sage advice!

I did that this morning myself, having learned it years ago watching a mother of three hulking boys make sammies for a hungry sailing crew. I didn't have any kids of my own yet, but I immediately recognized it for the genius it was and filed it away!

Ginny Marie said...

I have made grilled cheese heelwiches before, but only when faced with the same empty bread bag dilemma. The new bread in our house is pocket pita bread. Lily has decided her favorite sandwich is peanut butter and lettuce. Strange, but she loves it!

Sara said...

I've been turning those inside out for awhile now. Sometimes I can slip it by, sometimes not.

I definitely snag the heels too, but that's because they have no calories. What? It's true.

Grilled cheese and scrambled eggs. 2 staple foods at our house.

Anonymous said...

Everybody is already doing this. :) And yes to Michele, the quesadilla is also an excellent grilled cheese type quickie dinner. Sometimes I have one random tidbit of meat left over, a chicken leg or a half a pork chop. I'll chop it up and add some salsa and voila! bonus quesadilla filling. Feel free to sue that.