Jalapeno cheddar chicken burgers

We meet again, Monday. I'm not really much of a Monday hater, to be honest. I actually enjoy my routine, and as long as I feel I got everything I wanted to done throughout my weekend (groceries, meal planning, laundry, workouts, house cleanup) I feel pretty good about starting a fresh new week. So no Monday gripes round here. I will say that Friday most definitely trumps Monday though, and that will never change. Just like Spring trumps Winter...some things are just the way they are. Ask me how I feel about Fridays in the Spring!

 

This weekend was a busy one, but I did manage to get my life in order with a couple big grocery trips to Trader Joe's and Wal-Mart, as well as get a couple great sweat seshes on the books to keep up with my new found motivation on MyFitnessPal. By the way, today is day 1 of Tuff Butt April so I just completed the required lunges, squats, and lunge holds to check today off the list. This first week will be fairly simple and take minimal time, but it shall get challenging soon. Who's joining me??

 

As you know, we've been battling Main Man's cholesterol numbers lately and trying to find workarounds for some of his favorite foods. Enter: chicken burgers. They don't necessarily sound all that great when you have a big, juicy burger in mind, but I pinky swear these babies leave you satisfied beyond the normal greasy patty burger world. They weren't tough to throw together either...

 

Start with 1 lb ground chicken (you want to go with breast meat or it won't be as lean)

1/2 cup finely chopped yellow onion

1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 t chopped jalapeno

1 t ground cumin

1 t paprika

1/2 cup finely shredded cheddar cheese

salt and pepper to taste

 

hamburger buns

guacamole

cheese (I used 2% pepperjack)

lettuce (I used spinach)

tomato

mayo (I used olive oil mayo)

 

Add all ingredients in the first group to a large mixing bowl and....mix. Duh!

 

 

Patty the burgers out. I did 3 patties because a 1/3 pound burger is plenty for this chicky poo. If you feel the need for 1/4 pounders or 1/2 pounders, feel free to make them as large or small as your appetite calls for. Per usual, I made these on a Sunday afternoon to throw in the fridge for a quick grilled weeknight dinner...and they worked splendidly!

 

Throw them on the Griddler or the grill (spray your grill with non fat cooking spray first to avoid stickage) and grill like you would any other burger. Just make sure these are cooked through before eating, rather than rare like you can do bovine burgers. Chicken needs to be cooked, yo. I sliced into mine to make sure it was done, I can't give you cooking times as all grills differ in their temperatures.

I chose a slice of Pepperjack love to melt on top and then added our burgers to their final resting places on a toasted bun layered with spinach and tomato and spread with spicy quacamole and olive oil mayonnaise. To. Die. For.

Drink in a look at that first bite. These will be a Summer staple at the lake without a doubt! Main Man tested, Main Man approved.

I have to give a HUGE shoutout to my good friend Brandy, who got engaged this morning on the beach!! Brandy is one of my oldest friends, she used to keep me out of trouble and I used to do her Geometry tests in high school...we're a good match :)

I know you all thought the "Wedding Schtuff" tag would be forgotten after our recent nuptuals but I'm sure there will be lots more fun projects to share with you in the coming year helping her prepare to become Mrs. Rizer! SO EXCITED!! See what I mean...Mondays can be awesome! :)

Tuna melts

Well, my little poopies (isn't that from The Little Mermaid? If it's not, then I apologize)...we made it. It's officially Friday and I couldn't be happier. I'm not sure the week you get back from vacation and are trying to get back in the swing of your routine and get caught up on sleep and everything else that you put off while you were gone actually feels longer than the week before vacation when you're getting everything ready to go and are so excited about packing and leaving....but it sure feels like it to me. I'm happy to have hit the weekend, and pretty proud of myself for not dropping the ball on my workouts this week or last, even with a 5 day hiatus in the middle. I've still gotten my minimum 3 days in per week and am actually going to hit my normal goal of 4 this week! That's a win in my book...and a needed win after the 3,000 calorie daiquiris I consumed on vacation unknowingly until asking about the health facts. Talk about a blow to the gut! Oh well, that's what vacation is for...back on track!

 

This was a meal we had before vacation...something easy that I used to prepare a lot when I was in college. Tuna's cheap, ya'll! And it takes literally 5 minutes to throw these together. Quick and cost-friendly? That's a college student's best friend right there...

 

This mustard makes the sammy, I'm telling you. It's the only mustard we use in our house, I'm not a yellow mustard fan. But recently I discovered that Woeber's also makes a horseradish mustard (in the cupboard, have yet to try) and a jalapeno mustard (holy eff bombs, that stuff is the ish). So if you haven't tried this brand yet, make like the Easter bunny and hop to it. Moving on...

 

2 cans white albacore tuna in water, drained (I like this because it's not oily or ugly and just tastes more fresh than the normal oil in can tuna...costs a little more but it's worth it)

4 slices wheat bread

2 slices 2% pepperjack cheese

1 T mayo (I used to use fat free but now use the olive oil mayo, its great for you even with calories added)

1 T Woeber's hot and spicy mustard

cracked pepper to taste

crushed red pepper to taste

Chalula hot sauce dashes if you likey...and I do likey

 

Mix all but the bread and cheese (obviously) up in a bowl with a fork. Spread the mixture on the bread, split between two sandwiches.

 

I used my Griddler to make those perdy grill marks on the bread this time, but before I lived in Griddler ownership, I would broil them in the oven to get the bread toasted and then heat in the microwave for 30 seconds to melt the cheese completely (the broiler WILL burn your bread if you leave it in there too long). Keep an eye on it if you do it that way, these things are known to go from zero to housefire in the span of 30 seconds! The Griddler works perfectly though..worth the investment, friendys.

These sammies are so versatile! We actually layered some banana pepper slices on them this time. You can go less spicy and add tomato slices too, if that's your bag. Either way, these are always filling and satisfying. Main Man had actually requested them because I hadn't made them for him since we started dating. Surprised he remembered the meals we had that far back, but glad he liked them then too! Served with the standard szecuan green beans made with our stock of frozen green beans from the garden last summer and everyone was happy, happy, happy!

In other news...I'm going to try to do an exercise in accountability and have started using MyFitnessPal again in order to knock some of the Winter (and vacation) weight off the scale. If you are a user and want to add me, and comment when I have too many glasses of wine, skip a workout, or throw in a late night popsicle, my username is abbystensland and I will gladly take as many people judging me on as possible! Also, I'm planning to begin April on Sunday with this "Tuff Butt" workout and use it as a boost to my normal routine each day. We'll see how that goes...again with the accountability...ask me if I forget to post about it! And join me if you  would like to have a little booty in your swimsuit this summer rather than a daiquiri booty. Come oooooon, it'll be fun! OK, that's a lie, but misery does love company so...perdy please?! Heading out for a lunch run on this gorgeous Spring Friday...ta-ta for now!

Bison burgers and purple potatoes

Remember when I told you about Main Man's cholesterol issues? By the way, if you haven't tried the chicken phillies in that post, you're doing yourself a severe disservice in life.  Anyway, his cholesterol problems are not something that's going to go away overnight. We've needed to make some changes in everything, including my dude's love for the bovine genre of the food pyramid...namely, steaks. I've been doing some reading and it seems that bison is an extremely lean alternative to beef, and is even lower in calories and fat than chicken or turkey!! Say whaaaaaat?? The drawback is the price...it's perdy expensive. But I figure, if I can give my guy a beefy tasting burger or steak and have it actually helping his cholesterol numbers rather than hurting them, I'll gladly pay a little more for the extra years on his calendar :)

 

I wasn't just going to go buy a half a bison off the bat though...we gotta ease into this stuff. So we grabbed some bison burgers at Whole Foods to see if there was a distinct taste difference or not and we were very pleasantly surprised. Some people said bison has a "gamey" taste to it and I would completely disagree...granted, we ate a burger and not a steak, but I could barely taste a difference besides less grease. My next step is to order some more cuts to try for the upcoming grilling season, so I'll let you know how all that goes too. For now though, I just wanted to pass on the benefits of bison vs. beef as it was something that I had never known existed as a substitute before a little research...

 

NUTRITION

	Fat (grams )	Calories (kcal)	Cholesterol (mg)	Iron (mg)	Vitamin B12 (mcg)
Bison	2.42	143	82	3.42	2.86
Beef (choice)	10.15	219	86	2.99	2.65
Beef (select)	8.09	201	86	2.99	2.64
Pork	9.66	212	86	1.1	0.75
Chicken (skinless)	7.41	190	89	1.21	0.33
Sockeye Salmon	10.97	216	87	0.55	5.80
Source: USDA

 

I realize Lance isn't the most popular dude on the playground these days, but I do use the Livestrong site alot for calorie estimations, etc...head over there if you want a little more detail on the differences between beef and bison.

 

Now about those purple things on the plate there...yes, those are taters. Purple taters. Purple taters that lower your blood pressure. Yes, sirree. I've been trying to read about substitutions for other things as well...starches being one important one. Whole wheat is recommended for all breads and pastas when you have high cholesterol, but there's no such thing as a wheat potato. At least not yet, but it's only 2013. It turns out though, that these little gems can actually lower your blood pressure. Plus, they taste mighty nice when they're tossed in a little olive oil, fresh cracked salt and pepper, and rosemary and then roasted till you can stick a fork through them. Rosemary is to potatoes what mac is to cheese. One of those couples that is just meant to be together. That marriage will last, folks. Just like mine and Main Man's :)

 

So all in all, what tasted and looked like a super hearty cheat meal actually turned out to be a cheating skinnier version of a hearty not really cheating meal. Get it? Then go get it. Your meat and tater loving husband will thank you! Maybe he'll even go to hot yoga with you like mine did last weekend?? He's my favorite feller...

Roasted jalapeno grilled cheese

Happy Monday, all! Oh, I know I'm a bit late today. It literally took all the strength I could muster to pull myself out from under the warm covers in my blackout blind darkened bedroom this morning when my alarm went off...let's be real, it was after the third time the alarm went off. The sleep function got a lot of exercise today...gotta make sure it works properly, ya know.

 

I honestly think I have a food hangover. I ate so much naughty food this weekend that I can literally feel it coursing through my veins. Chili, cornbread, hot wings, pizza, cheesecake, cheeseburger, french fries...omg, that list is making me convulse in shock. We had a surprise birthday party for a friend and hosted a chili cookoff, which meant I had to try all 11 types of chili (I made jalapeno popper chicken chili which I will share with you soon) to see which was the best...I rose to the challenge. The superbowl is always a battle, and one I didn't win this year. I was too hungry by game time to be counting any calories...a healthy snack beforehand would've been useful to curb that growling pizza monster inside of me, but I was blinded by the piles of cheese and went face first in the pie the second I saw it. Oh well, you only live once, right?

 

I won't be making this adult style grilled cheese this week, as my stomach needs a break from all foods spicy, but I will be making it again and that's a fact! Main Man loves my Griddler, and is so excited when he sees it pulled out...I didn't think the smile could get bigger but then I said "jalapeno grilled cheese" and his face almost broke in half. These don't really pack too much heat because the peppers are roasted, which tames them a bit. I went with just cheese and peppers on mine but Main Man wanted one with just cheese and peppers and one with turkey as well as the cheese and peppers so we did a little experiment. I had some asiago bread leftover so we used that but you can use whatever bread calls to your pretty little jalapeno loving heart!

 

bread

fontina cheese

smoked cheddar cheese

jalapeno peppers

mayo (I use fat free)

 

First you roast your whole jalapeno peppers for about 10 minutes in an oven that's preheated to 400 degrees. Once they have the pretty black marks on them and they look a little shriveled, they're done. Take them out of the oven and dice them up to be layered on top of your bread and cheese. Spread the empty side of the bread with mayo and put your sammies together for their final performance...in the Griddler!

 

I luuuurve making paninis (check out the Griddler tab for more recipes) because they're so simple and hands off once you throw them on the grill...and they come out looking like deli style sammies! the grill marks just get me salivating every time.  Shut the Griddler and leave it on medium heat for 10 minutes or so (depending how done you like your paninis).

 

Pull the sandwiches off and serve while piping hot cheese is still juicing out the sides. These were faaaaaabulous, you guys! Not too much heat, but some smoky flavor in there that is mighty impressive. It's neat that the flavor of a jalapeno changes when it gets cooked. I want to say it adds a sweetness factor to the peppers, maybe it's the sugars being broken down in the heat or something? I don't need to know why...I just need to know that it happens and I sleep just fine at night.

I hope you're all crawling out of your food hangover today and having something a little more fresh than the fare I devoured this weekend. Main Man is out of town this evening so I will make something pretty light to much on and hope to feel a little less weighted down tomorrow morning when my alarm goes off...maybe I'll even hop up after the first time!? One can only hope...

Pretzel paninis

I have to admit something to you. I am a full fledged, card toting, flag flying member of the Trader Joe's fan club since it's come to Des Moines. I mean, I love me some Whole Foods, but TJ's is just more affordable and easier to navigate in my world. They have such fun little surprises for me when I walk the aisles too. Like these mini loaves of pretzel bread....say whaaaaaaat!? How absolutely, disgustingly adorable enough to make you go "awwwww" in the middle of the store and put them in your basket with no clue how you plan to use them, just that it's going to happen.

 

Then you go home and show off your glorious bounty to your Main Man and he states (very unexcitedly compared to your current level of energy) that he can't eat pretzel bread. Got sick off those warm, salty pretzels one time when he was younger and can't stomach them anymore. Way to rain on my parade, duder....

 

Luckily, I had some ciabatta bread on hand for his panini and that meant that I got two pretzel paninis to myself...when I realized his hatred meant a lunch date for me with an adorable sandwich the next day, I stopped arguing with him about his crazy and offensive dislike for the cutest loaves I've ever seen. I should feel lucky that the only things I have to worry about omitting from recipes include coconut, sloppy joes, peas, and now pretzels. I hate two of the four anyway, so it all works out. I shall eat my pretzel bread all by my lonesome. Everyone's got their cross to bear....

 

Down to business! I had all the other ingredients on hand and threw these babies together in no time flat. I'm a huge fan of grilled apples since my friend Mrs. Mohr introduced me to them on the salmon apple blt's (which I need to make again soon, judging by the way my mouth started foaming when I saw those pictures) and I haven't looked back since. I also have a certain loyalty to the garlic pepper mayo from the ham asparagus panini. You should be beginning to see how this pretzel panini was born. Here's what you need:

2 pretzel loaves
1 large apple (we keep honeycrisp on hand)
2-4 large slices of pepperjack cheese, depending on how cheesy you like it
6-8 slices black pepper turkey breast
4 T mayo
1 large garlic clove, minced
cracked pepper to taste

Mix the cracked pepper, minced garlic, and mayo together and spread evenly onto your sammies. Turn your Griddler (or grill pan) on and use some Pam to prevent stickage. Slice your apple in thin slices and lay the slices onto the Griddler to get little grill marks on them.

Layer half your cheese on the bottoms, them layer your apples, then your turkey, then the other half of your cheese, and top the sammy with your garlic mayo infused pretzel top (how yummy does "garlic mayo infused pretzel top" sound??). Now you're in business!

Throw those things on the Griddler on medium-high for 20 minutes or so, keeping an eye on them when the cheese starts melting out...

And serve. And love your life. And wish you didn't have another one in the fridge tempting you to take bites of it every time you walk by.

Happy Tuesday, all! I'm actually adapting very well to my routine after vacation last week, I think I was ready to get back in the swing of things. Hot yoga last night was life changing, I needed to sweat out a couple of the cruise buffets something awful! I'm pretty excited about lighter dinners this week too! I made the spinach artichoke chicken quinoa that I had frozen for dinner last night, and it was lovely (although Brudder Ben wasn't a fan), and tonight we're trying buffalo chicken lettuce wraps out for size! I'll report back...enjoy your week!

**I was kindly told by Main Man that I've embarrassed myself immensely by misspelling "pretzel" throughout the whole post (I thought "pretzal" looked funny) so I've not edited this entry. Then I found the spellcheck button. Lifechanging.**

Turkey apple panini

Soup and sammy, anyone? It's pretty much officially Fall here in Iowa....I heard 30 degrees tomorrow morning with a chance of frost tonight, we have leaves falling in the pool, it cools down to an awesome windows open sleeping temp in the evenings, and of course, football season is here (GO STATE, we're 3-0)!!

 

I love Fall...it's kinda like Sundays though. I adore Sundays, it's probably my favorite day of the week because I always get to spend the whole day with Main Man no matter what (usually). We don't tend to leave the house on Sundays to do much...we've been known to be very productive or very lazy, depending on what the activities were for the previous part of the weekend. But Sundays always have that ominous, you better get your shit together, this week is comin' atcha feeling. Or is that just me?  Well, Fall has that same feeling for me...I love it while it's here but it also signifies to the Winter-hatin' section of my brain that my days are numbered before I have to start wearing a heavy coat, dealing with icy roads and 10 ft snowdrifts, and seeing my breath. Blech.

 

Don't get me wrong...there are fun parts of Winter. Sitting by a fire with a glass of wine and book on a weekend afternoon is up there with  my favorite pastimes, but it will never trump sitting by the pool with a cold beer and a book.  Sorry, Charlie.  Soooooo, with Fall in full force, the only thing to do is embrace and enjoy it rather than think about the coming craptastical months.  We decided to embrace this soup and sammy combo to prove our love for Fall...and you should too, if you're not a total party pooper. I shared this tomato basil soup with you a couple weeks ago, and as I mentioned then, we ate this a couple nights and then I froze a bunch of it for the aforementioned cold season coming up. There's nothing that raises my spirits on a cold Winter night than coming home to hot, homemade soup on the stove...I can't wait to thaw this out in a couple months!

 

The sammy was a spur of the moment creation with stuff I had laying around. Throwing the apple on there was inspired by the salmon apple BLT's, if you've never added grilled apple to a sandwich, it's like you haven't even experienced love. There's no going back. I also used my fave sandwich spread, the garlic pepper mayo from the ham asparagus panini, because the flavor it gives is like elves dancing on your tongue to the beat of your favorite song...perfection. From there, I looked in the fridge...I had deli turkey, fresh spinach, and american cheese slices...so I sent them an invitation to the elf dance party. They accepted!

 

For 2 sandwiches:

4 slices wheat bread

fresh spinach

1 clove minced garlic

2 T olive oil mayo

1 t cracked pepper

8 slices deli turkey

2 slice american cheese

1 apple (green delicious is great but all I had was red delicious)

 

I used my Griddler for this, but you could use a grill pan, or an actual grill if you like. You could even do it in a normal pan on the stove so it's like a grilled cheese. The grill marks from the Griddler are fun, but they are not required dress code for the invite list to this party. Slice the apple into thin slices, and grill them on each side until warmed throughout.

 

Mix the garlic, pepper, and mayo together. Spread it on two pieces of bread. Layer the turkey, grilled apple slices, spinach, and cheese and top with your other piece of bread. Throw that baby on the Griddler for about 5-8 minutes on medium until it's all melty and perdy. Now hurry and go get your party pants on, and serve!

 

 

Ham asparagus panini with garlic pepper mayo

Did you read that last part? Garlic pepper mayo? Read it again. You want this in your life....rather, you want this in your mouth. The original recipe called for prosciutto, but I didn't have any on hand and it's a little pricey to be honest. Ham does juuuuuust fine, I tell you!

I'm always on the lookout for fun panini recipes since I got my Griddler for Christmas. If you are in the same boat, check out the proscuitto caprese panini and the pizza panini that I've done in the past...both will knocks your flip flops off!  But neither of those has garlic pepper mayo on them...so I'm torn as to picking a favorite which means you'll have to try them all and let me know how you feel about life afterwards.

1 package of fresh asparagus, tough ends trimmed and pieces cut in half lengthwise
2 T olive oil mayo (I used to use fat free on everything but have recently been reading about the health benefits of the olive oil kind so I'm switching it up)
1 clove fresh minced garlic
4 slices good bread (ciabatta, italian, or whatever...I used "everything" bread from Wal Mart that turned out great)
ham (however little or lot you want on each sandwich
2 slices low fat swiss cheese
1 cup baby arugula/spinach mix
fresh cracked pepper to taste
Olive oil spray (misto)

Preaheat panini grill and lightly spritz asparagus with olive oil, season with salt and pepper. When the grill is hot, shut the Griddler and grill the asparagus on both sides simultaneously for about 5 minutes until tender-crisp.

While this is happening, mix your mayo, minced garlic, and cracked pepper together to make the lovely garlic pepper mayo spread I spoke of earlier.

If you don't have a garlic press...get one. It's life changing. I use fresh garlic in everything and it makes a world of difference! I can't even stand the taste of the minced garlic in olive oil they sell at the store anymore...blech! This is an OXO and I got it HERE if you're interested. Moving on...

Spread it on your bread slices, and layer the cheese, ham, arugula/spinach, and finally the asparagus when it's done. Spray the outside of your sandwiches with the olive oil and throw them on the Griddler until cheese is melted and bread is toasted. As usual, if you don't have a Griddler, you can improvise with a grill pan or an actual grill as well!

Oh me, oh my...tell me that hint of garlic and spice of pepper doesn't need to go on every sandwich made in the world! Main Man was not thrilled with the idea of the asparagus ON the sandwich originally (even though he loves the stuff and we ate the leftover asparagus as a side to the sandwich because we cooked the whole bunch at once) but once he tasted it, he was no longer opposed.

This recipe came from Gina's Skinny Taste which means it included Weight Watchers nutritional value for those of you who are on the program...I love when blogs post the nutrition info (I'm working on it over here, people) so I'm always on top of her posts!

Fat Stats:
Serving size: 1 panini (this recipe makes 2)
WW points: 7
Points+: 9
Calories: 337.2
Fat: 9.2 g
Carbs: 45.9
Protein: 18.5 g

Grilled BTC

I tell you what, when I get on a kick, there's no stopping it.  After making the pizza paninis last week, I've been wanting to continue grilling sandwiches each and every chance I get.  I still had some yummy italian bread in the fridge, just waiting to get those perdy grill marks on them, so I dug around to make another fresh sammy for lunch this weekend. From there, the grilled BTC was born...

I wanted to do a mix between a grilled cheese and a BLT, and I knew I had some freaky cheese (from the freaky cheese section in the grocery store...you know, the stuff you're always scared to try) in the fridge that would melt amazingly as a grilled cheese. Fontina and Gruyere are both very mild and melt fantastically...so I piled on some turkey bacon and roma tomatoes to give the grilled cheeses a little BT action. Main Man has had a thing with cooked tomatoes lately, he just loves them, so I figured this would be right up his alley.

Here's what you need:

Turkey bacon

Roma tomatoes, sliced

Gruyere and Fontina cheese (or any other melty and mild cheese)

italian bread

Griddler or grill pan

spray butter to make sure the sandwiches don't stick to the grill

Cook your bacon up and slice your cheeses...

Throw them on the Griddler and give them about 15 minutes to meld and become one...

Take them off and admire your perfectly grilled marks on the bread (and the yummy cheese seeping out the sides)...

Cut them in half and dig. on. in.

I have a small obsession with turkey bacon, I love that it's not greasy and gives me a bacon fix without all the artery clogging grease that comes with normal bacon. Not that I don't have love for the real thing...I just want to fit in my wedding dress this Fall :)

I guess Main Man liked these, considering he took down 2.5 of them and needed a small nap afterwards...

Pizza paninis

Have you ever had a pizza sub from Subway?  Don't do it. Let me clarify...I'm a huge Subway fan, but their pizza sub is nothing to write home about. Main Man and I stopped in the other day when we were on the road, and discovered that the new pizziola sub is their special this month.

MM: "Why does it take you so long to order? Just get the special, if it's the special, it means it's good."

Me: Reading the entire menu before getting the same thing I always get.

MM: "You would never survive in the real world."

Me: "I feel like I'm doing a decent job of it??"

MM: "In the real world, you have 10 minutes to grab something for lunch and stuff it in your face before getting back to work. So you get the special, because it's the best that day."

Me: "That sounds like a horrible existence if you ask me...."

**Pay and walk to the car**

MM: "This pizza sauce tastes like Spagettios"

Me: "So I guess the special isn't always so special, then is it..."

We have fun, that's what we do. But his logic was proved wrong that day in that Subway...I love being right! :) Anyway, I tasted his sandwich, and his description was correct...on a pizza sub, the sauce is the star of the show and they sure didn't have an A-list cast for their pizza show.  Which leads us to....pizza paninis! I love the idea of anything pizza, if you can't tell by "pizza" having it's own category on the blog (go check out pizza casserole for my fave)....and I just KNEW I could do a pizza sandwich better than Subway.  Girls night, here we come!

It's super simple, just grab whatever pizza toppings you fancy and start building.  These mushrooms made my sammy sing if you ask me! I just tossed fresh mushrooms in garlic powder and italian seasoning to cook a little before adding to the sandwiches and they gave the sandwiches a great, authentic taste (unless the texture is an issue for you with mushrooms like it is some of my girlfriends).

Ingredients:
turkey pepperonis (can't even tell the difference and sooo much better for you)
canadian bacon
mushrooms prepared above
diced green peppers
your fave pizza sauce
italian bread (good bread is a big deal)
fresh mozzarella cheese (gaaahhhhhh, how did I not eat the whole block before dinner was done!?)

Spray your outsides with buttah (I Can't Believe It's Not Butter spray works well and has no calories) so it doesn't stick and let these suckers hang out on the Griddler a little together. You can see when the cheese starts oozing out, and you open it up to the pretty grill marks on your bread, that your sandwich is complete.

Look at that cheeeeeeese! These were fantastic, if you ask me....and Main Man tackled 3 of them when he got home so he must've enjoyed the special that day a little better than he did at Subway the other day. I win! :)

Balsamic grilled bruschetta chicken

Again, we have mixed reviews in the Stensland household on the yum factor of this recipe. The basil, garlic, tomatoes, mozzerella concoction that makes up my most favorite flavor profile in the universe is one of Justin's least favorite tastes. Bummer for him, I can't give it up.  Don't get me wrong, he ate this just fine, so he considered it edible...he just made the same comment as usual..."basil makes everything taste like plants...it tastes like you pulled something from the garden and put it on my plate".  And that's a bad thing??  I personally love the taste of fresh food out of the garden....but to each their own. I absolutely ADORED this meal...so light, fresh, filling, and perfect...too bad for Justin his taste buds are whacked! I guess this will become one of those recipes I have to make for Michelle, as she has the same craving for all things basil-y like I do...

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
fresh mozzerella cheese

4 roma tomatoes, diced
8 fresh basil leaves, diced
3 cloves fresh garlic, minced
1 T balsamic vinegar
pinch of salt

Put your thawed chicken breast into a container or bag with the olive oil and balsamic vinegar as a marinade overnight. Use a fork to poke holes in the chicken so it will absorb more flavor...

When ready to prepare, preheat a grill pan (or a Griddler if you have one) over medium heat on the stovetop. Spray with cooking spray. Cook 6-8 minutes and then flip the chicken.

While the chicken is cooking, mix together all the ingredients in the second group above to make a topping for the chicken. Toss gently to combine.

During the last few minutes of grilling, place slices of fresh mozzerella on top of the chicken to melt.

When chicken is done, put on a plate and cover with tomato mixture. If I weren't calorie counting right now, I would've followed the recipe and made this a sandwich by placing it between two pieces of garlic toast...but alas, it was WONDERFUL without the addition of the garlic bread.

Proscuitto caprese paninis

I specifically saved this recipe for a Friday for these reasons:

1. Friday is an awesome day to pull out the Griddler (if you have one)

2. This takes 5 minutes to prepare but tastes like a million bucks

3. We've been over this before, anything with the word "caprese" in it is like food porn to me

4. You should always save the best things in life for a Friday (like a nice glass of red wine for me tonight after my workout)

Anyway, while I am in love with all things Caprese (see hot caprese dip and caprese skewers)...Justin is not really a fan.  "It's just so...so..." but he couldn't think of the name of the herb that was used.  "Basil-y?"  I ask.  "Ugh, yeah it's just so basil-y...it tastes like plants."  Well that's sort of the point of an all fresh sandwich, now isn't it, honey?!  Boys are so boring sometimes...

Moving on...you only need a few things for this sammy.  Including:

Basil

Bread

Prosciutto

Fresh mozzerella

Tomato

I would use fresh basil if I had it...the store bought fresh stuff seems to go bad so quickly. Oh, how I miss my fresh basil plant right outside my back door...hurry up, Spring!! In order to continue using fresh basil without having to throw it away all the time, I grabbed a tube of this fresh organic basil in olive oil and use it for all my cooking, and let me tell you it doesnt lose any of the flavor...so yummy! 

The prosciutto wasn't in the original recipe, but I'm a carnivore and can't stomach the idea of a meatless meal...so I added the Italian meat and it was perfect (if I do say so myself).

Dab some basil on your bread (I would've liked to use some fancy schmancy bread but this normal wheat sandwich bread worked pretty awesomely too)...and layer your toppings on there. 

All I did was put the sandwich together, spray the Griddler with non-fat cooking spray to prevent stickage (you could use a grill pan if you don't have a Griddler), and let that thing go for 10 minutes until all the cheese was melted...and all was right with the world.

This was one of those days I came home ready to eat my arm off after Kosama class, so I went lazy on the side and just pulled a bag of my frozen sweet corn out to throw in a pot and warm.  It's days like this that I understand why I put in the work in the summer to have fresh sweet corn on hand all Winter...mmmmmmm!
 

Fresh mozzerella melts so awesomely...and I ate a bunch of it while slicing too, it's so fresh tasting with a buttery soft texture, I could eat a whole block of it...but I refrained. I probably could've stopped after a half of one of these sandwiches but there was no way I was wasting that flavor (they are pretty soggy warmed up)...so I savored every. last. bite.  And boy, was it worth it!