Grilled Cheese Queen!

My love for grilled cheese has been a well known and well documented fixture in my life for many years now. I think it started with ordering a fabulous grilled cheese (cheddar on french bread) at Rosemary's Creamery after a dance recital, and the rest is history. Seeing as I quit dancing once and for all somewhere around the ripe old age of 6, the history between me and grilled cheese is pretty ancient.

But last night, for a new and exciting Meatless Monday, I stepped the love of grilled cheese up a notch, with AMAZING results. The wise thing to do would have been, of course, to have taken pictures. But, alas, despite my shiny new COLLEGE DIPLOMA (which came in the mail yesterday), I am not as wise as I often wish. So, use your imagination, kids.

Get ready to start drooling! I caramelized onions to make an AMAZING gruyere and caramelized onion grilled cheese on fresh french bread. Also a fan favorite (and by fan, I mean my grandpa... I'm just starting out, give me a break!) was the tomato, basil, and fresh mozzarella panini. Just like the ones my sister and I ate at a sidewalk cafe in Florence, Italy, and absolutely to DIE for. The next twist on an old favorite was sharp cheddar cheese grilled on cinnamon raisin bread. Sounds weird, but I'm telling you, delicious and unexpected!

And that's just me getting started! Tomorrow night, I'm grilling up some italian sausages (an unlisted goal of mine for this year and the rest of my life is to learn how to grill like a man!), pairing it with a risotto and peas and my famous garlic bread! Dessert will be a panna cotta with blueberries. I'm really excited to try everything.

And, of course, with all this cooking involving cheese and heavy cream, I'm also REALLY excited about the new fitness routine I've started on (ha)! I just finished day 2 of the plan, and knowing my history with diet and exercise, I admit it will be nothing short of a miracle if I even finish out the whole week. But the calendar in this month's self magazine is seriously GREAT... I'm feeling the burn, but in a totally do-able way. And, jump roping? Amazing cardio that makes me feel like I'm in third grade again (it was a simpler time). Only difference is I don't remember being quite so out of breath and sweaty back then...