BBQ Pizza.

Look at that beauty!  My first pizza on the bbq.  We made two and you can just see in the corner there the charcoal of the other pizza, but even burned, it was delish!

We bought a ready made pizza dough at the store this morning.  Brought it home, stretched it out into two pies.  Heated the grill to super duper hot and oiled one side of the pizza dough and plopped it on the grill.  Leave the lid open and let it cook for just a few minutes.  Don't do like I did and let it burn.  It sounds like a cool idea, I know, but it just doesn't taste nice.  And really, we get enough carcinogens from the fresh air we breathe.

After the dough seems done (just a couple of minutes), lightly oil the other side and flip her over.  TOP TOP TOP!  Sauce, cheese, veg, salami... it's YOUR pizza so make it your way.  Close the lid and let cook.  Again, notice I say COOK not BURN.  Do as I say, not as I did.

Take her off the grill after a couple of minutes, let it set and slice it up and eat it.  You will be in pizza lovin' heaven.

Faux Mexicana.

G is the Mexican food cook in our house.  I am the Mexican food eater.

But the other night, while packing up for the evening, a colleague mentioned a pretty easy chicken dinner recipe that I thought, this sounds perfect!  Basically, you take your boneless skinless chicken breasts and put them in a baking tray, cover with salsa, top with bread crumbs and grated cheese.  Bake and eat.

Well-ell, that sounded doable!  We had a jar of G's salsa opened that needed to be used (and was one of her less spectacular offerings), chicken breasts thawed out and ready to be cooked, and some lovely queso fresco that would make an excellent topping. Dinner was born!

While the chicken baked, I whipped up some tomatillo rice with shredded spinach mixed in, some corn sauteed with red pepper and onion, and super light salad of iceberg lettuce, onion, and avocado in a lime vinaigrette.   What a massively filling dinner for pretty low WW points+!

Granola!

J here.

As I have mentioned at least a million times, I follow Weight Watchers.  As you may know, if you care about such things, the while Weight Watchers plan changed at the end of last year and it's been a bit strange for me.  I never seemed to have a difficult time following the plan, but lately, I have been.  I think part of it is just that it's different and I still have to get my brains around the fact that spending more points on breakfast, or something similar, is not such a big deal because I have more points to start with.  But it's also because things around here have been quite stressful getting ready for the move.  It's tiring and frustrating and the condo seems to be in a constant mess!  It is not conducive to getting anything accomplished in the kitchen, but it IS conducive to going up the street and chowing down at Ginger.  *Sigh*  It's never easy, is it?  But that's what life is.  Having hard parts and smooth parts and making sure it balances out in the end of it to the best that it can and you can.

Anyway, in the spirit of that, I decided to make granola.  I am on a big greek yogurt kick, and the yogurt with a bit o' granola makes for a filling breakfast.  However, granola that you buy in the store is REALLY caloric.  So for my first attempt, I used a recipe found on Everbody Likes Sandwiches, which can be found here.  It was super easy and super deluxe!  See for yourself...

Yum!!!  It's clumpy, but wayyyyy too sweet so next time, less sugar.  Also, G talked me into getting these golden raisins that taste really ass-y to me, so no more of those.  But otherwise, it's fantastic.  We turned it into 20 servings at about 2 points a serving.

We took photos of the cooking process, but they are really yellow.  I am SO hopeful that the new house will have better lighting in the kitchen so the photos of the process will be better.  But whatever, it is what it is.  I am a professional lawyer, not a professional cook or photographer so I suppose it's all okay.

Anyway, I do recommend this recipe highly!  It's really nice to have something that's made from your own kitchen with ingredients you trust.  Good luck and drop me a line if you try it.

Feeding the Soul.

Yesterday, we went to see some friends who just moved into a beautiful country house.  We had tickets to see a play in Stratford, and were excited to head over and see the house, stop in at our favorite Stratford spot, Pazzo, and then see the play.  We struggled with whether it made sense to stay the night with our friends and head out in the morning, or to just drive home.  A number of factors weighed, we determined that we would drive home last night.  Which meant, impromptu breakfast at home before our second softball game of the season!

What to make?  You guessed it, one of my faves... BREAKFAST BURRITOS!

Yum!  I took three eggs and two egg whites, mixed them with some salt and pepper and a splash of water.  Set it aside while I cooked some chopped white onion with a little bit of diced chorizo.  Once the onion and chorizo were toasty and delish, I plopped in the eggs and scrambled the lot.  Divided it between mine and G's plates, with mine on a smallish whole wheat tortilla bought at Kensington Market and topped with a bit of low-fat shredded cheese and ketchup.  Really good!!!  (Oh, the softball game?  Lots of fun!  We lost something like 14-2 BUT I hit the ball and made it on base BOTH TIMES I was up to bat!  That's right!  I'm going to be sporty yet!)


One of our goals for this week is to eat at home more.  When I was in the midst of losing the 30 pounds I have lost, we ate at home most meals.  The last couple of months has seen a bit of an eating out fiesta that must stop.  I am pleased to say that I haven't put any weight back on (good fortune and running, I think), but I don't want to lose sight of all my healthy changes!  So we are using up what we have in the house and eating at home.

First up, must use the slider buns we bought forever ago that have been lounging in the fridge... so sliders it was for dinner!

G made an amazing onion marmalade to have with them.  I cooked the slider patties under the broiler (a bit too long, sadly) and topped them with more shredded low-fat cheddar (shredding really lets you feel like you are getting a ton of cheese for not a ton of WW points), tomato slices and the FANTASMAGORICALLY delicious onion marmalade.  Toasted the buns, had some garlic pickles and baked lays on the side, and woo hoo, a points friendly feel-good dinner that we all could enjoy. 

On the whole, it's been a good weekend!  

I feel like chicken tonight...

As a girl who has only recently embraced the vegetable as friend, I am still finding ways to incorporate them into my life that will trick my brain into eating them happily.  Case in point?  BBQ chicken dinner night with twice-baked potatoes.  Oh sorry, were you wondering where the vegetable came in?  No silly reader, it's not JUST the potato!  Them there potatoes had SPINACH lurking within!!!

Oh yes, bbq chicken is lovely.  And green beans lightly steamed with some salt, pepper, and lemon is a delight.  But the twice baked potato was DIVINE!!!  I sauteed some spinach (or did I microwave it?  hrmph) and, after baking the potato sans foil in the oven for about an hour, I cut the spud in half, scooped out the innards, mixed in some light laughing cow and spinach (and salt and pepper), and then stuffed the shells with the filling.  Sprinkled a little bit of grated old old cheddar on top (grating gets you the feeling of lots of cheese for very few points) and baked for about 15 more minutes.  You can't beat that sort of feel-good comforty food!!!  And pretty points friendly!  (I don't know about you, but I tend to save about half of my daily points for dinner.  It's how I eat and how I am comfortable keeping track... you???)

Another Delicious Day -- With More Chili Fries.

It's a sickness. I get these crazy cravings and find something I like, then make it over and over.

This weekend was no exception, and I had to make some Super Bowl Kick-Off Chili Cheese fries...


Oh yeah. I cooked that chili all day. I started with one onion, one fat carrot, half a red pepper, a stalk of celery, and some garlic all chopped up, then cooked slowly with some cooking spray and a bit of water. When soft, take out and then add the super lean ground beef. Use some paper towel to soak up any fat from the meat... Then add the veggies back in, along with chili powder. Stir up then mix in a litre of V8. Cook for hours and hours on the stove until it's super thick and the veggies are super soft. (I didn't add beans because G can't eat them, but they would be lovely here...). I gave G a bowl of chili for lunch tomorrow and I divided the other serving up into two containers of low-fat refried beans to have burritos for lunch! Can't wait!

The fries are oven baked, one potato each, cut into strips, sprayed with cooking spray and tossed with more chili powder, salt and pepper then baked at 450 for 15 minutes, turned over and then cooked another 10 or so. Fantastic! Top your crispy fries with delicious chili and some fat free sour cream... YIPPIE!

But that's not ALLLLL we ate today...

We started the day with a new recipe that G made... Oatmeal Pancakes...


Yummy! These were really really good and very filling, which is something I don't generally find pancakes to be. In fact, I rarely eat pancakes for breakfast because while I find them to be delicious, I also find that I am hungry right after! Not so with these... three pancakes were five points, I think.

For lunch, knowing that chili fries were coming, we had a low point lunch of broccoli soup that G made last night alongside a grilled cheese sandwich...


I cooked the sandwich in a non-stick skillet with a little cooking spray. The sandwich consisted of two slices of Weight Watcher's bread (1 pt) with some tomato slices (0 pt) and one slice each of low-fat cheese slices (1pt). The soup was about 1pt for a bowl based on the Recipe Builder, so we got away with that delicious and filling lunch for about three points.

Oh yeah. It's all doable if you just do it.

For the rest of the game, we've got some pirate booty to snack on (which is higher point than I expected, but I was just SO excited to see it in the store here... I used to love it when I lived in the States, but have never seen it for sale in Canada!) and lots of water and MAYBE some PC hot chocolate in a bit...

And COME ON Saints... sheesh!

Thai Green Curry -- bad photo, nice dinner.

In BBC Goodfood's weekend round-up, I found a great recipe for a No-Fry Chicken Green Curry and decided that since we had some green curry paste AND light coconut milk in the cupboard, we would give it a go.

And yeah for giving it a go!


Mmmm, super white food in a white bowl in low light looks like blue food in a blue bowl. No good. (I am getting a new lens next week, fingers crossed that it helps little ol' me take some better low light handheld photos!)

This obviously has red pepper and peas in it, and thin slivers of tender chicken breast (my favorite)... yum!!! This link will take you to the recipe... http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1478/nofry-thai-curry.jsp ... and I highly recommend it! We lightened it up a bit with light coconut milk, etc., and still really loved it.

Alfredo suckfest.

Like many people who didn't get fat overnight, I love love love Fettucine Alfredo. (Or maybe, just like me who ate alot of heavy pasta dishes.) Add some chicken, a little diced tomato, extra cheese, and yeah, I could eat my dinner and yours and the rest of whoever else happens to be nearby. I really love it.

But it's not particularly healthy, and so it's something I don't have very often. In fact, I haven't made it in months and months. So, with G being out of town (and her not being a huge fan of the original dish) I decided to whip up a "what I had on hand" version of the recipe in the new Cooking Light magazine.


Barf. The sauce tasted like diet alfredo sauce, like the kind that comes on frozen dinners, and it was just really not substantial. The original recipe called for bacon, which I didn't have, and I did mix in some fresh parsley and tomato to try and make it not taste like total crap, but it didn't work. Diet-y and not at all pleasant, I really could not believe how unpleasant it tasted. And I even used extra cheese!

If you have the January/February Cooking Light and you have tried this recipe, please let me know and I may try it again down the road, but for now, thanks but no thanks.

I didn't make a full recipe, and so the points came out to be 7 for a serving. Not really worth it, but whatever.

Oh-My-Gosh-Paprikash!

Beef paprikash. Amazing.

I found the recipe in one of the British magazine's I read, but I can't for the life of me remember which one! But it was simple, brown some stewing beef dusted with a little flour, add some sliced onion, garlic, red pepper and a bunch of mushrooms with 1/2 teaspoon of smoked and regular paprika with dill and cumin, cook for a bit then add in some beef broth and stewed tomatoes. Cover and put in the oven to cook for a couple of hours. Stir in some chopped parsley and serve. YUM! It came out to be about 6 points a serving, so a goodly dinner amount...

I served it with some delicious cooked orzo and a dollop of fat free sour cream. It was an amazing dinner which made superb leftovers and really was extremely satisfying. I loved having it with orzo (also remarkably low point) and the fat free sour cream tastes exactly like regular sour cream.


I highly recommend this, and the recipe above, while not very specific, gives you a general idea of how you can make it and what to do. It's deliciously low point and feels really decadent.

Bad Photos. Delicious Breakfast.

G is away at a conference, so I was alone for my breakfast hunting and gathering this morning. I woke up with a solid craving for chili and eggs and potatoes. It is also a running day, so I knew that I needed a complete breakfast that would warm me up as I headed out into the extreme cold for my run this morning!

So I pondered, and after a second and a half, I knew exactly what I wanted... chili cheese fries with scrambled eggs on top. And so I turned on the oven to pre-heat to 450 and dreamed of the deliciousness awaiting me.

First, I made the french fries...


Simple. Cut up a small to medium potato into reasonably sized matchsticks. Place in a bag, spray with cooking spray, salt, pepper, and add a little chili powder (or whatever you like). Shake it up. Spread on a foil lined sheet that is also covered in a bit of spray in a single layer and put in your 450 degree preheated oven. Cook for 15 minutes, putting an ice cube in the mix (or just in the oven) in 7 minutes. At the 15 minute mark, turn them over and put them back in until cooked and browned. Mine took another ten minutes or so to get crispy and brown.

Then take the fries, place them in a bowl and cover with heated prepared chili, grate on a little cheese, and add some scrambled eggs with a bit more cheese on top.


Now this doesn't look delicious because it's yellow (still trying to work out the lights in the kitchen) but believe me when I say that this is amazingly delicious. So much so that I am going to make myself another plate of chili fries for dinner. (Oh, and really low point. One potato was 3 points, chili was 1.5 for 1/2 cup, cheese was 1 pt, and the eggs were 2 for one whole egg and one egg white. 7.5 points for a feast fit for a queen... totally worth it.)

Despite being low point, it gave me the energy I needed to embark on my run and to successfully finish in my best time yet. And now, I am off to pre-heat the oven for fries round 2!!!

Proper Roast Dinner.

I have a confession.

I have never made a proper Sunday roast dinner. Wait. That isn't correct. I had never made a proper Sunday roast dinner, UNTIL RECENTLY, when I made a proper roast dinner (with the exception of the yorkshire pudding, which just wasn't points friendly enough). So my shame is no more, and I have made a lovely roast dinner...


LOOK AT THAT!!! Meat, potato and veg, with SAUCE, on my plate! Here's the specs...

At the St. Lawrence Market, we found a small beef tenderloin (just over 1lb, sweet) and brought it home. I made up a "crusting" of shallot, mushroom, balsamic vinegar (Belazu, get it even though in North America it's RIDICULOUSLY expensive...), S&P. I cooked it up, tied up my roast, covered my roast in it as much as I could and put in a pan and cooked for about 40 minutes at about 375.

During that, I made what I think of as proper sunday roast potatoes. I cut the potatoes into big chunks, boiled them for about ten minutes, then banged them up in the colander so they got hot. Because I was worried about the amount of oil, while the potatoes boiled, I put the baking tray I was going to use in the oven and let it get really hot. I then pulled it out, sprayed it in cooking spray and added a bit of oil. Put it back in the oven so it was piping hot. Put the banged up potatoes in the pan and stirred them up to cover in oil, then baked until done. They were the CRISPIEST roast potatoes ever.

We also made some petit pois, which was pretty basic. When the roast was done, while it rested, I took the mushroom bits that had fallen off and mixed them with a little broth and corn starch in a small fry pan for a minute to make a jus for the top.

Delicious, and my first (but not last) roast dinner. It was really nice and I felt like I was really embracing my inner Brit!

Dinner on Plan -- Chicken Tostadas.

We had a bit of a tostada fest in our house recently, having discovered these amazing baked tostadas...


at the Planet Organic. They are amazing (and only 1 point for THREE). I can't recommend them highly enough, and you can try to id them by the box since I somewhat ridiculously cut out the first of the name in this photo...

Anyway, food blog. Check.

G made some amazing salsas and sauces a while back, I am sure you remember. Really delicious, and we had tons of the Roasted Tomato Chipotle sauce leftover. So in the freezer it went. For this meal, we took the sauce out of the freezer and marinated some chicken breast in it, and then baked the chicken with the sauce for about 30 minutes or so, or until done. I then shredded the chicken and used it as a tostada topping. Two chicken breasts makes A LOT of shredded chicken!


It was so spicy and tender, really the perfect type of topping for tostadas!

We also used some sauteed peppers and onions...


That I "fried" in a little water and cooking oil spray. (Frying in water is a great trick, it gets the onions soft and then you can brown them with the cooking spray.) We also had some queso fresco which you can see to the side in that picture.

Our friend P had canned some corn salsa at the end of the summer and gave us a HUGE jar of it! We used that on our tostadas, too! It was really delicious!!!


Looks good!!!!

We also chopped some regular lettuce and cut up some tomatoes to top with. I also put some pickled jalapeno peppers on mine, just to get an additional kick. My lips were absolutely burning!!! It was such a great dinner and really easy to keep on the low point side because all of the toppings are vegetable based and therefore, pretty low point. We will definitely have this again... as soon as G has two days to rustle up some more sauce!

And leftover tostadas lend to some delightful egg tostadas...


That's one tostada with a schmear of low-fat refried beans (.5 point for 1/4 cup!) and one egg fried in a non-stick pan without added oil, 1 pt worth of cheese, and some roasted tomatillo salsa on top. Breakfast fit for a queen!

(I am happy to report that when in the States over Christmas, I did buy a can of Rotel in order to make some good ol' fashioned queso. Maybe Super Bowl Sunday (even though the Patriots AND Cowboy's are out of the running)???

Oh yeah... Dinner Fit for a Queen!

So normally I am weeks (months, even) behind in posting about meals, but tonight's meal was so rock awesome and so right on the Weight Watcher's points that I had to turn on my computer, out down the book I am reading (what am I reading? well, since you asked, Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde), and blog this bad boy.

It looks like a right mess, but it was a right mess of DELICIOUS! It's what I am calling "Fast Huevos Rancheros". For those of you who know me, or read my blog like the Bible (that's right, every night before bed), you may have picked up on the fact that I love Huevos Rancheros in all it's many forms. From my first taste in Santa Fe, to the many many many versions I have made at home, I think it's one of the overall best meals on the planet. But, alas, G is not keen. *Sigh* So, which G is away tonight being all Board of Director-y, I made up a mess of dinner.

Apparently, Huevos Rancheros (Or Ranch Eggs) was essentially a meal served on the farm to fill up the men-folk who were working hard and burning a kajillion calories. It's really caught on in America (I went to an Ihop once that had a version on the menu!) and is something that I rarely order out since I really like my own. However, I've only recently started eating fried eggs on mine instead of scrambled eggs (ooh, radical!), so my new version is currently my favorite!

It's basically this: Three of the baked tostadas that we've been using (1 pt for 3)... wowie, really crunchy, really corny, hold their shape, delish; topped with 1/3 cup of low-fat refried beans (I only had 1/3 cup left... we've had lots of mexican food, you'll see in upcoming posts) (.5 points), two eggs fried in only a smattering of cooking spray (4 points), topped with two tablespoons of ready made enchilada sauce (mine was from the freezer, a batch I made months ago. .5 points), and sprinkled with 2/3 ounce of cheddar cheese (2 points), and some chopped fresh tomato (0 points). If I had been more patient, I would have put the plate under the broiler to melt the cheese, but I knew the eggs were just the perfect amount of runny yolk and done-ness, so I didn't dare! Really a fantastic dinner!

(I've had people question the eating of 8-10 points for dinner, and I have to say, it's how I function. I like having big filling dinners, and regularly spend 10-12 points on dinner alone. It works for me, I am a big fan of three meals a day.)

(And the picture, I am in a low-lit room and can't tell if the picture is really dark or if it's just me... sorry if it sucks, but I know you are used to it by now!)

Chili me this Batman...

Chili. It's good. I love a big pot of chili with meat and beans and tomatoey goodness.

But G can't eat beans anymore (booooo!) and so chili has not made much of an appearance this fall. Until I decided that we would give beanless chili a go. Dare we try chili without the lovely lovely beans? Would we be forced to have it with spaghetti like Cincinnati chili? NO!


Not only does the chili not need beans, it can be full of weird stuff and still taste good. (New camera coupled with it getting dark at 4:30 means pictures are suffering once again. Sigh.)

This chili was a breeze to make, seemed a little iffy, but was absolutely delicious. I promise. REALLY! Make some...

Take some onion, carrot, yellow/red pepper, garlic, and sweet potato, chop it up to all about the same size, and cook in a little bit of cooking spray in a very hot pan. Add drips of water if it feels like it's sticking. After it's cooked for a bit, put it chili powder, oregano, dried mustard, and a sprinkle of dried ginger. Take out of the pan. Start browning the leanest ground beef you can find, breaking it up the whole while. If the meat is greasy, strain and spray with water to remove as much fat as possible (I find this is really important to ensure that any leftovers aren't overly greasy). Add the veggies and stir through. Add a big can of diced tomatoes, and heat through until a lot of the liquid has evaporated and the veggies are soft. Serve on soft polenta with a little shredded old cheddar.


We were so not sure about this one while it was cooking, but not only was it positively delicious, it was even better the next day. The chili had a bit of heat from the chili powder with just a little bit of sweet from the carrot and sweet potato. They got very soft in the cooking, so it wasn't even a little cloying. The polenta was just a nice (and low point) alternative to rice! Enjoy!

Baked pasta...

Sometimes, I just can't get enough of something new that I've found that I like to eat. When that something ends up being low on the Weight Watcher's points scale, everyone's a winner.

This is my recent favorite...


It's so easy...

Take a whole wheat cheese tortellini. (If you follow points, you have to find one that fits your allotment.) Boil it until almost done, but not quite. (I made one cup (5.5 points) for just me.) While it's boiling, preheat the oven to 425. Once the pasta is done, mix in your favorite sauce (homemade or jar, up to you...the one I used was .5 points for 1/2 cup serving) and stir in a little bit of parmesan cheese. Then pour into individual ramekin, top with a bit more parmesan cheese (I used .5 ounce for the whole thing... 1.5 points) and bake for twenty minutes.

It's FANTASTIC and only 7.5 points for quite a lot of pasta. I served it with a salad with one point dressing and it was really really a filling dinner and a good comfort food warm fuzzy hug.

(About the points, I don't snack during the day, so I tend to have my points break out like this: 5 or so points for breakfast, 5 or so points for lunch, and the remaining 10 or so for dinner. This is perfect for me, as it gets me an egg sandwich (see below) or some such thing for breakfast, a tv dinner or leftovers for lunch, and then a good filling dinner. It fits the way I like to eat. I know when I've said to other people that I like something that's 10 points, they wonder how I fit it in... that's how!!!!)

Jack's aching stomach...

wants shepherds pie.

Tostada's for girls who like it to crunch. (And a sad farewell)

Yesterday, G and I went to Planet Organic up in Thornhill to do a little shopping before going to G's brother's house for lunch. We walked around and stumbled upon some baked tostadas that looked amazing. They were on sale (and only 2 points for 3 shells), we had to buy some!

So I came home, took some of our grass fed ground beef from Whole Foods, browned it up with about a third of an Old El Paso burrito mix. (Nothing but fancy at this food blogger's home, yes siree bob!) We served it with some shredded lettuce (don't gasp, I ate some too despite my hatred of hot lettuce), chopped tomato, g's fresh salsa,old cheddar, and mushed up avocado with hot sauce. Really a delicious dinner!


The tostada shells really held their own. They didn't get mushy and they had a really satisfying crunch with each bite. And I did chop up some carrot to mix with the meat and onion. Veggies were I can, you know? (I am like one of those mom's who puts "phantom" veg in everything to get the kids to eat them...in my case, I just do it to get me to eat more vegetables! G just shook her head in disbelief.)

And a sad, tearful goodbye is in order... I drank the last of my Harrod's English Breakfast tea... sad morning for this household, as this is one of my most favorite teas...


Sigh. I'll miss you delicious tea.

On the plus side, it means a trip to England is in order. STAT! (Sadly, this tea buying trip will have to wait, as for our new year holiday we have booked a cruise! I have never been on a cruise and am a bit nervous about it, but am sure it will be excellent! We are spending a couple of days in New Orleans and are interested in some good places to eat. We are thinking Nola for our "dinner out" and the Napoleon House for muffaleta's and the Joint for bbq. Thoughts? Drop me an email.)

Mexican Fajitas...

There is nothing better than Mexican food. I mean, there are things just as good, Indian, Greek, Italian, hamburgers... but nothing, and I mean, absolutely nothing better than Mexican food.

And so, from time to time, we make Mexican food trying to live up to the ideal we have read in places such as Rick Bayless's stuff. So yeah. Fajitas. Not so much authentic, but oh so delicious.


We made a ton of veggies to have with it...


And we ate it all up and laughed with the joy of it all. Really really good.

You may notice that on that taco, here is a little bit of beautiful green tomatillo salsa that Gail made, as well as some of the queso fresco. We bought a big block of the queso fresco at the Mexican foods store in Kensington Market, along with the cheapest but most delicious corn tortillas. They are so lovely and delicious. Yeah for the fajitas.

G is up here at the top of this post with her nicely made fajita... Good times.

Grilled Cheese, if you please.

I absolutely love Grilled Cheese sandwiches. LOVE THEM. As a child, college student, and now adult, I could eat grilled cheese sandwiches at least once a week and not be sad at all.

Feeling a need to use up some of the leftovers in our fridge, I decided to engage my inner Top Chef cook and make a duo of grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner.


Ahhhhh.... gooey cheddar cheese and fillings....

The bottom one is cheese, mayo, salt and pepper and left over roast chicken. The one on top is cheddar cheese and prosciutto. It never occurred to me that people would make grilled cheese in different ways. G makes hers in the oven, two open pieces of bread, no butter, heating into toast, then she smooshes them together to make a sandwich.

Me? I am a bit old school when it comes to grilled cheese. Buttered bread, sandwiching the toppings, put in a hot skillet and fried while constantly smooshing the thing down to get it thinish. I don't know why I have always smooshed it down. As a kid, I was told that I was ruining it and making it horrible. Now with the country's great love of panini's, I just feel like I was a bit of an innovator even in elementary school with my "pressed" sandwiches. (tee hee)

Fast Dinner.

I don't know about you, but when life gets hectic and the summer air gets hot and I get home late and tired, it's not all about fancy food. Heck, it's not even about going out to eat anymore because that just means more time away from home! It's really just about getting some type of not horrid food on the plate that will make me full and happy. I mean, yeah, it still has to taste good, but I am not feeling overly creative.

This dinner arose from that. It's based on a recipe I saw on tv years and years ago and modified to suit my tastes. (I was going to say "palette" but that seems a bit over the top for a girl like me!)


Pasta with Fresh Sauce and Chicken! It's super fast and super easy, I am sure you have a version of it in your own repertoire. Here's how I did it...

Boil pasta until it's to your liking. (I used Tinkyada penne in this one.)
While it's cooking (or when it's done if you want to use the same pan, just let it drain on the side), pour a splash of olive oil in the pan, when slightly heated, toss in diced fresh tomato, red pepper flakes, grated garlic, salt and pepper. Heat through. Add some diced cooked chicken (we had aleftover roast chicken to use up) and then stir in the pasta. Once heated, grate on a ton of fresh parmesan cheese (or use the green shaker can, who am I to judge?). Pour into a bowl and dig in!