National Grilled Cheese Day!

Very recently, as in this past month, I went to my local Biggby’s coffee shop downtown and saw they had listed today’s date as National Grilled Cheese Day. First, I told the monsters that they HAD to have a grilled cheese planned out to eat today. Their pick, today’s recipe. Grilled cheese with tomato soup. And yes, this really is how I normally make it for them. This was the only way it was made for me at home when I was growing up. I knew nothing about adding mayonnaise to bread. All I knew of was the soft squishy bread with not quite melted completely cheese. This is NOT the restaurant recipe. This is not my cheeses now. This is Kid-centric happy grilled cheese.

So, my other big growing up memory of grilled cheese was at school. I’m pretty sure they didn’t do the mayonnaise on the bread trick either, but theirs was always crisp and melted. I have an idea on how they did it and it isn’t microwave. Back then, it was much more a vessel of gooeyness to transport that richer than home tomato soup. And we always had mixed vegetables at lunch on those days. I wonder if they really did watch and approve of us finding a way to “get the veggies off our plates” yet magically ended up in us. Side note, maybe schools should do more soups so kids can enjoy more varieties of veggies by returning to those old tricks from growing up. But, yeah, I would dump my serving of mixed veggies into my soup and stir it up. It made everything a little more palatable for my pickiness. But, it was also on white bread. It was the ONLY thing I would eat with white bread on it. I was the kid who was more than happy to trade your wheat peanut butter sandwich for a wheat bread one. I still will. But that sandwich was so simple and yet tasted so good. I miss the elementary lunch ladies. OK, tell your kids to tell their lunchlady or lunchguy thanks if they enjoyed their food. The good ones need reminided from time to time.

So, yes, the soup is condensed. Campbell’s is the kids’ favorite and I’m not allowed to buy even the completely prepared because it “doesn’t taste right” otherwise. And the cheese I listed is the one that I have found melts the best. Use whichever you like more if you want it meltier or whatever else. No, I don’t recommend Kraft personally because it never melts right. And the directions are for an electric stove. Gas heats different and I still haven’t gotten that right because I make it for the kids too infrequently to do it right.

 

Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup

Serves 2

4 slices of whole wheat bread

4 slices of Helluva Good processed American Cheese

one piece of bread. Using one piece of plastic

Butter flavored cooking spray

1 Can Campbell’s Tomato Soup

1 can water

1 can milk

 

Heat flat pan on medium heat. Dump soup, water and milk in medium pot on medium low heat. Whisk until no lumps of soup can be seen. Butter one side of each piece of bread. Peel the plastic off of the cheese, saving one piece. Shingle two pieces of cheese together to make it the length of a slice of bread. Put the saved piece of plastic between the two sets of shingles. Lightly spray the pan with the cooking spray. Place two slices of bread, butter side down, on the flat pan. Top with the cheese shingles. Place the remaining two slices of bread on top with butter sides up. Heat until buttom is golden brown. Check the soup and stir to keep it from sticking to bottom of pan. Flip, using spatula. If soup starts bubbling, turn heat down to low or warm, dependng on which is lowest setting for your stove. Heat bread until golden brown again. Remove. Plate both items and enjoy.

 

Blown modem

Today’s post is brought to you by the iphone5c. Ouch. Love hating typing on this. But, on the upside: Spring is arriving. It has been warm enough I have considered wearing just my sweatshirt to work. But, that also brings rain.

Mine thing I love doing wen I need a pick up is to buy some flowers.

This is carnations and baby’s breath bouquets bought from the grocery store

This bouquet I made myself. I bought two different bouquets for $5 each. Not cheap, but I wanted a white bouquet this time. I like to use baby’s breath on its own normally, but decided to do a play on normal ones. This time, I made the carnations the filler for the focus of lacy baby’s breath. I do like this very much, though know I need a smaller vase for smaller bouquets. I’m not meaning shorter; smaller diameter. The case I bought was the least expensive and I didn’t feel like making another store trip just for a vase.

A couple tips if you are making your own bouquets. First: Check your grocery stores and gas stations along with florists. You can sometimes make multiple bouquets from one bunch sold. Or, if you just need one or so more flowers, they can sometimes be less expensive. Second: Don’t pass up on a bunch because you don’t like all of the flowers together. You can easily get rid of a couple if that’s the case for a bouquet you’d enjoy. Third: Remember to cut the ends of your flowers at a slight angle when you put them in your vase. This allows the flowers to drink the water you put them in much better. In turn, it lets them stay alive longer. Fourth: Make sure there are no leaves or flowers below your water. That will cause rot, which will make the flowers die faster.

What flowers do you like in your bouquets? Do you have to need a reason to buy or receive flowers?