Fancy Grilled Cheese

Trying to diet is killing me.  I justified indulging in some buttery carbs by watching my portions and adding in a healthy sized meat and veggie serving... don't you judge me. ;)

2 slices 98 calorie bread
Butter --I still won't go margarine
Cheddar
Sliced Avacado, tomato, and lettuce
provalone

Arrange so you have one kind of cheese on each slice of lightly buttered bread and the meat and veggies in between.  Cook on medium heat in a skillet until both sides are golden brown.

I had something similar at Cubby's.  They have cranberries on theirs. SO GOOD.

Souper Pepper French Bread Pizzas

My Mom showed my kids how to make this and it is a HUGE family hit:

French Bread cut to make bottom and top halves
1 lb hamburger
1-2 cans cream o' mushroom
sliced bell peppers
Cheese

Brown hamburger, drain
heat back up with soup
spread over each half of french bread
top with peppers and cheese

bake at 350 till cheese is melted

Serve

AMAZING Chicken Salad Sandwich in less than 5 minutes!

 In a bowl, mix together:
1/2 cup mayo or miracle whip
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 green onion stalk, finely sliced
1/2 celery stalk, finely chopped
2 leaves fresh basil, finely cut
1/2 cup grated Italian blend cheese
1 can chicken breast, drained

It will look like this...

Serve on your favorite sandwich bread or roll, I used french bread here.
It is also excellent on lightly toasted bread, too!
EAT.
(serves about 6)

I found this on WebMD of all places...

15 Fresh Brown Bag Lunch Ideas

1. Pasta Lover's Lunch Salad. Pack a cold pasta salad and a plastic fork, and your pasta lover will love you, too! Make your salad with lean meat or low-fat cheese (so it has some protein), lots of vegetables to boost fiber and nutrition, and use a whole-grain blend pasta, like Barilla Plus. Then just drizzle some light vinaigrette over the top and toss.
2. Pita Pocket Sandwich. Pack your whole-grain pita pocket with chicken Caesar salad, or any other lean meat or cheese filler mixed with vegetables and dark green lettuce.
3. The Fruit and Cheese Plate Special. Make crispy cracker sandwiches with whole-wheat crackers, slices of assorted cheese, and lean meats. Don't forget the fruit, which goes nicely with the cheese and adds fiber and nutrition.
4. Peanut Butter Fun Pack. Pack 1/8 cup of natural-style peanut butter, along with a plastic knife or spoon, wheat crackers, and celery sticks, and you have a peanut butter fun pack!
5. Bagel With Cream Cheese, Please. Bagels are a wonderful foundation for hardy sandwiches that stand up to being in a backpack or locker all morning. You can toast a bagel in the morning and simply spread some light cream cheese in the middle. Or make a bagel sandwich with, say, a little light cream cheese, some turkey, and cranberry sauce, then top it off with alfalfa sprouts or Romaine lettuce.
6. Carry a Cobb Salad. Plastic containers can hold the makings of a delicious salad lunch. Fill it with chopped green lettuce, chopped hard-boiled egg, light cheese, and/or lean ham. You can buy packets of light dressing, or just use extra packets of light salad dressing left over from your last trip to the fast-food chain.
7. It's a Wrap! Wraps are a nice change of pace from the usual sandwich. Use one of the new higher-fiber tortillas, like the multigrain flour tortillas available in most supermarkets. Then fill 'er up with chicken Caesar salad or assorted lean meats, cheese, tomato, sliced onion, shredded Romaine lettuce, and light dressing. Just roll it up and wrap in foil.
8. Noodle Soup Cups. Many schools offer a hot water dispenser so kids can add hot water to packaged noodle soup cups. Some brands are higher in sodium and fat, and lower in fiber than others. Check out the options in stores like Whole Foods or Trader Joe's.
9. Veggie Sushi. Not all kids will go for this one, but there are some out there who really like seaweed-wrapped sushi rolls. You can now buy pre-made sushi at many supermarkets, too. Choosing the veggie-filled sushi means there's no chance the sushi will get a little "fishy" while it's in your kid's backpack.
10. Toss Some Taco Salad. If taco salad is a favorite, you can pack the meat mixture tossed with the shredded cheese, tomatoes, and chopped Romaine lettuce in a plastic container. At lunchtime, your child can add crunchy, reduced-fat tortilla chips and a little light dressing.
11. Fried Rice Can Be Fun. When made with eggs or chopped lean ham and lots of veggies, cold fried rice can be a satisfying noontime treat. Make your own, or plan on leftovers the night before if you're ordering from a restaurant.
12. Talk About Taquitos. I started doing this last year, and it seems to have stuck with my girls. I pop some Bean and Cheese frozen Taquitos from Whole Foods into my toaster oven in the morning, then let them cool. Then, I wrap them in foil and make sure they stay cool by packing a frozen juice box or small water bottle. By noon, they are cold, fun finger food.
13. BBQ Chicken Sandwich. Your child can assemble a yummy BBQ grilled chicken sandwich fresh at lunchtime. Just pack a grilled, boneless, skinless chicken breast (you can make it in your indoor grill the night before) with some lettuce and sliced tomato in one baggie, and a whole-wheat bun in another. Add a packet of BBQ sauce to the lunch bag, and it's good to go.
14. Meal Muffins. Certain types of muffins work as a lunch entrée. If you bake them over the weekend and keep them in the freezer, you just have to pull one or two out in the morning. By lunch, they are nicely chilled and ready to eat. Try ham and cheese muffins, Mexican Cornbread muffins, or quiche muffins (quiche filling, baked with or without crust in a muffin pan).
15. Turkey Jerky. You can round off a lunch packed with fruit, vegetables, and maybe trail mix or crackers by adding some high-protein turkey jerky. I found a turkey at Trader Joe's that is made without nitrites, MSG, or artificial ingredients, and the turkey is raised without added hormones. Can't argue with that. A 2-ounce serving of turkey jerky contains: 120 calories, 22 grams of protein, 12 grams of carbohydrate, 540 milligrams of sodium, and 20 milligrams of cholesterol.

Bagel Sandwiches

1 Plain Bagel
cream cheese (aka Schmear LOL)
2-4 slices of deli ham

You get how to build it, right? Then nuke it till it hot (in my microwave that's about 30 seconds.)

Mmmmmm..... and easy.

Cheddar Studded Turkey Burgers

This was originally a Rachael Ray recipe, but her ingredients are pricey and often too much for my kids to handle. I tinkered and this is the poor man's version. We like it better anyway. :)


*1 lb ground turkey
*cubed Cheddar cheese (I do about 1/3 in.)
*Cumin and/or chili powder
*onion

Combine these and divide into patties


*Ranch Dressing
*Garlic powder

I never actually had a recipe for this, so I do it to taste. blend and use for topping on the cooked patty.


*Buns

The quickie pizza

English muffins or a Baguette
Pizza sauce
Shredded Mozzerella
Optional pizza toppings

For fast mini pizzas, slather the pizza sauce and grated cheese on an English muffin or two and nuke it till the cheese is melted.

French bread pizzas are almost the same but you slice the baguette in halves or fourths and then bake with toppings till cheese is melted at about 350.

Lunches the dilemma

Lunches are tough for me. Half the time its just myself and the girls and what's the point in cooking anything significant? The other half, Richard comes home for a short while and wants something significant and I had no idea he was coming home till he's home for 30 min, hungry and in a rush. Hmmm....

What to have on hand for these days? Left overs are good, when we have them. But when time is tight and we've eaten the same leftovers for a couple of days or don't have any, I tend to cheat and have Richard go pick something up for everyone on his way home. This is bad for business, since it now costs about $15-$20 for fast food or take out for our family.



For the girls when its just the three of us, I have my standbys:

the dreaded Mac and Cheese

PB & J

Peanut Butter and Bananas on raisin bread

Can of soup

Hot dogs/corn dogs

Fish sticks/fillets

Grilled cheese

--You get the point.

When Richard comes home for lunch, its usually after not having breakfast, and a corn dog just ain't gonna cut it, you know?

Suggestions? What's fast and hearty?