Grown Up Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Grown Up Grilled Cheese
Serves 1

This is the sort of "Comfort Food" that my guests on my Make Your Someday Today podcast will talk about in our interviews. Comfort foods do just that. They make us feel safe, secure and warm. They tell us that everything will be all right, that success will arrive, but only if we get moving toward.

2 slices of your preferred bread
2 slices of your preferred cheese
2-3 slices of tomato
1 jalapeno cut into strips
1/4 avocado, sliced
1 teaspoon Vegemite (optional)
1 tablespoon mayonnaise

1. Prepare your ingredients. Preheat non-stick griddle or skillet.
2. Spread the Vegemite on one slice of cheese (optional).
3. Spread the mayonnaise on one side of each slice of bread.
4. Lay the bread mayo-side DOWN on griddle.
5. Lay the Vegemite spread cheese on the bread, Vegemite down.
6. Arrange the remaining ingredients on the cheese.
7. Top with second piece of cheese and bread, mayo-side UP.
8. Grilled until the edge gets brown (2-4 minutes, depending on the heat.)
9. With a spatula, carefully flip and grill the second side.

Nutritional data:
Calories:       274
Fat:             16.8g
Sat fat:          5.7g
Chol:           25mg
Sodium:     354mg
Carbs:            25g
Fiber:            6.9g
Protein:          14g

Please be aware that those nutritional numbers are specific to my sandwich. Adding to deleting ingredients, using different cheese, or not using Vegemite will change all the numbers.

Served with Wisco Disco, a great American Amber Ale

Make Your Someday Today is a twice-weekly podcast, where we talk to successful people in all walks of life and around the world on Monday, and then on Thursday, I take a specific message from the previous guest and give my "Trevitorial", where I help you apply that message to your life. The entire purpose of the show is to help all of us overcome our challenges and fears and become the person we want to be, the person we deserve to be.

Chocolate Crepes, Filled with Sweet Ricotta

Chocolate Crepes, Filled with Sweet Ricotta
Serves 8

1/2 cup flour
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 tablespoon Splenda (or you can use any other non-calorie sweetener, or table sugar)
8 ounces (250g) low fat ricotta cheese (approximately 1 cup)
2 tablespoons Splenda  (or you can use any other non-calorie sweetener, or table sugar)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup water
1 tsp melted butter

1. Combine flour, cacao and sugar in a small bowl.
2. Mix together ricotta, sugar and vanilla in a small bowl. Set aside.
3. Combine milk, water, egg and melted butter in a blend. Pulse to mix. 
4. Add flour mixture, and process until smooth. The batter will be like thin pancake batter.
5. Preheat a non-stick 6" skillet over medium high heat.
6. When hot, spray lightly with cooking spray, and pour a scant 1/4 cup of batter in the middle of the skillet. Immediately pick the skillet up and tilt/turn it until the batter coats the surface. 
7. Return to heat. When the edges start to curl (approximately 1 minute) carefully flip. 
8. Cook another 30 seconds. Remove and lay on wax paper that you previously lightly sprayed with cooking spray. Do not skip that step. They WILL stick to wax paper as they cool.
9. Repeat with remaining batter.
10. When all are cooked, spread about 2 tablespoons of the cheese mixture over the surface and roll. Set aside and repeat until finished.
11. Cut into 1 inch long pieces and serve. 

Nutritional data:

Calories:       96

Fat:             3.6g

Sat fat:        1.8g

Chol:         43mg

Sodium:     45mg

Carbs:         9.6g

Fiber:             1g

Protein:       5.1g

Okay. A question for you! Would you consider this a dessert or a breakfast? Why? Please leave a comment below!

I Was a Guest Blogger This Week!

I occasionally guest blog for other people. It's not too often, but it is fun to reach a new audience. This week I was asked to provide a post for LoseIt! Rather than simply copy it, I will encourage you to go there and read my words. (Then, if you feel that maybe your weight is an issue, you can take the app out for a test drive. It is free!)

Here is a link directly to my blog post.

Also, the podcast is a bit delayed. I won't make my April 1 goal, but it is getting close! Keep watching here. I have seven great interviews recorded and this podcast is going to be awesome! I guarantee it, or your money back!

Oh, wait. It's free!

Transition Time is Challenging!

Wow!

I am 4 weeks from launching my first podcast. My podcast will be focused on goal achievement--revolving around my weight loss success, but expanding to any goal and success story. And that work--combined with my full time teaching job, and being a husband/father/son--is keeping me from blogging a lot. But my inactivity here is not a sign of total absence.

I've had this blog for over two years, and listened to podcasts for even longer. Starting the bog was simple. But why start a podcast? That seems so challenging. The reason "why" is the exact reason I listen to podcasts instead of reading blogs: time! I can listen to a podcast while doing something else. And when I realized that, I knew that I needed to transition to a podcast. But how?

I was absolutely stumped, until I found the right teacher. Meron Bareket of the Inspiring Innovation podcast invited me to be one of his beta-testers for his podcast-developing bootcamp. He created a course with detailed and simple (I needed simple!) instructions, video tutorials and comprehensive check lists. With his help, I am excited to be so close to launching my own.

Have you ever thought about creating your own podcast? Here is a link to the bootcamp that I tested (and successfully tested, I might add!)

Oh, did I mention: his entire bootcamp is free?

If you are even just curious about what it would take (and it doesn't take much!) go to the bootcamp page and take a look. The "take a look" costs nothing--but the entire bootcamp also costs nothing, so what do you have to lose?

Please note: this blog is NOT going away. Never. But it will evolve to become a part of a larger platform. I will blog and podcast and both will help each other be even more relevant and helpful.

Do me a favor: After you go to the bootcamp site and take a look (or even sign up?) post a note here in the comments. I'm curious: what are your thoughts about his bootcamp? Are you going to give it a try? Let me know here.