Monthly Archives: March 2013

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Jalapeno Popper Grilled Cheese

This is seriously, the best grilled cheese I’ve ever made.  And I make a pretty good grilled cheese.  I made two at first, and as we sit down to eat Jayesh takes a bite, pauses and smiles at me.  As he finishes his sandwich he whispers to me, “Are you going to make more?”  That is a success!  Of course I made more!

 

This sandwich is packed with flavor and so easy to make.  

Here’s what you need:

Bread

Jalapenos

Cooked bacon (skip this to make it vegetarian!)

Cream Cheese

Shredded mozzarella

Pepper

Garlic Powder

Emeril’s Original Essence Seasoning

 

First set your oven to broil and put your jalapenos on a baking sheet and roast them.  Flip them and keep an eye on them.  You want them nicely charred on every side.  They should be cooked through as well.  Once they are done immediately put them in a ziplock bag.  They’ll be easier to peel.  I always skip this step, I don’t really mind the skins.  Most of it will flake away when you chop them up.  So once you’re done with that, chop them up.  Remove the seeds if you like, but we leave them in because we love the heat!

Next mix your cream cheese and shredded cheese together.  Just eyeball it.  You want the consistency spreadable but pretty full of shredded cheese so it will melt throughout the sandwich.  I sprinkled in garlic powder, pepper, and Emeril’s original essence.  Again I just eyeballed this, tasting it along the way until it was flavorful.

Spread the cream cheese mixture on the bread (every slice), top with chopped grilled jalapenos, and put a couple of slices of bacon on top.  

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Heat up your pan with some butter.  Once it’s hot enough, put your sandwich on and grill it until it’s nice and toasted on both sides and the cheese is melted.

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Careful it’s HOT, but SO SO good!

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Enjoy!

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Homemade Easy Mac

During my pregnancy, I always strived to eat healthy and drink plenty of water.  It was so important to introduce healthy foods to my growing baby.  I didn’t have any HFCS and tried to stick to fresh foods and stay away from preservatives.

Now that my baby is a big boy, teaching him to eat healthy is priority number one.  We don’t give him excessive sugar.  For his first birthday he got cornbread instead of a cake smash.  We got some heat for not giving him cake for his birthday, but that tradition isn’t really for the child is it?  From the parent’s perspective it’s a cute picture ‘aw look at my baby all covered in icing!  Watch how he rips apart that cake!’  But from the child’s perspective…they are tearing into something very addictive that has drug-like effects on the body.  They have a sugar high and go nuts and then have a pretty severe crash.  It can make them sick or feel icky.  Prolonged high sugar intake leads to an impaired immune system.  So tell me, why would I do that to my child?!

So sugary treats and sodas have no place in my kid’s diet.  Instead I make him fresh home cooked meals that help his growing mind and body.  I’m going to share one easy recipe with you.

Macaroni and Cheese is famous and an American favorite.  I grew up on it and there would be weeks straight where that was all I wanted.  Now as a parent of a child with food allergies I read labels very carefully.  While reading labels and hunting for allergens I also came to realize just how awful some of these favorite foods are.  Mac and Cheese has a ton of “stuff” in it that isn’t good for you.  Why does this food need so many chemicals!  And we all know cheese isn’t neon!

So I decided to make an Easy Mac and Cheese, but sans the preservatives and things I can’t pronounce.

You will need:

 

1/3 C noodles (I used elbow pasta)

1/2 C water

1/4 C milk

Shredded Cheese

Put pasta and water in a cup and microwave 2 minutes at a time until pasta is ‘al dente’.  I went ahead and added the milk because it reduces the boiling point and the pasta cooks faster.  Mine was done in about 5 minutes.  Just make sure you watch it because the mixture will boil over pretty quickly.  Also be sure not to scald the milk.

Easy Mac

Once the pasta is cooked, add in the milk and cheese or if you did it my way, add in the cheese.  I just put a small fist full of shredded cheese.

Easy Mac

Mix and enjoy!

 

 

 

 

Easy Mac