Snow days seem to have lost some of their appeal now that I'm older and in the working world. Instead of sitting in front of a computer screen at work all day I get to sit in front of my laptop screen at home. I'll admit it is nice to work from home in my pajamas all day, foregoing a shower if I so choose (one of the many benefits of being single and living alone with a cat - she doesn't care if my hair is so dirty it no longer looks blonde or if I walk around with zit cream on my face all day. Unconditional love right there), but all of our systems run so slow from home so everything takes ten times longer.
I about went crazy last week after being stranded in my apartment alone for two ENTIRE days without much food (thank goodness I had wine), and ZERO hope of getting my car out from behind a massive snow pile. This time I was prepared. No. I didn't go grocery shopping. That would just be crazy. This time I packed a bag and drove my butt over to my parent's house after work Monday night so I could at least have some sort of human interaction and food...lots of food.
Since I was at home with my mom and sister yesterday I decided to cook dinner for them. I really do love to cook and try new recipes, but by the time I get home from work or the gym at night it's usually late and I'm lazy and I don't want to cook an entire meal for just myself. Hence the reason why I eat egg sandwiches, cereal, or Trader Joe's soup literally every night.
Last night's menu consisted of tomato basil soup and my version of a grown up grilled cheese. It was pretty tasty, but I was stuffed afterwards. I'm talking uncomfortably full. Snow day snacking plus a big dinner in combination with my inability to run after hurting my knee skiing on Saturday is making me feel real good about myself, but that is beside the point. At least the soup was healthy-ish...
Here are the recipes if you are interested in trying them out:
Grown Up Grilled Cheese
one large white onion, sliced
walnuts, chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
Granny Smith apple, sliced thin
sourdough bread, sliced
butter
sharp cheddar cheese, sliced
Slice onions thinly and saute with chopped walnuts in olive oil until onions are caramelized. Onions should be a nice golden brown color. Don't look at my picture because mine were definitely a little crispy. I got a little distracted and cooked them way too long. Set onions aside. Thinly slice Granny Smith apple. Butter one side of bread, and place in pan. Add a slice of cheddar cheese then apple slices then caramelized onions and walnuts. If you want you can add another slice of cheese or just place the second piece of buttered bread on top. I tried it both ways, and it was definitely easier to flip with the extra slice of cheese...but that is also probably why I had a stomachache last night. Too much cheese. Cook until golden brown.
Tomato Basil Soup
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tbsp olive oil
two 14 oz. cans of crushed tomatoes
one 14 oz. can of whole tomatoes
2 cups of vegetable stock
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 cup heavy cream
3 tbsp fresh basil, julienned
shaved Parmesan cheese
Saute garlic in olive oil on medium heat in a saucepan for 1 minute. Add the crushed tomatoes. Add the whole tomatoes one at a time, squeezing them into the pan to break them up. Next add the juice from the whole tomatoes, vegetable stock, salt, pepper, and sugar. Cook the soup on medium heat at a simmer for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and stir in heavy cream and basil. I don't know if I just didn't do an adequate job of squeezing the whole tomatoes, but there were some pretty big chunks in the soup. I personally am not a huge fan of chunky soups so I think when I make this again I will blend in a food processor so it has a smoother consistency. Serve and top with Parmesan cheese.
Hopefully everyone survived the snow storm and that was the last of this winter weather! Lets all think warm thoughts!
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