I Have Crazy Children.

I do, I have crazy Sprout children. Of course I love them to death in spite (or because) of their craziness, but they keep me on my toes never knowing what to expect next.

I present the following evidence.
My Middle Sprout's latest and most favorite Panini Sandwich invention:

The Grilled Spaghetti-Garlic-Bread-Sandwich

(I told her I was going to blog about it and she didn't believe me. It's really pretty good, and if nothing else, it's a rather original use for leftovers.)


Should you choose to try this, here's what you do:

• 2 slices hearty French or Sourdough bread
• 2 tsp vegan margarine
• 1 clove pressed garlic
• 1/2 cup cooked spaghetti or angel hair, chopped up - aprox 1 inch pcs.
• 1 Tbsp. sauce
• 1 Tbsp olives, chopped
• 1-2 slices "meltable" vegan cheese slices

Mix pressed garlic with margarine. Spread thinly on bread.
Mix sauce into spaghetti. Stir in olives.
Crumble the cheese and mush it around into the spaghetti.
Lay 1 slice bread on heated Panini Grill, buttered side down.
Heap spaghetti mixture onto bread and spread evenly to edges.
Lay remaining bread slice on top, buttered side up.

Grill until sandwich is toasty and cheese is melty.
Dip in additional sauce if you want. YUMMMMMM

Have a great week.

Did I Mention Our New Panini Grill?

Yes indeed.

Our kitchen is home to a shiny, new panini sandwich grill and we couldn't be more excited!

Loads of thanks to our friend, Shaun.

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I think we were actually his tester Guinea-pigs, because after sampling only 37363536 amazing and tasty things we'd grilled, he went and bought himself one too!

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The grill was actually a Christmas present specifically for my Middle Sprout. She'd had it on her wish list for over a year. No Ipod, no cell phone requests like most 15-yr-olds; this girl is truly the kitchen appliance queen and loves cooking, experimenting and playing with food as much as I do. We're fortunate that she's willing to share all the grilled goodness with the rest of us family members.
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Now everything on our plates has those delicious toasty stripes. Even slabs of pineapple. (Without a doubt my FAVORITE!!)

Mr. Panini gets used frequently for quesadillas.

I've been having a lot of luck with vegan Tofutti slices; super-yummy with some cilantro, onions and tomatoes!

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Avocado slices are good too, but my kids aren't fans of green goo oozing from their quesadillas. How sad. More for me.

Slices of potato turn out great! These had a little olive oil, pepper, sea salt and rosemary. I don't remember how long they took, but it was a while; do them on med-low so they cook through before browning to a crisp.

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I didn't get a picture of the some of the tempeh - it was Shaun's favorite. Turned out pretty amazing too!! I simmered it in apple cider, let it marinate over night and grilled with a little soy sauce.

Grilled peanut-butter and sliced strawberries on thick whole-grain bread. Better than it looks!!

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So decadent, but certain nine-year-olds like it better than junk food, that's always a plus.

And it actually makes AWESOME panini-type sandwiches too - who knew? Currently, I'm really liking grilled eggplant and portabello mushrooms on sourdough, or a tempeh-rueben.

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If you've been considering yet another counter-hogging appliance, it's definitely a great multi-tasker. Lots of fun, super easy, get's dinner done FAST, hardly any clean-up, you don't need any oil for grilling most things.

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Even vegans can get plenty of use out of these babies as our pictures show... Have a great week!!!!