All the recent rain has made me crave grilled cheese and tomato soup. I put an adult spin on this kid classic and added some delicious ingredients. You can make grilled cheese with several variations. I love to add tomato and meat to mine. My advice is to add your favorite sandwich toppings and sauces then fry the sandwich in a pan flipping each side. I’ve also seen people use a waffle maker. I opted for our new Panini press from Crate and Barrel!

Ingredients 

Grill Cheese Sandwich
Sourdough bread or your favorite sliced bread 
Horseradish cheddar (deli counter of Safeway) or your favorite cheese
Sliced turkey or favorite meat
Sliced tomato 
Sliced Pepperoncini peppers
Mayo 
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale Mustard (Safeway) 
2 to 4 tbsp. Butter
1 tbsp. Garlic 

Soup
Favorite tomato soup, my favorites are Progressive tomato basil and Trader Joes Tomato soup.
Parmesan Cheese
Croutons 

Directions
1) Melt butter and add garlic, set this combination aside. 
2) Heat a medium size saucepan and heat on medium/low pour tomato soup and stir frequently.
3) Heat a medium size skillet, your waffle maker or Panini press set to medium.
4) Take to slices of bread and spread the mayo and mustard evenly on both slices. 
5) On one slice start to layer the toppings I typically start with turkey, next cheese then topped         with tomato. 
6) Sprinkle a pinch of salt & pepper on top of the tomato half.
7) Next, fork out a few pepperoncini peppers and place on the other half of bread that has the             mayo and mustard. Put this half on top of your turkey, cheese, and the tomato half. 
8) Take the sandwich and slather the butter garlic combination on both sides of the top layer of the     bread. 
9) Set one side of the buttered bread in the skillet to let it grill for a minute or so and check the           bread with a spatula to see when the toast gets golden brown. 
10) When one side is brown flip it over and get the other side brown. 
11) Plate your grill cheese and slice your sandwich in half. Add your soup to a bowl and garnish    with parmesan cheese and croutons. 

​Ryan and I received our plate/bowl combo platters as Christmas presents. These bad boys have come in pretty handy. We use it anytime we eat a liquid side dish. Hope everyone enjoys their rainy weekend and catches up on their favorite Netflix shows. We are venturing to Fresno for some much-needed family time. Until next time!

Xoxoxo
Tin & Twine

Ryan and I decided that each year for our anniversary we will plan a trip and travel somewhere we have never been before. For our first one, we decided to go to Thailand for ten days in September. I got so excited when we booked our flight to Bangkok that I decided to cook a Thai inspired pasta. Below are the ingredients I used but feel free to get creative and let me know what variations you create on your own!

Ingredients
3 chicken breast - chopped in bite sized pieces
Pinch of Salt & Pepper 
1 tbsp garlic
2tbsp - sesame oil 
1 box of pasta - (linguine or fettuccine)

Sauce 
2 tbsp peanut butter
1/2 cup soy sauce 
1/4 cup brown sugar  
¼ cup rice vinegar
2 tbsp Fish sauce
2 tbsp Huy Fong Chili Garlic Sauce
1 - 2 tsp Ginger root - grated

Vegetables
2 peppers diced 
half a bag of sliced broccoli, carrot, cabbage mix (Safeway) or dice up your favorite veggies

Garnish
cilantro
peanuts - handful crushed 
red crushed peppers
lime

Directions
1) Dice chicken and peppers into bite sized pieces. Next use a cheese grater to grate the ginger. Set aside the peppers and ginger for later.
2) In a large skillet combine sesame oil, garlic, salt & pepper and chopped chicken and cook on medium.
3) Meanwhile, in a large pot boil water and add a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil and add noodles. Cook for about 10 to 15 minutes. Taste test noodles to your liking.
4) While the chicken and noodles are cooking combine all sauce ingredients in a small bowl and whisk together. (peanut butter, soy sauce, brown sugar, rice vinegar, chili sauce, ginger).
5) Once you have cooked the chicken all the way, combine vegetables and sauce mixture. Saute on medium until peppers and broccoli mixture are cooked all the way through.
6) When the noodles have finished cooking, drain all the water and add the noodles to the chicken, sauce and vegetable mixture. Cook on low for about 3 to 5 more minutes.
7) Add pasta to bowl and garnish with cilantro, crushed peanuts and crushed red pepper.

Warning this dish is a crowd pleaser. Let's just say this was a hit in our house as well as Ryan's work ;). If spicy food is your thing, then this is a dish for you! Be sure to add extra red crushed peppers and Sriracha sauce for some extra kick. Please come back and check out more recipes next week! 

xoxoxo 
​Tin & Twine