Breakfast Grilled Cheese

Something fast and easy to make for breakfast on my way out the door to work is always good.  That usually that consists of microwavable oatmeal and breakfast sandwiches, and when I have a little extra time, a breakfast burrito.  So when I saw this pin for a grilled cheese breakfast-style, I was excited to try something else that was fast and easy, and most importantly, new! I kept asking myself why this never occurred to me before-to use waffles for a sandwich! Here's the recipe.

 

Ingredients needed:

1/3 cup whipped cream cheese
1/4 cup small-curd cottage cheese
2 tablespoons confectioners sugar, plus more for topping
4 frozen waffles (untoasted)
1 to 2 tablespoons jam (any flavor)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, plus more if needed
ground cinnamon, for topping

I'm not going to lie, when I first clicked on this recipe and saw that it had cottage cheese in it, I cringed.  Texturally, I can't stand cottage cheese, but I decided to try it anyways.  I reasoned that if I didn't like the outcome, I could try it without it the next time.

Directions:

Mix the cream cheese, cottage cheese and confectioners’ sugar in a medium bowl.

Spread 2 waffles with the jam, then top with the cream cheese mixture; cover with the remaining 2 waffles.

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

 I decided to do what I normally do for grilled cheese sandwiches: spread the butter directly onto the bread, or in this case, waffles:

Add the sandwiches and cook until golden and crisp, about 3 minutes per side, adding more butter to the pan if needed. (Adjust the heat if the waffles are browning too quickly.)

I put the stove on medium-low heat and cooked it about a minute and a half on each side.  My stove seems to run extra hot though, so you might want to try it on medium...

Let the sandwiches rest 1 minute before serving. Sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar and cinnamon.

(It would be prettier if I sifted the powdered sugar)

And the result?  DELICIOUS!

Who cares if there's cottage cheese in the middle?  You can't taste it, and I did my best to squish the chunks of cheese when I was mixing it, so the texture didn't bother me either.  The sandwich was actually pretty sweet tasting, almost dessert like.  I was in love.  I was craving this a couple days later, and made it again.  

Bottom Line: LOVED IT!  

Greek Yogurt Pancakes

I made these a while back before I started this blog, and loved them.  I'm trying to eat more protein and healthier in general, so I decided to make them again with a few tweaks.  Here's the original recipe

The Ingredients you need:

• 6 oz of your favorite Greek yogurt (I used 0% plain Chobani)
• 1 egg
• scant 1/2 cup flour (I used whole wheat)
• 1 tsp baking soda

I also added: 

• 1 tsp vanilla (per the comments on the everyday belle post)
• 1 Tbsp chia seeds (I always add these to my pancakes)

As for the instructions:

Open the yogurt container and stir the yogurt until it’s smooth and creamy. Crack an egg over the yogurt and stir to combine leaving. The resulting mixture should be pale yellow in color and have a few lumps here and there. I also added the vanilla. 

  

In a separate bowl, mix together the flour and baking soda.  Pour yogurt/egg mixture into the bowl with the flour and baking soda. Stir to combine. The batter will be extremely thick.

  

Then I added the chia seeds.

   

Spoon the batter onto a sprayed griddle or pan heated to medium-high. I usually make four big pancakes, but you could also make 8 smaller ones. (I made 4 pancakes)

 

Flip the pancakes when they start to bubble a bit on the surface. Cook until golden brown on both sides and serve with butter, syrup, fruit, Nutella….anything! 

 

These pancakes come out very fluffy and taste like normal pancakes, but have more protein and less fat than your average flapjack.  

 

I figured out the nutrition information based off the ingredients I used:

(This is for 1 pancake)

Calories 100
Fat 1.75g
Carb 13g
Protein 8.5g

Adding chia seeds adds (per pancake):
Calories 15
Fat 1g
Carb 1.5g
Protein .75g
Plus the health benefits of omega-3's! 

Not bad :)

Bottom Line: LOVED IT!