All Day Grilled Cheese

One of my all time favorite comfort foods is a simple grilled cheese sandwich. I doubt I will ever outgrow my love for it, but as I get older and my tastes change, I have come to enjoy more creative takes on traditional recipes. Case in point: while vacationing in Chicago I ordered a very similar sandwich from the hotel's restaurant one morning...and again the next morning...and the morning after that. My husband just shook his head at me but I couldn't help myself, it was heaven! When we made it home the first meal I cooked was this, and once my husband tried it he gave me a telling look that he immediately understood why I had ordered this so many times. This is not much of a recipe, more of a fresh take on the classic grilled cheese.

No Bake Energy Bites

Having healthy snacks available on hectic days is a must for me. I'm constantly running between the hospital and clinic, so my snacks need to be portable without requiring refrigeration. And even though I firmly believe fruit is the original prepackaged convenience food (seriously, an orange is very portable and even comes in it's own wrapper), it isn't always convenient to carry fruit in the pocket of your white coat. However, these little nuggets of deliciousness fit my lifestyle perfectly.

Quinoa Pancakes with Coconut Walnut Syrup

Whether you know me personally or you only know me from this blog, you probably learned that breakfast is my favorite meal of the day, and the undisputed ruler of my breakfast table is the humble pancake. While they are delicious, unless you eat a pretty sizeable stack, they don't tend to have the "staying power" to get me through to lunch. Enter quinoa, my new secret satiety weapon.

Perfect Buttermilk Pancakes

A lazy weekend morning with a plate of warm pancakes is a rare gift these days, and one of the things I look forward to most. My mom made the best pancakes I've ever tasted, a recipe she received from an old friend many years ago. Unfortunately, one batch makes enough pancakes to feed twenty hungry duck hunters on a cold October morning, and no matter how I've tried there just isn't a good way to cut the recipe and have the same quality product. I will admit, this isn't quite the same as our family recipe, but it's a very close second and you won't need to invite the entire neighborhood to your house to help eat leftovers.

Pear and Havarti Panini

The only thing you need to know about this dish was said very eloquently by a friend who tried it for the first time last week: "Yummy, yummy, yummy, there's panini in my tummy!" Paninis are the ultimate sandwich delicacy in my book because they're uber-simple to make and crazy delicious. They're fantastic in winter paired with soup or in the summer with a cold salad. And this is the world's most perfect panini.

Breakfast Bread Pudding

Everyone knows egg bakes are perfect for serving guests because they're easy to make ahead of time, keep well, and always a crowd pleaser.  But egg bakes aren't just for weekends anymore.  A good egg bake makes a convenient breakfast for busy weekday mornings when you need a solid breakfast on the go.  I like to make this recipe on Sundays and take a slice with me to school the rest of the week, buying me a little extra sleep time every day.  Who wouldn't enjoy getting a little extra sleep?

Farmer's Breakfast

I don't think there is anything better on a lazy Sunday morning than a hearty, family-style breakfast, and this recipe fits that order perfectly!  The combination of fresh veggies, melted cheese, and basted eggs are simply unbeatable in nutrition and taste, and it's simple to prepare.  You can easily customize this recipe depending on what veggies you have hand.  In a word, this is simply brunchtastic!

Basted Eggs

I love fried eggs in the morning but I have an aversion to runny yolks, so I generally have to cook the snot out of my egg whites to get a fully cooked yolk.  I hate the resulting stringy, crispy, egg whites that are left and don't get me started on the amount of butter I added to the pan to keep the eggs from sticking.  This morning, I want to tell you about a better way to cook your eggs.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins

Chocolate chip muffins are one of my favorite breakfast guilty pleasures.  Nutritionally speaking, they're equivalent to a piece of cake without the frosting, which is not the best way to start the day.  So I set out on a mission to create a better chocolate chip muffin that I wouldn't feel so guilty about enjoying on a busy weekday morning.