Inspired | Grilled Cheese

On Saturdays, there is a small farmer's market just down the street from us.  It's only one block long, but it's one of my favorite things to do to get a cup of coffee and pick up something new at the market.  This weekend I took Kora with me and she had a fun time going up to all of the tables and sniffing what the farmers had to offer.

Right before this trip, I made a really healthy egg white breakfast (theknot.com tells me I need to start getting in shape for our wedding..ugh), but when I went to the farmer's market I saw a huge loaf of rosemary sourdough that I just needed to have.  I didn't know what I was going to do with it, but you can never go wrong with a nice loaf of artisan bread.

By lunch time I knew that this bread's fate was to become grilled cheese.  By dinner time, I knew Denny and I would be having more grilled cheese :)  I'm surprised that I actually have enough self control to not eat grilled cheese all the time (aside from this day)...it's right up there with mac & cheese for me.  Finding websites like this make it especially hard for me.  Sweet Jesus, a whole website dedicated to fancy grilled cheese.  I can't deal.

Here's what I did with the rosemary sourdough:

Havarti

Tomato

Arugula

Cheddar

Fried Egg

Spinach

Onion

Mozzarella

Tomato

Basil

Balsamic Vinegar

 That's it.  Simple, yet amazingly delicious.

Equally as simple is the cucumber salad I served with it.

1/2 diced cucumber

1 diced tomato

1/2 chopped red onion

2 tbsp white vinegar

Salt & pepper

Sandwich 202

Afternoon!

My renewed interest in food blogging has come about because I suddenly became aware of how much time I have been spending in the kitchen.  No complaining here, I love it.  But what I have also realized is that you don't have to go overboard to have a breakfast | lunch | dinner that is tasty, and that you can be proud of.

Corn Tortilla Sandwiches

For instance, I run home everyday to make lunch and let the pups out.  That leaves me about 20min to make something quick and eat it!  To top it off, we don't have a microwave, so I have had to say so-long to the Lean Cuisines and other frozen 3-minute "meals".  Strangely, I am really proud of not having a microwave, and kind of want to see how long we can go without breaking down and buying one.  It makes me feel like some sort of progressive, "getting back to my roots" Boulderite hippie.  But, in reality, we are just waiting to make one huge trip to Bed Bath & Beyond, for a microwave and many other things, because we struck gold and got a 20% off everything coupon, not just one item.  I know you are all jealous, and you can't have my coupon.

But being microwave-less has allowed me to become pretty crafty in the small amount of time I have.  My go-to is usually a turkey sandwich of some kind, but one day I ran out of bread.  After sulking about the fact that I might have to eat turkey and lettuce on a plate with yellow mustard drizzled over it, I found a sad looking package of corn tortillas and figured I would give those a try.  I'm glad I did, I ended up really liking it.  The tortillas are so light compared to bread and that left me feeling good after lunch.  Plus at 80 calories for two tortillas, I made them both and felt like I had 2 sandwiches for lunch :)

What's in it?

I'm not here to tell you how to make your sandwiches, so put whatever you want in it.  But I will tell you that in order for this to work, you need to heat up the tortillas somehow.  I don't mean to brag, but we don't have a microwave, so I heated them up in a pan for a couple of minutes.  I put yellow mustard, garlic-pepper turkey, mixed baby greens, sprouts, and avocado in mine - but any number of ingredients would work well.  Delish!

Summer Food Series: Salads and Sandwiches

Omg.  Wedge salads are so hot right now.

I'm not a big salad eater.  Typically by the time I 'enjoy' eating a salad it has so much crap on it that it no longer resembles a salad, or anything healthy for that matter.  But what I have enjoyed eating lately are wedge salads.  I know it's ridiculous.  Wedge salads are perhaps one of the least nutritious things you can eat.  But like most people, I fall for things that look pretty and fancy.  Let's break it down:

Iceberg lettuce:  0 nutritional value

Ranch/Blue Cheese dressing:  -100 nutritional value

Bacon: -200 nutritional value

Onions, tomatoes, etc:  Does it even matter at this point?

Lastly I would like to point out the lack of effort it takes to make these salads:  You cut the lettuce into 4 pieces and pour stuff on top of it.  Don't you feel glad you just paid $12 for it?  If you make it at home you don't feel as bad :)

Sandwiches and I, on the other hand, are BFF's.  I love all forms of sandwiches, which makes my rocky affair with gluten free so difficult at times.  Good thing I have found a bread that is bearable (albeit WAY overpriced) so I am eating sandwiches once again.  Rudi's Gluten Free, try it out.  However, I still will not pass up the opportunity for a nice baguette or french bread.

This sandwich is one of my faves right now.

Gluten Free bread (or something more delicious), toasted

Mustard

Honey roasted turkey

Brie

Red onion

Arugula

I have been so crazy about arugula since eating a burger from this place in San Francisco (hands down best burger ever - I got the French and Fries).  I finally loosened the purse strings enough to buy some.  I'm glad I did.

Summer Food Series: Mom's Potato Salad

 

One of the great things about cooking is that it doesn't have to get old.  Each season brings new ingredients and foods that are unique to that time of year.  I thought it would be fun to bring some of these dishes to the blog as the year progresses!

There are some things that I just don't eat unless it is summer but I look forward to them all year long.  One of the things I crave come June is my mom's potato salad.  It reminds me of picnics at the park or the beach.  The ingredients are super simple and, I don't know about you, but that's what I like in a potato salad!

5 lbs of potatoes, peeled, cubed and boiled until cooked through

5 scallions, chopped

4 hard boiled eggs, chopped

1-1.5 cups of mayo to desired consistency

Salt and seasoned pepper to taste

The only problem with this recipe is that I make enough for an entire family and quickly remember that I am only one person.  Therefore I only make it once or twice each summer because I end up eating it for a while after I make it!!