Snacks, Kids and Hanukkah #TysonGoodness

POSTED BY Sonie on Monday, December 26, 2011 at 2:21 PM
TAGGED Children, CollectiveBias, Contributing Authors, Food

This is a recap of my week beginning with Hanukkah and my mission for Little Miss A to have some Tyson Mini Chicken Sandwiches.

On the first night of Hanukkah my true love gave to me…nothing. Because I am not Jewish!!!!! J But….I do have to buy that frame to put little Miss A’s pre-school picture in it to give to my husband tonight who celebrates this Festival of Lights. I have to have this done before he comes home form work! I also have to dig out the menorah. Find the candles. Make sure my husband knows I haven’t forgotten about Hanukkah. My mission today is to go to Walmart and buy: applesauce, bananas, Cheerios, Tyson Mini Chicken Sandwiches, Spray N’Wash, Fabric Softener, an 8x10 frame (for the picture), and pick up a picture from the Photo Center at Walmart. With my list, I lug my two kids to Walmart on this cool 34 degree day.

If I have a plan, it is most productive. There is no time to waste when you are carting around two needy children and you want to accomplish things. I always ask myself why I do grocery shopping with them, when I could go late in the evening alone with peace. We get ready and go. We hit our stopping points, but along the way to the photo center, I pick up a Barbie movie for little Miss A for Christmas or Hanukkah, whatever I feel like giving it to her for. The last thing on my list is the Tyson Mini Chicken Sandwiches.

I can’t find them! I look everywhere. I see a lot of Banquet and Great Value brands, but no Tyson. While I am trying to concentrate, I have my 8 month old whining and my 4 year old saying she’s hungry and thirsty. Typical shopping trip. No concentration! I start getting nervous wondering how quickly can I get these sandwiches and get home before my kids have a meltdown. But I ask an associate to show me where the Tyson Mini Chicken Sandwiches are. The nice girl contemplates and says she doesn’t think they have them, but she asks her colleague who also doesn’t think they sell them. Disappointed, I purchase my other items. Check out is easy because there is no waiting. I go home.

After I get home, I call another Walmart to see if they carry these microwavable snacks and they say they do. So just for kicks I call the Walmart I just went to and they say they do have them! Before I head out again, my husband comes home, I have the picture frame wrapped and the candle ready to be lit! Mission partly completed.

So I go back to Walmart in the late evening. Round 2. Without kids. I peruse the aisles and I still don’t see them. I just called them so I know they have them. So I go to customer service and ask them if they can help me find them. They page someone. “Associate in Grocery!” “Associate in Frozen!” So I go to meet Theresa who walks with me down aisle 2 of the frozen foods section (she said she didn’t work in frozen so didn’t know what Tyson Mini Chicken Sandwiches were) and we stop randomly. I’m thinking great. Another person who won’t be able to help me. But, as we are chatting, I see them! In the refrigerator staring right at me. I feel foolish because they’ve been there all along. I just wasn’t looking hard enough before. I guess “Mother Theresa” was there to help me after all and she didn’t even know it! I thank her.

So there they were under “Snacks and Appetizers” (of course) next to the White Castle Cheeseburgers, Hot Pocket Snackers and frozen Smuckers’ Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches. Why couldn’t I have seen them before? I guess I wasn’t thinking straight with the kids. I can’t do a lot of things with the kids…like cook. So I am thinking these Tyson Mini Chicken Sandwiches will be the answer to some of my prayers. I buy the plain ones; without the cheddar cheese. Mission completed. Sort of.

On the second day of Hanukkah, after picking up Little Miss A from pre-school, we discuss lunch. A topic that I dread because it always becomes a heated discussion. “Well what do you have mommy?” Well I don’t like that!” “Well what else is there?” “Well I want a pop tart!” “Well, I want a cookie!” “Well I want chocolate milk!” “I’m not hungry.” “Well, can I have a snack?” “Well I’m full.”

So we are on the way home and it’s still a few minutes before noon. I have mini chicken sandwiches on my mind. We get home and I whip up the lunch in less than 10 minutes! Miss A is already skeptical when I tell her what we are having for lunch. I place her food neatly in the compartments in her pink lunch tray. Cottage cheese, grapes, and a Tyson Mini Chicken Sandwich. “Yuck! I don’t like that!” she says.

“You haven’t even tasted it yet,” I tell her. I add ketchup to an empty little square space on her tray and think this will do the trick. She dips her sandwich and barely takes a bite, tasting mostly the ketchup. I try not to make a big deal of her eating and focus on eating myself and feeding baby #2 at the same time. I have to eat too. I prepare my Tyson Mini Chicken Sandwich like a mini burger, with mayo, ketchup, mustard, and lettuce. It’s delicious! I am not a big fan of microwavable food, but this was a pleasant surprise. A little spicy for a 4 year old, but the perfect size for a little body. By the time I’m done and baby #2 is done, Little Miss A is done with everything too…except for her mini sandwich. “C’mon, please just eat a little bit more,” I beg her. That doesn’t work. I get tired of pleading Little Miss A to eat her food at every meal. Baby #2 is screaming by this point. She doesn’t like her sandwich. It’s o.k. I tell myself. Maybe we can try again later.

On the third night of Hanukkah, we had leftover pizza and I thought let’s give it one more day and we can try the chicken sandwiches tomorrow.

Well, I let two more days pass, and on the fifth day of Hanukkah (Christmas Eve morning), I think a quick breakfast might be nice so we can get some last minute holiday shopping done. Mind you, I still have to come up with 3 more Hanukkah gifts! Talk about last minute. I decide to prepare a “breakfast sandwich” via a Tyson Mini Chicken Sandwich. But with a Mexican twist. I fried an egg and just plopped on top after zapping the sandwich. I drizzled some red salsa and voila! It was VERY good! I liked it! It took me about 10 minutes to make since I had to fry the egg. Went perfectly with my coffee. Little Miss A didn’t want any part of it. Had some Cheerios instead. Looks like the Tyson Mini Chicken Sandwiches were not a hit for her, but maybe for another child and definitely a hit for me. I would make this again for breakfast.

I like the Tyson Mini Chicken Sandwiches! I would definitely have at least two dressed up, with a side, and make that a meal for lunch. As for a quick breakfast, I would have to have it with an egg. I wouldn’t eat it plain. Maybe even with a biscuit instead of the roll it came with. Most breakfast sandwiches that I’ve eaten come with a biscuit or an english muffin type bread. And most come with an egg. I know it’s an option to add the egg, but for me, a traditional breakfast sandwich should include an egg. I am impressed with how fresh the sandwich tasted considering it was heated in the microwave!

It would have been nice to have the sandwiches individually wrapped instead of two in a bag. I guess it might be irrelevant, because my daughter didn’t eat hers, but if she had, I don’t think she would have eaten two. Despite this, I would buy this product again. It would be perfect for a small party of kids or appetizers! The price was right and it was worth it, overall, because as a stay at home mom, who never has time to eat, something quick and easy, can save my day.