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BBQ Chicken Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Sometimes the simple recipes like this BBQ Chicken Grilled Cheese Sandwich make the best recipes.

Do you have one night a week that you take off from cooking? Or at least from cooking a regular dinner? If you don’t, I highly recommend it. We all need a day off of cooking once in awhile.

For me it is usually Sunday night. I rarely cook much for dinner unless we have company. I keep it easy.

We eat leftovers or everyone just finds whatever they want for dinner. If I don’t have many leftovers, or my kids don’t want to fend for themselves, I make something simple like grilled cheese sandwiches.

Last Sunday I realized that I had some sliced chicken that needed to be used up. I didn’t have enough for everyone and I didn’t have a lot on hand to go with it.

I looked in the fridge and saw some sliced cheese and some bbq sauce. I decided that sandwiches would be perfect for using up that last bit of chicken and would help it stretch to feed everyone.

My family is not a fan of cold sandwiches. It isn’t really that they don’t like them, but they eat them often for lunch, so they don’t love them for dinner.

However, if I heat the sandwich up and turn it into a grilled cheese type of sandwich they usually love it.

That is exactly what I did on Sunday. I took my idea of a bbq chicken and cheese sandwich and turned it into a grilled bbq chicken and cheese sandwich.

I had just plain cooked and sliced chicken and spread bbq sauce on the bread, but you could easily use leftover bbq chicken or pork for this. Slow cooked bbq chicken or my Instant Pot bbq chicken would be perfect for this sandwich.

The reality is that this sandwich is so simple that it is not really a recipe. It is more of an idea for a sandwich combination that you might not have tried.

I know you love simple recipes. I also know that you love tips for making life in the kitchen easier. Meals like this are how I keep cooking and feeding my family easy and delicious.

Food does not have to be fancy or complicated to be delicious! Sometimes you just have to take a basic sandwich and cook it to make it a little more special.

Need to make grilled cheese sandwiches for a crowd? Make my oven grilled cheese. It makes cooking grilled cheese for a large group, a bunch of teens, or a large family easy.

Yield: 2 sandwiches

BBQ Chicken Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Name: BBQ Chicken Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 6 min
Total time: 11 min
Yield: 2 sandwiches
Ingredients: 4 slices bread; 1 cup cooked chicken, sliced; 4 slices cheddar or desired cheese; 2 tablespoons bbq sauce ( more if desired); 1 1/2 tablespoons butter, softened

BBQ Chicken Grilled Cheese Sandwich is a quick and easy lunch or dinner.

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 6 minutes

Total Time 11 minutes

Ingredients

4 slices bread
1 cup cooked chicken, sliced
4 slices cheddar or desired cheese
2 tablespoons bbq sauce ( more if desired)
1 1/2 tablespoons butter, softened

Instructions

Heat skillet or pan over medium heat.
Butter one side of each piece of bread.
Place two pieces of bread in the skillet or pan. Buttered side down.
Spread bbq evenly over each piece of bread.
Place one slice of cheese on top of bbq sauce.
Place chicken on top of cheese.
Place remaining cheese on top of chicken.
Put remaining bread on top. Buttered side out.
Cook for 3-4 minutes per side or until gold brown and cheese has melted.

Notes

To make this gluten free use gluten free bread and make sure your bbq sauce is gluten free.

This sandwich is also really good with sliced turkey.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 703 Total Fat: 43g Saturated Fat: 22g Trans Fat: 1g Unsaturated Fat: 17g Cholesterol: 156mg Sodium: 1056mg Carbohydrates: 40g Fiber: 2g Sugar: 10g Protein: 38g

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Filed Under: Chicken, Main Dish, Main Section, Quick Cooking, Recipes, Sandwiches Tagged With: 5 ingredients or less, 5 ingredients or less recipes, chicken recipes, five ingredients or less, Quick Cooking, sandwiches

Menu Plan

Tomorrow is Easter and that means that you may have some leftover ham that needs to be used up. Instead of serving just leftover ham, get creative with the leftovers. This week’s menu plan includes two easy meals that you can use the leftover ham in.

I am also sharing a favorite holiday breakfast and one of my favorite desserts for this time of year.

Here is this week’s menu plan.

Menu Plan Includes Recipes for Using Leftover Ham

Easy recipes for the week including ways to use leftover ham, a special holiday breakfast, and a delicious dessert.

Blueberry French Toast

Great breakfast for holidays and weekends.

Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs

The best boiled eggs. They peel perfect every time.

Applesauce Bread

Easy recipe for breakfast, lunches, snacks, or dessert.

Easy Ham Hash

Delicious way to use up leftover ham.

Ham Salad Sandwich Recipe

Great recipe for using leftover ham.

Chili Relleno Casserole

A family favorite that kids love.

Oven Tacos

The best way to cook tacos!

Pizza Chicken

Easy chicken recipe that your whole family will love.

Easy Pasta Sauce

Skip the jar and make it homemade.

Mom's Lemon Bars

The best lemon bars! My family has been making these for years.

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Filed Under: Main Section, Meal Planning Monday Tagged With: menu plan

Gluten Free Menu Plan April

Tomorrow is Easter and I know a lot of people are planning special meals. I kept the gluten free menu plan pretty simple this week. It includes my favorite gluten free rolls and a favorite gluten free dessert. Both are perfect for Easter or any day.

Here is this week’s gluten free menu plan. I made notes next to the ingredients that need to be gluten free, but as always be sure to read labels to make sure the ingredients are safe for your family.

Gluten Free Menu Plan April

Quick and easy gluten free meals perfect for spring.

Gluten Free Oven Pancake

Gluten free pancakes made easy in the oven.

Gluten Free Overnight Belgian Waffles

A great gluten free breakfast for a special day or any day.

Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs

The best boiled eggs ever!

Mexican Scrambled Eggs

Great breakfast or breakfast for dinner.

Light and Fluffy Gluten Free Dinner Roll

My favorite gluten free dinner roll recipe.

Cheesy Fajita Chicken

A simple and delicious chicken dinner. Serve as is or with tortillas or rice.

Asian Meatballs

A delicious way to change up basic meatballs. Use gluten free soy sauce.

Sausage Spinach Soup

A simple soup recipe perfect for lunch or dinner.

Gluten Free Starbucks Lemon Loaf (Copycat)

A copycat recipe that is so good no one will know that it is gluten free.

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Filed Under: GF Menu Plan, Gluten Free Dessert, Gluten-Free Recipes, Gluten-Free Recipes, Gluten-Free Section, Main Section Tagged With: gluten free menu plan

Everyday Favorites

I am changing up my Everyday Adventures posts and will now be sharing them as Everyday Favorites.

I have done Everyday Adventures posts on and off for years. It has been a fun way to share a little bit of my life outside of the kitchen. I recently decided that I wanted to change the focus of my everyday adventures posts and instead of just focusing on what I was doing, I want to start sharing more things that were helpful to you.

I want to share things that I have found helpful, recipes that I find that I want to try, and products that I am loving, along with things that I am doing in everyday life.

A few times a month I will share an Everyday Favorites post. Which will be all kinds of things that I am loving, using, tips and articles I have found helpful, things I am cooking, reading, and more. I hope that you will find these posts helpful and fun.

Have you seen the That’s It dark chocolate Truffles? I got some at Costco, but Amazon and other places sell them too. They are so good!
I keep meaning to do a whole post on the new electric griddle that I got, but a link will have to do for now. This is the one I got and I love it! I bought it one after my sister recommended it and told me who much she loved it. It is a great griddle for a good price. One of the reasons that I love it is that it is huge. I can make eight to ten pancakes at a time on it. We make pancakes at least once a week at our house. We also make a lot of quesadillas and grilled cheese. That means our electric griddle gets a ton of use. The one I bought a few years ago didn’t last as long as I hoped and I really needed a new one. Hopefully this one holds up better than the last one.
I have been updating a lot of my older recipes and photos. I started this website back in February of 2008. That makes me old in the online world. It also means that it is a never ending project to update old recipes. But it also mean I am finding lots of recipes that I forgot about. I will be updating and sharing those long lost recipes over the next few months.

My daughter made two pans of baked oatmeal for breakfast recently. It is so nice to have kids that love cooking. She made cinnamon roll baked oatmeal and raspberry baked oatmeal. Both are favorites at our house.
I love it when my love of cooking and reading come together. If you remember Gourmet magazine, especially the way Gourmet Magazine was in the 1990’s and early 2000’s, I think you will love the Ruth Reichl’s new book Save Me the Plums. I finished it just yesterday and loved it. I read it in two days. Once I started it I could not put it down. She covers how she helped change and modernize Gourmet from the magazine it was in the 1970’s and 1980’s to a more modern focus. She also talks a lot about the magazine and food culture of New York City. And she talks about how the new digital and online world changed and ultimately shut down Gourmet. If you love food and the behind the scenes information I think you will enjoy Save Me the Plums.
I have been a little quieter here and on social media. The reason is that I had diverticulitis again…It was about this same time last year that I also had it. Diverticulitis is not fun and I am hoping we can figure out what I am eating that is causing it. This time it happened the same week that my son had knee surgery. So that made for a fun week…A six foot six inch teenage boy on crutches and in a knee brace has been lots of fun too…

We have now have over 400 book reviews over on our book website! We recently shared fourteen books that my daughter Grace and I have read recently. If you love reading and books as much as we do be sure to check it out.
I also shared nine books that my husband has read recently. If you are looking for some good books for guys or some nonfiction books to add to your stack I think you will enjoy his list.

I took lunch to my husband’s office this week. I kept it pretty simple. I bought precooked sliced brisket from Sam’s Club. If you have never tried their brisket you should try it. It is really good. I bought sliced cheese and two different kinds of bread along with the rest of the stuff needed to make sandwiches. I also got two different bags of salad mix and some chips. The only thing I made homemade this time was the cookie bars. I will share the cookie bar recipe soon. I didn’t have a lot of time this week to make something so this was a pretty simple lunch to put together. It was also cheaper and healthier than eating out or having food brought in.
These chicken salad lettuce wraps look so good!
I am working on finding a really good dairy free biscuit for my daughter. I am thinking about trying this one for coconut oil biscuits or maybe this three ingredient biscuit recipe, but making it gluten free. Dairy and gluten are a what help make biscuits light and fluffy so this should be a fun challenge…If you are dairy free and have a good dairy free biscuit recipe I would love to hear about it.

I hope you have a great weekend and a happy Easter!

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Filed Under: Main Section Tagged With: Everyday Favorites

Applesauce Cake

Need an easy dessert recipe that uses everyday ingredients? Try applesauce cake! It is an old fashioned cake recipe that is just as delicious today as it was when our grandmothers made it.

One of my favorite things to do is to look through old cookbooks. Some of the recipes like Jello salads and casseroles with crazy ingredients are fun to read about.

You really have to wonder how many people actually made and ate some of the recipes. Many of the recipe though are basic recipes that call for inexpensive ingredients. Those are the recipes that I love the most.

Many of the older recipes are basic recipes with ingredients that people almost always have on hand. We can learn a lot from previous generations of cooks.

I can do without all the strange Jello recipes, but I think we can all use more easy recipes that use simple ingredients. They knew how to cook with what the had on hand and what they could afford.

This recipe for applesauce is an example of that. Applesauce cake is a dessert that many of our mothers and grandmothers used to make.

Applesauce cake calls for ingredients you always have on hand like sugar, oil, flour, applesauce, and eggs. Those are things most of us keep in kitchen all the time. Applesauce cake is a recipe that you can make without going to the store for special ingredients.

A lot of people have forgotten about applesauce cake because it is such a simple cake. It is not fancy, but it is so good. I think we need to start bringing back some of the older basic desserts and recipes like this one.

I love to frost my applesauce cake with either a basic butter frosting or a cream cheese frosting. Frosting makes applesauce cake even better, but you don’t have to frost it. It is delicious on it’s own.

Can I make applesauce cake gluten free?

Yes, I make this gluten free all the time. The easiest way to make it gluten free is to use Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 gluten free baking flour.

Can I make a dairy free applesauce cake?

The cake recipe is easy to make dairy free. The recipe uses oil, not butter, so that part is easy. For the milk use a diary free milk like coconut milk. For the frosting you can either leave it off or use a dairy free frosting.

Need more simple old fashioned recipes?

Applesauce Cake

Applesauce cake is an easy old fashioned dessert!

Ingredients

Cake Recipe

2 1/2 cups applesauce, unsweetened
2 cups white sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
6 tablespoons milk
4 cups all purpose flour ( use Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1 Gluten Free Flour blend for a gluten free version)
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt

Frosting Recipe

1/3 cup butter, softened
3 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
2-3 tablespoons milk

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x13 pan.
In a large bowl, combine the applesauce, sugar, oil, eggs and milk mix until well combined.
Stir in the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Stir until smooth.
Pour batter into prepared cake pan.
Bake in preheated oven for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of the cake comes out clean.
Let cake cool completely.
While cake is cooling make frosting.
To make frosting place butter and 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar in a mixing bowl. Mix until well combined and smooth. Slowly add remaining powdered sugar. Add vanilla and 2 tablespoons milk. Mix until smooth. Add a little more milk if needed for desired consistency for spreading on cake.
Frost the cake once it is completely cooled.
Cut into pieces and enjoy!

Notes

This recipe can be cut in half and baked in an 8x8 pan. Reduce cooking time to 35-38 minutes. It can also be baked in two round pans and made into a layer cake.

This cake can also be made dairy free by using a dairy free milk like coconut milk in place of the milk in the cake batter and by leaving off the frosting or by using a diary free frosting.

If you use sweetened applesauce you might want to decrease the amount of sugar.

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Filed Under: Cakes, Desserts, Frugal Meals, Fruit, Gluten Allergies, Gluten Free Dessert, Gluten-Free Desserts, Gluten-Free Recipes, Gluten-Free Section, Main Section, Recipes Tagged With: apple recipes, cake, frugal recipes, gluten free cake

Teriyaki Ground Beef over Rice

Need a quick and easy dinner? Try Teriyaki Ground Beef over Rice.

Dinner time can be a challenge, but recipes like this teriyaki ground beef make it easy to get dinner on the table for your family.

I had not planned on sharing this recipe with you, but my family loves it. It is a recipe that is too good not to share.

When I made it a few week’s ago I took some quick pictures before we had dinner so that I could share the recipe. I hope your family enjoys it as much as mine does.

This recipe calls for ground beef, but you can easily vary this recipe using whatever ground meat you have on hand or get on sale. Ground beef, ground turkey, ground chicken, or even ground venison will work great for this.

Using what you have on hand or what you find on sale will save you so much money when it comes to cooking.

This recipe does contain mushrooms. The mushrooms give it great flavor. However, if you have a mushroom hater in your family you can leave them out. If you love mushrooms feel free to add a few more than the recipe calls for.

This teriyaki ground beef is great over rice, but you can also use it for lettuce wraps, on its own, or served with rice noodles.

Can you freeze teriyaki ground beef?

Yes, teriyaki ground beef would make a great freezer meal.

Let it cool completely and freeze. You can also freeze this mixed with the rice. I love to add rice to any leftovers and freeze it in small containers for my husband’s lunches. It works great for easy freezer meals.

Need more quick and easy dinner recipes? Try one of these?

Stir Fried Cabbage and Pork aka Egg Roll In a Bowl
One Pot Green Chili Rice with Chicken
Eggs with Sausage, Onions, and Peppers
Quick Baked Potatoes

Teriyaki Ground Beef over Rice

Quick and easy dinner recipe.

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 15 minutes

Ingredients

2 pounds ground beef
1 onion, diced
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced or chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup soy sauce ( use gluten free soy sauce if gluten free)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground ginger
cooked rice

Instructions

In a small bowl or measuring cup combine soy sauce, brown sugar, and ginger. Set aside.
In a skillet or pan cook ground beef, onion, and mushroom until ground beef is no longer pink and onion and mushrooms are tender.
Drain off any fat and return meat mixture to pan.
Add soy sauce mixture to meat and cook over low heat for about 5 minutes or until sauce has thickened slightly.
Serve over rice.