If not, I suggest you grab a friend and head to Togo’s tomorrow and clean up on a major-cool fundraiser. The restaurant is rolling back prices to the ’70s, charging just $1.99 for a sandwich for eight Wednesdays — starting this week. 

Besides getting a sandwich deal, for every sandwich sold, Togo’s will donate cash to the Junior Diabetes Research Foundation. Note that only one sandwich is bargain-priced each Wednesday, so don’t get your tastebuds worked up for a specific one. Just grab the sandwich and smile. This week’s deal is the No. 28; Ham, Turkey, Salami and Cheese. The promotion runs through Nov. 19.

Just back from vacation, I open my mail to find… a microwave oven! Not exactly a working microwave, this is a cardboard microwave that contains host of recipes for making my own Chex Mix. I haven’t had time to try any of the recipes, nor can I really write about Chex cereals, but I have to say that I love the creative ideas behind press kits such as these. The oven has a hologram on the face that “shows” me what’s cooking, and buttons to push: Make, Enjoy.

Earlier this month, I got in the mail a single fork with a cork on the end. On the cork was printed the word: Sonoma. It was a promotion for the 2008 Sonoma Wine Country Weekend, an event that raised nealry $1.6 million for charities this year alone.

Another fun kit was the pink squeeze-pig from the National Pork Board. I got three of these — hence the three little piggies that keep me company at my desk.

Less fun were the two press kits that arrived from Children’s Choice — empty food trays. The trays are promoting a really good thing — the new compostable, biodegradable, GMO-free trays being used to contain kid lunches. But they missed the fun boat for sure.

Since I am utterly convince a tomato a day WILL keep the doctor away — and I happen to have a garden full of tomatoes needing to be picked — I’ve been eating not just one, but several tomatoes a day. While I love BLTs, a few nights ago I decided to eat my BLT in a slightly different format.

This is a BLT salad inspired by a recipe I found in my BLT book. It’s simple to make: Bacon, shredded lettuce, tomato, onion, whole wheat penne and a creamy garlic dressing. I added a little parmesan cheese for good measure. It will never replace a BLT, but it’s a pretty good variation, and it breaks up the sandwich monotony.

All things being equal, you’ll probably eat dinner Friday night — so why not make your plate count by heading over to the Chandni Restaurant in Newark for the Omeid International benefit dinner.

The organization is raising cash in order to establish an orphanage, school and clinic in Kabul, Afghanistan. All proceeds from the dinner will go to the fund. 

The dinner, which includes a wide array of Afghan and Indian foods, is $20 in advance, $25 per person at the door. It starts at 6 p.m. Friday (September 19.) Advance reservations are not required. The restaurant is located at 5748 Mowry School Road, Newark.

To buy tickets in advance, go to http://reasonforhope.eventbrite.com.