Bread, Cheese, & Chocolate

loaded nacho grilled cheese in seven easy steps

Thu, 23 May 2013 19:41:47 -0400

We made loaded nacho grilled cheese sandwiches yesterday!

Step one: mix together cooked ground beef and taco seasonings, black beans, sour cream, salsa, green onions, and shredded cheddar in a bowl (you can see this at the bottom left of the pic above).

Step two: coat skillet with butter, turn heat on to very low.

Step three: beat together a couple of eggs in one bowl, and crush up a bag of Doritos in another bowl. Take each slice of bread, dip one side in the eggwash, then the Doritos, then place it Dorito side down on the skillet.

Step four: Once your breads fill up your skillet, put a scoop of the meat/cheese mixture on each slice of bread.

Step five: Optional: add another sprinkling of cheese, and then personalize sandwiches with any toppings that only some people like (avocados and black olives in our case).

Step six: repeat the egg/Doritos step with the other slices of bread, and top each sandwich.Turn heat up, and “grill” as you normally would any other grilled cheese.

Step seven: devour, with taco sauce or salsa for dipping if desired.

This is a seriously delicious meal - that’s easy to customize. You could make it vegetarian, or super spicy, or loaded with veggies - however your eaters normally eat their nachos!

And, if you’re cooking for a crowd, cook up the sandwiches in batches, and then keep them warm on a baking sheet in a low-temp oven. They hold their crispiness quite well!

So we didn’t make this… but we did DEVOUR it. We...

Wed, 01 May 2013 17:42:43 -0400

So we didn’t make this… but we did DEVOUR it. We went to the Pima County Fair last weekend, and tried the fried cookie dough. It was amazing. That photo is completely unfiltered; so you can see how ridiculously sugary it was.

But the creamy/melty cookie dough inside the chewy, slightly crisp batter, topped with the powdered sugar was irresistible. I wonder if we can replicate it?

Monsters, Inc inspired cupcakes for Eleanor’s 3rd birthday...

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 17:36:19 -0400

Monsters, Inc inspired cupcakes for Eleanor’s 3rd birthday party!

I used the America’s Test Kitchen yellow cake recipe and buttercream frosting recipe, and then used tons of candies to decorate them — so they were cute AND delicious!

—Jessica

Proof that we eat more than just grilled cheese… Roasted,...

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 08:01:28 -0400

Proof that we eat more than just grilled cheese… Roasted, smashed potatoes (we loosely followed the Spilled Milk Podcast recipe), with turkey kielbasa (from Trader Joe’s), bell peppers, onion, and asparagus.

Wow, now that I think about it - this meal didn’t contain bread, cheese, OR chocolate. Quite possibly a record for us…

French Onion Grilled Cheese! Caramelized onions reduced with...

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 00:12:30 -0400

French Onion Grilled Cheese!

Caramelized onions reduced with butter and beef broth, some sliced up leftover steak, havarti, gruyere, and toasty French bread. Mmmmm.

Macaroni grilled cheese. It was underwhelming actually. Too...

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 21:10:36 -0500

Macaroni grilled cheese. It was underwhelming actually. Too carb-y and bland. Maybe we’ll try it again and put bacon in with the Mac & cheese?

Bacon burgers with grilled cheese sandwiches as the buns. 100%...

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 23:14:06 -0500

Bacon burgers with grilled cheese sandwiches as the buns. 100% amazing.

Part of the reason we haven’t been posting as often around...

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 10:01:46 -0500

Part of the reason we haven’t been posting as often around here is that we both made some healthier eating resolutions this year.

Not that the dinner above was gross or anything… it was tasty. We just assume that you’d rather see pictures of grilled cheese or something.

I made football cookies for last week’s Super Bowl. I was...

Sat, 09 Feb 2013 17:18:30 -0500

I made football cookies for last week’s Super Bowl. I was hoping that it would bring the 49ers good luck, but alas. Noel was really, really sad.

I felt bad for him a little, but also a teensy bit happy, because that means six months of no football! :)

—Jessica

Mmm, gingerbread men! What’s your favorite holiday cookie?

Thu, 20 Dec 2012 16:02:57 -0500

Mmm, gingerbread men! What’s your favorite holiday cookie?

I feel like a genius. Eleanor requested pancakes for lunch, and...

Thu, 20 Dec 2012 15:08:56 -0500

I feel like a genius. Eleanor requested pancakes for lunch, and I randomly subbed in eggnog for the milk. (I use the basic Betty Crocker recipe). 1 cup of eggnog and a pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg made them fluffy and delectable. There was a faint hint of richness… But nothing overpowering (and I ate 3)!

I think eggnog pancakes are the perfect way to use up your leftover eggnog, and make a standard breakfast a little more special.

crucialpizza: Pizza Hut Perfume Is Real Ok, cool. Hahaha!! Who...

Fri, 07 Dec 2012 08:01:50 -0500

crucialpizza:

Pizza Hut Perfume Is Real

Ok, cool.

Hahaha!!

Who wants this for Christmas?

Dinner tonight: grilled cheese! Filling: cheddar, Monterey...

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 23:26:42 -0500

Dinner tonight: grilled cheese!

Filling: cheddar, Monterey Jack, Caramelized onions and bell peppers.

Bread: herb bread from the local French bakery.

Spread with garlic herb butter, and toasted to perfection! Mmm!!

We’ve been making lots of frittatas lately. They’re...

Sat, 10 Nov 2012 23:20:21 -0500

We’ve been making lots of frittatas lately. They’re just so darn handy for using up all those old veggies lurking around! Plus: it’s a great excuse to eat a little bacon!

We live in Tucson. So yes, in late October we totally had...

Thu, 01 Nov 2012 18:09:54 -0400

We live in Tucson. So yes, in late October we totally had grilled burgers and veggies for dinner.

Halloween fudge! Need: 12 oz white chocolate chips One can...

Sat, 13 Oct 2012 17:27:40 -0400

Halloween fudge!

Need:
12 oz white chocolate chips
One can sweetened condensed milk
Food coloring
About 10 Oreos, chopped/crumbled
About 20 small pretzels, ditto
An 8x8 pan
Wax paper

Melt white chocolate chips. Stir in sweetened, condensed milk and coloring.

Line 8x8 pan with wax paper, then cover bottom with half of crushed Oreos and pretzels. Pour milk-chocolate mixture over, smooth. Top with another layer of cookie and pretzel crumbs, pressing down lightly.

Chill for a few hours in fridge, use wax paper to remove from pan, cut, eat. YUM!

A day at the office

Sun, 23 Sep 2012 16:29:37 -0400

Coworker 1: Man, I am sore from my workout this morning.
Coworker 2: I ran 3.5 miles!
Coworker 3: Yeah, my workout was pretty tough too.
Meghan: I made muffins, and ate some muffin batter. Want a muffin?

My version of a “muffin tin lunch” for Eleanor - a plastic egg...

Thu, 20 Sep 2012 00:07:57 -0400

My version of a “muffin tin lunch” for Eleanor - a plastic egg carton. Containing: goldfish crackers, grapes, golden raisins, candied pineapple chunks, and a string cheese cut into little circles.

what to serve your vegetarian friends for dinner

Tue, 11 Sep 2012 09:56:19 -0400

First of all, you can’t go wrong with fried zucchini. My technique was a lot like this one, except I actually fried them, and then popped them in the oven to stay warm.

And for the main course: a grilled cheese smorgasbord. Please forgive the outlets in the back ground — I took pictures in a hurry because hungry people were clamoring to eat.

On the left: simple — wheat bread with cheddar and mozzarella. In the center: caprese style — bakery purchased French bread, with tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil. On the right: southwestern: my homemade French bread (which is more dense) with sharp cheddar, roasted bell peppers, and caramelized onions.

I sampled them all, just to be sure, and they were delicious.

I made them all about 20 minutes before the guests were due to arrive, purposely taking them out of the pan a minute or two earlier than I normally would, and put them on a large cookie sheet in a 200 degree oven (with the zucchini). Everything stayed nice and warm, and I was able to serve it up all at once, and sit and eat with my guests instead of standing at the stove flipping sandwiches. I’m definitely going to use that technique again!

— Jessica

Bacon-cheddar-squash-potatoes au gratin. Yum!

Fri, 07 Sep 2012 17:55:12 -0400

Bacon-cheddar-squash-potatoes au gratin. Yum!