OOEY GOOEY Grilled Cheese

So I took Greg back to his childhood today with the ULTIMATE Grilled Cheese Sandwich. You can't really see it in the picture but this isn't just any old grilled cheese sandwich. It's got ham and tomatoes squished between that ooey gooey goodness!

Ingredients: (2 sandwiches)

4 slices sourdough bread
4 slices ham
8 thin tomato slices
4 slices cheddar cheese singles
2 tsp butter, or enough to cover the bread

Preparations:

1. Spread outside of sandwich with butter.

2. Top with ham, tomatoes and cheese.
3. Cook in skillet on medium heat 3 min on each side or until golden brown on both sides.

No Guests...AGAIN!

It's the final playoffs for Super Bowl and we were SUPPOSED to have guests over! That was the reason I bought these cute football plates and big bowl! Oh well, at least my spinach dip and guac turned out yummy and we had a party of 2. Who needs guests anyway!

Quiche? How Fancy!

Bacon and Ham Quiche (Pillsbury Style!)

Greg's never had Quiche before so I decided to make one since I know he'll like anything with eggs and cheese! I made the crust out of Pillsbury dough, which took some time and patience to get the edges just right (especially since I've never made crust before). Topped with egges, ham and LOTS of cheese and you've got something AMAZINGLY fancy!

Ingredients:

1 ¼ c Original Bisquick® mix
¼ c butter or margarine, softened
2 Tbsp boiling water
1 pkg (6 oz) sliced Canadian bacon, chopped
1 c shredded Swiss cheese (4 oz)
1 ½ c half-and-half
3 eggs
½ tsp salt

Preparations:

1. Heat oven to 400°F. Grease bottom and side of 9-inch pie plate with shortening. Stir Bisquick and butter until blended. Add boiling water; stir vigorously until soft dough forms. Press dough in bottom and up side of pie plate, forming edge on rim of plate.
2. Sprinkle bacon, cheese and onions over crust. In medium bowl, beat half-and-half, eggs, salt and red pepper with spoon until blended. Pour into crust.
3. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until edge is golden brown and center is set.

My First Meatloaf

Meatloaf has always scared me a little bit. Maybe it's the the fact that I have to get my hands down there and mix. However, after the extremely large bucket of Instant Oatmeal I purchased for my Oatmeal Cookies on Thurday, I needed every excuse to use OATMEAL! So I found a recipe that used it in Meatloaf and decided to give it a try. It turned out surprisingly good!

Ingredients: (6 servings)

1 ½ lbs lean ground beef or turkey
¾ c Quaker® Oats(quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
¾ c finely chopped onion
½ c catsup
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce or soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper

Preparations:

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Combine all ingredients in large bowl; mix lightly but thoroughly. Shape meatloaf mixture into 10x6-inch loaf on rack of broiler pan.
2. Bake 50 to 55 minutes or until meatloaf is to medium doneness (160°F for beef, 170°F for turkey), until not pink in center and juices show no pink color. Let stand 5 minutes before slicing. Cover and refrigerate leftovers promptly and use within 2 days, or wrap airtight and freeze up to 3 months.

French Toast!

I've made pancakes and Eggs Benedict about 10 times now and figured it was time to switch it up. I bought these HUGE slices of sourdough bread from Safeway the other day and Greg suggested that they'd make perfect French Toast! Do I ever say no to a new challenge? Of course not!

Ingredients:

2 large eggs
1/3 c milk or half and half
½ tsp vanilla
¼ tsp cinnamon
3 slices of bread
Syrup
Confectioner’s sugar
Butter

Preparations:

1. In a shallow dish, beat together eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon until well blended.
2. Heat a buttered skillet over medium heat until just hot enough to sizzle a drop of water.
3. One slice at a time, dip bread in egg mixture on each side.
4. Place bread in hot pan, cook on both sides about 4 minutes or until golden brown, and no visible liquid egg remains.
5. Serve immediately with syrup and confectioners powdered sugar sprinkled on top.

Smart Taste!

Our new year's resolution is to eat healthier, meaning more veggies, fruit, whole grains, and less alcohol. So...last night I found the most fantastic spaghetti by Ronzoni called Smart Taste. Apparently these babies have all the fiber and goodness of whole wheat noodles but taste like regular ones! I cooked them up with some marinara sauce and snuck in some carrots, mushrooms and extra tomatoes. Topped with some cooked chicken bites and it was yummy AND healthy! Greg loved it and I can't blame him!

Chicken Spaghetti

Ingredients: (2 servings)

1 bag (6 oz) Tyson cooked chicken bites

2 c Smart Taste Spaghetti, cooked according to pkg, drained
1 c marinara sauce

1 Tbsp oil
1/2 c sliced mushrooms

1/2 c chopped carrots
1/2 c chopped tomatoes
1/2 c Mozzarella cheese

Preparation:

1. Cook carrots in oil until tender.

2. Add sauce, carrots, mushrooms and tomatoes to spaghetti. Bring to boil; simmer 5 min., stirring occasionally.

3. Sprinkle with cheese.