Unironic Love of the Grilled Cheese

I not-so-secretly and secretly love the grilled cheese sandwich.  It is quite perfect and very versatile.  I was greatly disheartened yesterday when I thought my sprout, red pepper hummus, and turkey sandwich fell a little flat.  So today, I wanted to do something on the warmer side.  I made myself a grilled cheese beanwich.

Grilled Cheese Bean-wich
1 slice of Kraft American cheese singles
2 spoonfuls (I used about two tablespoons) of refried black beans
1 teaspoon of butter
1 spritz of cooking spray
2 slices of gluten-free multigrain (my favorite is Udi's)

First, toast the bread if you pulled it out of the freezer at 8 AM like I did.  Then smear the butter on the "outside" of the bread.  On both side on the "inside," smear the refried beans, a tablespoon on each side.  Then heat up a pan and spritz with cooking spray.  Smash the two pieces together with the Kraft single in between and put it in the pan butter-side down.  I like to wait until my cheese "wilts" a little before flipping it. Then put in lunch box and promptly go to work so you're not late, but still have deliciousness.

I guess you can cut it in half and dip it in salsa or sour cream, which is definitely something I will try when I have a little more time to myself.

Experiments in My New Kitchen

Dinner

I felt so pro after plating this, you guyz.

I've been wanting to make a gazpacho for a really long time.  It's a really easy way to use up a lot of vegetables in a short amount of time.  And since it was "I wish I could sit in my underwear in front of an air conditioner" hot two days ago, this chilled soup is perfect.  I used V8 juice, a tomato, a zucchini, half of this monstrous cucumber I found, parsley (thought it was cilantro, my bad), one celery stalk, one jalapeño, one clove of garlic, and a quarter of this ridiculously large onion.  The flavors balanced perfectly, especially with the mistake of using parsley instead of cilantro.  Because of that, you couldn't really taste the spiciness of the jalapeño, which honestly, disappointed me a little bit.  On top, I put brown rice and slices of chicken and garnished it with parsley (that part was intentional).

I used the recipe from The Pioneer Woman blog, which is quite fantastic as she photographs every step and her show is quite charming.  Yet, I am quite jealous that all she does (it seems) is cook, blog, and take pictures.  I want that to be my life rather than working a 9-4 and trying to balance friends and work.

Breakfast

Does this almost look like it could be in anime somehow

Yesterday, Andrea, a housemate, was going to a dinner party and wanted to bring something from home.  I suggested cupcakes because cupcakes are gooey, yummy, and make the heart sing after eating them.  But I also really wanted breakfast food, so I decided, LET'S MAKE SCONES.  Which involves cupcakes.  Because most things in the Babycakes' book involves other things, like cookies and cupcakes.  There ninja-shaped cookie cutters, so we made ninja-scones.  I drew a circle of blueberries and caramelized bananas for some nutrition and color.  The almond milk was a perfect addition to a sweet breakfast.

So these are two things that I've been up to that do not involve ANY wheat or gluten.  Tonight, I am making mojitos and some kind of 1920s-esque hors d'oeuvres for my 1920's party.

Keep it yummy,
Jo