Cooking at Work: Ad Hoc Grilled Cheese

So, I happen to love grilled sandwiches, one of them being the classic grilled cheese. But the problem at work is how to actually grill a sandwich. I could use the George Foreman grill (like a paninni press) but I find the cheese all runs out of the bread so I discovered this method using the toaster oven/broiler:

Butter the tops of 2 slices of bread, insert cheese in the middle leaving the buttered sides outside, and place in a hot broiler. Toast the bread to desired "toastiness" flip and repeat the other side. When you are done, eat. I sometimes warm a cup of tomato soup in the microwave to make a classic grilled cheese meal. This method works so well I quite often use it at home for a quick way to make a grilled cheese.

OTHER SANDWICHES TO MAKE USING THIS SAME METHOD:
Tuna Melt (Classic Tuna Salad topped with a slice of American cheese)
Rueben ( I sub pastrami for the corned beef. Add some Sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and 1000 Island Dressing)
Bacon Cheese and tomato (Simple: a few strips of bacon topped with a few tomato slices and cheese of your choice)
Grilled Ham and Swiss (A slice of ham, a slice of Swiss and toasted bread- need I say more?)

Cooking at Work week next week!

At work, I have few choices for lunch, due to the odd hours I work (I work the swing shift) and little time to go somewhere and buy a healthy lunch. So I improvise. At work we are lucky to have a Toaster oven/Broiler, a microwave and a toaster. Along with a refrigerator, and a George Foreman grill, a person can make some pretty good lunches. Join me next week as I will go into some of what I make at work to eat!

Cola Pot Roast in the Crock Pot

I love using the crock pot... Sometimes I make an entire meal out of it- other times I simply make an entree!
I made a pot roast the other night. With Coca cola! So easy to do, I imagine the sugars in the cola help break down the fat in the chuck roast. So set it and forget it!

Cola Pot Roast
2 Cans French onion soup
1 Bottle (20oz) of Cola (not diet)
1 4-7 lb Chuck Roast

Start by opening 1 can of French onion soup, pour it into the bottom of your crock pot. Place the chuck roast on top of the soup, Dump the second can of soup over the Chuck Roast, Pour the Cola over all. Set you crock pot to high, until it heats up, then set to low, let cook for 5-6 hours. The soup/ cola mix makes and excellent sauce/gravy. Seriously!

Easy ways to try "heat retention" cooking

Well I know Chile has done it. So has Fleecenik farms. Do what? Heat retention cooking A.K.A. Hay Box cooking. This is an great an easy way to cook dishes like Quinoa or pasta or rice. Here are some easy ways to try heat retention cooking.

1- Cooler Cooking-

Via my frugal friends, the two frugal chicks a week or so ago posted how to cook cooler corn, Simply take a clean cooler, place your ears of corn in it, pour boiling water over it and close the lid for 30 minutes. I tried it with a couple of ears of corn and a smaller cooler... and it worked!

2- Thermos Cooking-

I have also tried Thermos pasta (just put your serving of pasta in a coffee thermos and pour in hot water to the top and in 10 minutes you should have perfectly cooked pasta.

Heat Retention Cooking:

Thermos cooking:

Note: you can find stainless steel thermos at thrift stores and garage sales for cheap!