It’s my birthday today! Are you guys big on celebrating your birthday? For as long as I remember, my birthday has been an obsession of mine. It’s probably just a bit (okay, a lot) egotistical, but I just love the idea of a day celebrating me. I like planning elaborate themed parties with tons of friends (DIY grilled cheese party anyone?), but I also love the flip side of that – spending a day celebrating, just me and my boo.
No matter what I end up doing, there is one absolute must: eat ALL the things. It’s the one day you shouldn’t hold back. I know, I know, veggie sandwiches aren’t what one usually thinks of when they’re thinking about birthday eats, but when I saw this glorious picture of the ultimate veggie sandwich on Instagram, it had to be mine. I’m all about veggie sandwiches (and pizzas too, to be honest). I love the the different textures, the crunch, and the freshness.
This sandwich was truly epic – perfect for a pre-birthday treat!
The Ultimate Veggie Sandwich Recipe
makes 1 sandwich
- 2 slices bread of choice (I used multigrain)
- mayo and mustard, to taste
- 6 leaves romaine lettuce
- 1 small carrot
- 1/2 small cucumber
- salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
- 1/8 head red cabbage
- 1 avocado
- handful of sprouts
- 3 slices tomato
- thin slices red onion
Start off by prepping your vegetables. Trip the lettuce leaves to the size of your bread. Julienne or shred the carrot, thinly slice the cucumber and cabbage. Pit and peel the avocado and thickly slice. Toast the bread and let cool (so it doesn’t get soggy). Spread on mayo and mustard to taste and build your sandwich: 1/2 of the lettuce leaves, carrots, cucumber, salt and pepper, cabbage, avocado, sprouts, tomato, onion, then the remaining lettuce and top slice of bread. Wrap tightly in parchment paper or wax paper and slice in half. Enjoy immediately!
i put a candle in it, because birthday :)
Giveaway: I hope you guys like chopping vegetables (and everything else) because for my annual birthday giveaway, I’m giving away a shiny sharp Shun Nakiri knife and a Walnut Boos Block Cutting Board from cuttingboard.com. I absolutely LOVE my nakiri and there’s nothing better than chopping and slicing on a beautiful wood cutting board.
To Enter: Leave a comment below with your favorite birthday memory. I want to hear ALL the details! I’ll randomly choose a winner and notify them through email. Open to US residents only. (Sorry international friends!) Also, if you’d like some extra entries (one per follow), follow me on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest (and let me know in your comment). Contest ends September 17th at 12pm PST. Good luck!
Update: Congrats Willow! Get ready to get your knife skills on! Keep an eye out for an email :)
Happy Birthday! My favorite birthday memory is when I had just left college to transfer somewhere else and I was depressed. A friend sent me a package of some of my favorite books and some silly stickers with puppies on them. It was one of those perfect gifts for where I was in my life at the time. It meant to much and I still smile thinking about it! Good friends are everything.
My favorite birthday memory is my son giving me a handmade candle holder . He made it by covering a jar with colored tissue paper and I thought it was really sweet.
Okay, this is a cheesy (but sweet) memory: on my 21st birthday, my boyfriend (now husband) gave me silver heart-shaped earrings and told me that he loved me for the first time. And I ate dinner with him and my family at a killer Spanish-Italian fusion bistro and had wine. So it was a pretty good day ;)
Two weeks ago! I turned 28 and started with a long hike in the NM mountains, went go karting with my dad and made a 3 layer funfetti cake with lemon cream cheese frosting. It made me feel like I was a kid again:) Happy Birthday!
some of my best birthday memories were from elementary school, when i hosted intricately planned birthday sleepovers with lots of crafty DIYs, desserts, and snacks!!
Looks delicious!
My favorite birthday memory starts out a little sad…I was on my way home from college for Thanksgiving break (about a 5 hour drive), and my car broke down. The people at the shop were had a really hard time making the repair, so I hung out all day with them. They were feeling really bad what with it being a holiday weekend and my birthday and all, and invited me to join in on their Thanksgiving if the car wasn’t fixed in time. AND they brought me a piece of cake. The mechanic ended up staying until 11pm to fix my car so I could get on the road and make it home for the holiday. It was a long day, but I’ll never forget it!
My favorite birthday memory is definitely celebrating at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter with all of my really good high school and college friends! We were all huge HP nerds, and since the theme park had just opened that year, we decided to road trip down to Orlando from the Midwest for my birthday! It was a week of nerding out and best friendship – it was so amazing :)
I remember my sweet sixteen vividly. I had went to school expecting birthday wishes from all my friends. Instead I got the cold shoulder. I saw my very best friends in the halls and they actually ran from me! How odd I thought. There were no birthday wishes, no balloons, no gifts… By end of day I felt so unwanted and went home. As I approached the door to my house I looked through the window and thought I caught the glimpse of a friend. My eyes MUST be deceiving me I thought. I stepped in and was greeted by all my friends as they appeared from their hiding spots and shouted “Happy Birthday”! Best birthday ever. My mother gave me a tiny diamond ring that day to cement the occasion.
My 21st birthday was the last weekend before midterms. We rented out my friend’s giant 9-bedroom(!) apartment, kept the lights dim, and played good music (no bass for the neighbors sake!). That is as far as the memory goes, so it was a fun night
I know this may sound kind of sad but I am not so close to my family so there have gone years where we do not celebrate or even acknowledge my birthday. I do live alone and this year I wanted to go wine tasting with my friends but everyone was busy with finals so I was going to celebrate my birthday alone. It would not be the first time this would happen so I wasn’t even upset. I went that morning and bought a cake from my local Korean bakery and I decided I was going to cook a 4 course meal for one :) I ended up going home and decorating a little . I cooked a phenomenal meal and my dog and I enjoyed the most amazing cake followed by a marathon of Scandal. It does not sound amazing but for me, it was something that did make me very happy!