I'm 2 for 2 today - Jalapeno Popper Grilled Cheese Sandwiches and Turkey Enchilada Casserole

My husband is overjoyed because I am finally cooking again. Before, I was working full-time and he was never home until late, so I generally relied on quesadillas and mac 'n cheese for Gabriel and myself. Adrian would just eat out every single day - he'd generally skip breakfast, eat fast food for lunch and take clients out so he could expense his dinner. Some people love to eat out, but we are home-cookin' kind of folk. After a certain point, take-out starts to look revolting and the thought of how much money we've wasted on eating out disgusts me even further.

Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I'm a pretty decent cook. I thought it ran in my blood - maybe just on my dad's side - because my mom swears that she was an awful cook when she first married my dad. Apparently they lived on Ricearoni and my dad grilled steak. That was it. I don't recall her every being bad and now she's a fabulous chef, not just delicious and super tasty food, but she's whipped up quite a few delicious Weight Watchers meals too.

My addiction to Pinterest has helped inspire me to make a few things today. I made the Jalapeno Popper Grilled Cheese Sandwich, originally posted on BS' In The Kitchen.  It was a huge hit with Adrian; by the time I had finished my own sandwich, all that was left were crumbs from the two sandwiches that I made him.

{This is his original photo - none of mine would do it justice.}

I changed my recipe up from his just a tiny bit...

Ingredients:

• 3 Jalapenos
• 4 Bacon Strips
• 2 Tbsp Cream Cheese
• 2 Tbsp Ranch Dressing (and in fact, it could have used more)
• Chives (chopped)
• Cheddar Cheese
• Butter
• Wheat Bread

Roast the jalapenos - I did mine in the flames on the stove but you could probably do it in the oven or on the BBQ just as well. The skin should be charred well when you are done. Put them in a Ziploc while you work on your other ingredients. Combine the cream cheese, chives and ranch (I used the   homemade kind made with a packet) in  a small bowl. Stick the bacon in the microwave for 3 minutes, covered with a paper towel. Peel the skin off the jalapenos and slice thinly. Slice cheese. Make sandwich by spreading cream cheese mixture on one side, cheddar cheese lays on the other, jalapeno and bacon in the middle. Butter the outsides of the bread and make just like you would a grilled cheese. I covered the pan so the cheese would melt faster. Slice down the middle and enjoy!

Dinner was  much more my own creation, though still inspired by some recent posts on Pinterest about Cheesy Enchilada Casserole.

{This photo was taken from the website that inspired me, Six Sisters' Stuff}

Ingredients:

• 6 Corn Tortilla
• 28oz. Can of Red Enchilada Sauce
• 1 lb Ground 85/15 Turkey
• 1 Green Bell Pepper (diced)
• 1 Onion (chopped)
• 1 Tomato (diced)
• 1 Can of Corn
• 1 Can of Black Beans
• Cheddar Cheese
• Black Olives
• Cumin, Coriander, Chili Powder, Pepper and Salt to taste
• Cilantro and Sour Cream as garnish

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. I started by chopping all of my veggies, first the onion and bell pepper, which I put on medium heat in a large pan with the turkey to brown. Add your cumin, coriander, chili powder, salt and pepper to taste. I would guess it was probably about a teaspoon to a teaspoon and a half of each except the salt and pepper - use your discretion on those. Open all of your cans (I hate getting stuck at the last minute without having opened everything!). Once the turkey has browned, drain but do not remove from the pan, but do take it off the heat. Add your beans, corn and tomato - mix. Spray an 11x17 pan with cooking spray. Cover the bottom of the pan with a thin layer of enchilada sauce. You must be careful about how much you add because it could make your casserole too saucy in the end. Our corn tortillas were pretty big so to cover the bottom took 3 - 2 full and 1 ripped in half. Layer with meat mixture and then with cheese. Add a little more enchilada sauce. Layer another set of tortillas. With the remaining meat mixture, I actually put some sauce into it and mixed it before I added it to the dish. Layer the meat and then another healthy layer of cheese. In all, I used about 3/4 of the can of enchilada sauce. At this point, I put olives on half of the casserole as Adrian isn't the hugest fan of them. Pop in the oven covered with tin foil for 30 minutes, uncover for an additional 5, and you're done. Hope you love it as much as we did!