In the Kitchen: Classic American Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Hello and happy Monday! Today we remember and honor the brave men and women who have and continue to fight for this country every day. I wish you a happy memorial day and express my gratitude, love and support to my cousin Wade who has bravely fought for this country several times and is no longer in active duty due to being severely injured last summer during a deployment in Afghanistan. We are so thankful that you are still with us, well and getting better every day. :) You are one crazy superman!

Here is a picture of this amazing family. Katie, my cousin + her husband Wade and their two adorable little boys Joe & Ethan. If you have hung around this blog awhile these beautiful faces are no strangers to you; Ethan is the godson of Nick + I and a frequent photo subject of mine :) They are the strongest, most inspiring and loving 4 people I have ever known. I just Love them!  

Nick and I had a great but fairly uneventful, Memorial Day weekend. On Saturday, I spent a little more time at my sister's helping her nest and taking care of last minute to-do's around her home, before baby Luca arrives. (By the end of June I will be an Aunt! :D *happydance* 

Later that evening we got together with our friends Tyler + Heidi for some relaxed hang out time. It was great to see them and catch up - it is going to be an exciting summer as those two will be married early October and it is going to be grand!! Once Sunday rolled around Nick and I escaped back to our Fort Collins haven in the early afternoon so we could enjoy some time outside, but the weather had other plans. It was overcast and too windy to fish, so we took Oli on a lazy walk and called it a day after cooking a classic American dish for dinner together. 

One of Nick's absolute favorites and a specialty of mine: 

American Grilled Cheese Sandwiches & Tomato Soup 

Ingredients: 

• Your choice of sliced bread - tonight I used classic white bread. But I love to use delicious nut & oat bread that make giant sandwiches, as well. 
• Butter
• Cheese - again anything is game! Lately I love using spicy Habanero cheese instead of classic American cheese to bring a little zang to the dish. 
• Salt & Pepper 
• Tomato Soup - one day I will be domesticated enough to make my own but for now one of my favorites is Tomato Basil soup by Progresso. Then again Nick is a sucker for simple and classic so I'll make him Campbell's Tomato sometimes as well. 

1. Heat your frying pan to medium heat and butter bread slices on either side. Add salt & pepper on one side to flavor, add your cheese and lay in pan once heated. (Let your cook go wild and add extras such as sliced turkey, ham or veggies to your sandwich!) 
2. Cook each side until golden brown and delicious looking. While flipping toast, prepare your tomato soup and make sure to use milk instead of water if you are cooking with Campbell's Tomato soup - it's soo much better and creamier. 
3. Serve & enjoy all in approx. 20 minutes cooking time. 

For dessert I whipped up some simple ready-to-bake chocolate chip cookies :) yum! Really no room for those in my diet + exercise pla- hahahahah yeah okay... 

And because I remembered to grab lemons, limes, and enough cucumber from the store last time I was out I finally made a huge pitcher full of cucumber-lemon water. It is so refreshing in the summer time and does wonders for water weight and hydration ladies and gents ;)

I have come across a couple different versions of this. The other main thing to add is mint leaves if preferred. Chop up 1 cucumber, 2 lemons, and 1-2 limes, add to water pitcher and let it sit in your fridge overnight in order to let the lemon and cucumber flavor the water. You can easily make small to-go versions of this right into your own water bottle over ice water and let the flavor soak in on your way to work, school, etc. 

While I'm still looking forward to some pool time today with my dear friend Kayla today, Nick has to work a regular day. I hope you have a great Monday and would love to hear and read about your Memorial Day weekend highlights and festivities! As well as your favorite grilled cheese flavors and cooking secrets.