Broccoli wasn't a vegetable I ever remember eating when I was growing up.  I don't think it was available anywhere that we lived, or if it was, it wasn't something my mother ever bought.  My father always said he hated broccoli, and he still does, so that could very well be the reason we never had it.








Ladle into heated bowls.   Top each with a sprinkle of the remaining cheese (1/2 cup) and a warm broccoli floret. (You can warm them briefly in the microwave for a few seconds.  Nobody wants a cold piece of broccoli on their soup.)  Serve immediately!

 
Now this is nothing new.  I have seen waffled grilled cheese on a variety of sites over the past few months and they have been on my bucket list to try . . . 

 
I amped them up a bit however by doing three very tasty things . . .  One, I used sour dough bread. Our local shop sells a sliced sour dough loaf that is shaped like sandwich bread.  Works a charm and is so tasty!


Two, I spread the outside of the bread with low fat mayonnaise instead of butter.  It adds a lovely taste to the sandwich.  I have been doing this to my grilled cheese sandwiches for years and years.  Lots of people like mayo in their cheese sandwiches, why not on the outside of their grilled cheese.  It grills really well!


Three,  I sprinkled a bit of Garlic Herb Seasoning on the buttered side of each slice of bread. This adds even more delicious flavour to an already tasty sandwich!



Altogether this makes for one very delicious sandwich indeed, with lots of crisp buttery flavour filled crevices and crunch . . .  lots of oozingly tasty melted cheese and a hint of garlic butter flavour, except it's not butter  . . .  its low fat mayo.  This was quite simply a winner, and great for dipping!!


(I used a mix of orange and white)

 
Heat your waffle iron.  Butter the outsides of two slices of bread with the mayonnaise and lightly sprinkle with the garlic seasoning.  Place one slice buttered side down into centre of the waffle iron.  Top with the grated cheddar and then top the grated cheddar with the slice of melting cheese. Top the whole lot with the other slice of bread, buttered side up.  Close the waffle iron and cook until golden brown and the cheese is nicely melted.   Serve immediately.

Look at that delicious ooze.  I am a bit embarassed showing you something so simple, but at the end of the day, not all meals need to be gourmet and sometimes a grilled cheese with a mug of soup and some crisp crudites does the job beautifully!  Bon Appetit!

We were on the shopping Estate near us the other morning and I was sitting in the car waiting for Todd.  We were parked right in front of one of those Sub shops and they had an ad in the window for their new chicken caesar melt sandwiches.  I looked at it and thought to myself, that looks tasty, supposedly using fresh rotisserie chicken, etc. but experience has taught me that looks are oftimes very deceiving and that I could probably do much better at home myself.  And so I did.


I picked up a Rotisserie chicken at the grocery store afterwards, and some hoagie buns and then went home and created this.




I mounded the dresssed chicken into bun sized mounds on a baking sheet I had lined with lightly greased aluminium foil.  Then I topped each mound with some melty cheese I had sliced in half diagonally.  Back under the grill it went . . . to heat the chicken through and melt the cheese.



I also shredded some coz (romaine) lettuce and slices some fresh  tomatoes thinly along with a bit of red onion, also thinly sliced. 




Sprinkle the bottom halves of each toasted hoagie bun with some shredded lettuce, and sliced onion. Drizzle with 1/4 of the remaining caesar salad dressing and then top each with one mound of chicken and melted cheese.  Top with sliced bacon and tomato.  Cover with the other toasted half of the bun and serve immediately.



Served with some crisp oven chips these went down a real treat for our tea.  We both fell in love.  Its surprisingly tasty what you can do when you are inspired to do so!  Plus I had some meat leftover (because there are only two of us) for a casserole and some bones for soup.  Win, win, win!!!  Bon Appetit!

 
Of all my favourite childhood food memories, the most favourite of all has to be my mother's Salmon Pie.  It's very much a French Canadian thing and is delicious.  A two crusted pie filled with a mix of tinned salmon mashed together with grated onion, mashed potato, seasoning and herbs. If this pie was on the menu in our house, everybody was happy!  Leftover cooked salmon also works very well.


I can remember when I was just a young Bride newly married, I would bake one if I knew my father was going to be stopping by for lunch.  It was a real treat for him.  If it wasn't salmon pie it was a toasted bologna and cheese sandwich with mustard and chives. My Uncle Harold used to stop by for glasses of cold cool-aid.  Good times!


Today I started to thinking that the salmon filling for the pie would be the perfect filling for a baked potato, and maybe even a bit lower in fat than having a pie, and certainly a bit less trouble because there would be none of the faff of making pastry, rolling it out etc.

The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to try it and so that's just what I did, with really delicious results I hasten to add!  These are fabulous!


 
I like the boneless, skinless salmon.  There is no waste and I don't have to spend ages picking out the skin and bones only to end up with fingers that I can't get  the smell of the fish off of.  Blecch.  I hate that smell and I hate getting a fish bone in my mouth!  In any case I was really pleased with the results of my experiment and I think you will be too. 

 
4 TBS grated cheddar cheese


 
Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6.  Bake the filled potato skins for about 15 minutes until heated through and the cheese has melted and turned golden.  Serve hot with some salad on the side.

Oh boy, I can't believe how lazy I get sometimes.  Yes, even I have days when I can't be asked to cook or I am too busy to cook and those are the days when a recipe like this one comes in really handy!



Its also quite economical and quick, oh and did I mention that its delicious?  Well it is all of those things and more, much more!


I have never had a real cheese steak sandwich, I hasten to add.  Never even been close to Philadelphia, but I know what I like to eat and these I like to eat.


Its as easy as softening some onions, mushrooms and green bell peppers in a pan, adding some stock and cooked steak slices . . .



 It could not be easier.  I have given quantities for two people, but you can easily multiply the amounts to serve more than two people. 


I use a combination of Edam and Gouda cheeses because they melt really easily, but you could use whatever cheese you fancy.  Fontina would be good actually. 


For the beef stock I use the little gel stock packs you can get over here from the people at Knorr.  I like the rich beef ones.  They have lots of flavour, and a rich dark colour!


Heat the oil in a medium skillet.  Add the peppers, onions and mushrooms.  Cook and stir, until softened.  Add beef stock just to cover along with the steak slices.  Heat through.  Split the hoagie buns and toast lightly under the grill.Spread the bottoms of each toasted bun with the creamy horseradish sauce.  Top with the steak and vegetable mixture and the cheese.  Fold the top halves of the buns over the meat and cheese.  Warm for a few minutes to melt the cheese.  Serve immediately.



If you can't get refrigerated cooked Steak slices you could also use sliced deli roast beef, cut into strips.  Either way it is delicious.  I really hope you will add these to your summer/weekday/lazyday meal repertoire!  Bon Appetit!