Jalapeño Popper Melts

l made these yummy sandwiches for dinner on Saturday. It's like a grown-up grilled cheese flavor explosion! The recipe is from Kraft and I adapted it slightly using similar recipes from Pinterest. 

Things you need...

Bread

Crushed pretzels

Pepper jack cheese 

American cheese

An egg wash (egg and milk)

Bacon

Jalapeño peppers

First I cooked the bacon. Perfectly, according to my boyfriend. I'm glad I've achieved the skill of cooking perfect bacon. Yay for small accomplishments!

After the bacon was cooked I made my egg wash and got my sandwiches ready. I dipped one side of each slice of bread in the egg wash and then in the crushes up pretzels to form a crust. I put a piece of bread in the pan and built the sandwich... 

Pepper jack. American. Bacon. Jalapeños. More pepper jack. The top slice of bread. I cooked it until one side was done and flipped it and cooked the other side. 

They. Were. Delicious. My boyfriend ate almost two of them and said they were "amazing."  I always feel great when he enjoys my cooking, which is pretty much all the time. I love that he doesn't hesitate to tell me how much he likes it and that he thinks I'm one of the best cooks ever... Along with the best girlfriend ever, which is a title I wear proudly. I may not be (am probably not) the best girlfriend in the history of the World but I'm his best girlfriend ever, which makes me a gppy girl!

So this is one that isn't recommended by just me... It's not the healthiest (although I used light whole grain bread and lower fat cheese... Tried to make a few good substitutions) but it is delicious. You can combine it with something healthier like a veggie for a better version. 

No picture this time... I deleted it! 

Cabinet Re-Do

I broke a door on a bathroom cabinet a while ago and decided to re-purpose it. I'm getting ready to move and decided I won't use it in the bathroom at the new house. 

The shelves had a couple spots from things spilling on them so I cleaned them up and then used some white spray paint to cover the stained spots. Perfect. I can't even see where they were. 

Next I used shelf paper to dress it up a little. This was my first time using shelf paper so it took a couple tries to get it right. And it is still not perfect. Luckily it's on the back so when things are on the shelves it won't be noticeable. 

There are a few bumpy areas that I smooths out as best as I could. They show up in the picture but not when I look at it. So that's good! I also realized that I didn't have the second piece of paper line up correctly. The shelves are able to be adjusted so I moved the middle shelf so that it's hidden. 

My first shelf paper experience wasn't a total success but it wasn't a complete fail. I'd say with only a couple minor mistakes it turned out pretty well. 

I definitely know more about using shelf paper and what to pay attention to next time! 

The shelf is one that I bought at Target a year or two ago. It's a basic style so I'm sure they still carry something similar. The gray and white chevron paper is by Macbeth and I picked it up at TJ Maxx a while ago. I was so exited to find it there!

White Pizza

This delicious recipe was found on Pinterest but originates from the Cooking Light website.

I changed the recipe by using a Pillsbury thin pizza crust instead of a frozen dough. I spread a mixture of ricotta (part skim), fat free mozzarella, freshly grated Parmesan, minced garlic, and a little skim milk on it. Then I topped it with some sautéed spinach and garlic. 

Result? Delicious!

One fifth of the pizza (three squares the way I made it) is less than 400 calories. Honestly? I could've (easily) eaten more than a fifth! 

Canvas Art.

I was feeling creative and the need for some art therapy tonight so I decided to get on Pinterest for some inspiration. I noticed some cool paintings and decided I wanted to make some wall art. Luckily I had two canvases and lots of paint on hand.

I started on my first canvas by taping off some areas to create various chunks of canvas to paint. I used some fun, bright colors and started painting. When I finished painting I took the tape off. 

I had a gray color paint that I wanted to use but it was funny so I opted for purple instead. I ended up using the gray when I put some various lines on the white areas where the tape had been. 

I really like how this turned out. It has an 80s look to it, which is always fun. I will probably hang this one in my craft/computer room. 

After the first was done I decided to do another. I had seen some paintings that people had done that were simple yet really cool. They were just painting quotes in a color on a plain canvas. I liked this idea but decided to change it a little to make it my own. I painted part of the canvas to make it look like the canvas was torn back to expose the quote. 

I decided to use one of my favorite quotes that one of my favorite artists has tattooed on her wrist... "Love them more." By the way, Kelly Clarkson is the person who has that tattoo. 

Coconut Crusted Tilapia

I searched for healthy recipes on the P and found this one. I knew it was going to be a good one when I clicked the picture and it lead me to Six Sisters' Stuff; one of my favorite sites! 

I thought this recipe would be delicious. I love tilapia and I love coconut. How could this not be good?! Turns out? I was right. It was excellent!! The only thing that could've made it better would be some kind of mango sauce on the side. I'll have to find a recipe for that sometime and try it next time I make this. 

This was also very easy and quick to make!! It bakes for 15-20 minutes (at 400) so from prep to finish it's done in less than half an hour. Pair it with a veggie and some kind of whole grain and you have a complete, delicious meal!!

The recipe is super easy...

6 tilapia fillets (there were four in my package).

1/4 cup shredded coconut

1/4 cup bread cribs 

1/4 cup crackers, like Ritz. The original recipe called for whole grain Ritz but I already had reduced fat at home so I used those. 

3 egg whites

Line a cookie sheet with foil. Spray with cooking spray (I used the olive oil kind). 

Mix dry ingredients. 

Dip fillets in egg white then the dry mixture. 

Bake (again, 15-20 min at 400 degrees). 

Done! 

You could probably cut this recipe down for fewer than six fillets. I had leftover egg white and the dry mixture. 

This was a fantastic recipe that I will most definitely make again! I'm pretty excited about having leftover fillets! Sounds like a good lunch!

I highly recommend this recipe!!

Chicken 'n' Dressing Casserole

I didn't find this on the P; it was on Facebook but close enough....  

This was another easy and delicious success!! My Dad had saved it on his timeline so I took it was a hint that he wanted to try it and made it for dinner on Monday when I was at my parents' house. 

While this is easy to do, if you don't have a couple of the ingredients pre-cooked, it can be somewhat time consuming. I had to make cornbread, boil eggs, and bake chicken breast in order to make the casserole. Luckily I was able to multi-task while I had them in the oven. I served this with a side of steamed veggies (and I also had a small salad). It was a nice, warm dinner to enjoy on a cold night!

I bought the healthiest ingredients I could... Lower sodium broth, healthy request soup (Campbell's), and boneless skinless chicken breast. 

Will I be making this again? Definitely!!! 

Grilled Cheese: Grown-Up Style

I saw a recipe for these sandwiches one day last week (or the week before) and decided to try them them week. Oh my deliciousness!!!! The turkey,cranberry, Brie grilled sandwich might be my new fav! 

This is a nice twist on the classic grilled cheese. I modified it slightly. The recipe called for sourdough bread and cranberry chutney. I used light whole grain bread and a can of jellied cranberry sauce. I also used light Brie cheese instead of regular and spray butter rather than regular butter. 

It was simple to make....

I sprayed my bread with butter and then sandwiched my ingredients between the two. I put my turkey on first then my cheese and topped it with cranberry sauce. Then I cooked it like a typical grilled cheese. I'm thinking you could also use a panini maker for this. 

I can't wait to try this with Thanksgiving leftovers!!!