Last summer, we had a delightful young couple rent our basement room from us. One of them was interning at my company, and we all had a great time getting to know each other. Rather than dance around each other in the kitchen every night, we decided to do meal-sharing – they cooked for all of us 2 nights a week, we cooked 2 nights a week, and we alternated Sundays (Fridays and Sundays were FFY (“fend for yourself”)).
It was amazing. I want to meal-share for the rest of my life.
Not only did we have to spend less time cooking (not my first desire in life, but when you’re working full-time and have 2 littles, it’s a necessary life simplification), but we also spent less money on food. We cooked better meals (ie. less blue-box mac & cheese and pancakes for dinner), ate much healthier (veggies in every meal), and got to try TONS of new recipes. It was pretty much a dream come true. (Not to mention Anne & Spencer also cook really well. And appreciate good food. And took stunning pictures of my food with their photographical prowess. We got along well. 🙂 )
Anne & Spencer may find it quite humorous that one of my favorite new recipes they made for us was what they simply called “Toasties”. They take about 5 minutes to throw together, 5 minutes to bake, and you have a full, healthy meal for the family.
This is a dish that you could customize and make infinite variations of. But I’m going to share with you the original, the one Spencer made for us one night. It takes 5 ingredients, and you can even cheat and get a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store to make it ridiculously easy and quick.
You simply toast one side of the bread under the broiler (the side that will be the bottom), turn it over (spread bread with a thin layer of butter if desired) and layer the chicken, avocado and green pepper on the bread, sprinkle with cheese, and broil until the cheese melts.
And that’s it, guys. It sounds way too simple to be delicious. But I LOVED them. I hope you do, too! With something this simple, I’m always afraid of overselling them. But give them a shot and let me know what you think. Or get creative and create your own “toastie”, and share your new creation with us!
- 8 slices bread
- 1 rotisserie chicken (or 1-2 chicken breasts), cut into thin slices
- 1 avocado, sliced
- 1 green bell pepper, sliced
- 1/2 cup cheddar cheese
- Butter one side of each slice of bread (optional).
- Place the bread slices on a large cookie sheet, butter side up (if buttered). Broil for 2-3 minutes, until barely toasted (toasted but not browned).
- Remove pan from over. Flip bread slices over.
- Top bread with 4-5 slices of chicken, 3-4 slices of avocado, and 3-4 slices of green pepper. Sprinkle with 1 – 2 Tbs cheese.
- Place in the oven and broil until cheese is melted, about 3-5 minutes. Serve immediately.
We miss the meal sharing and you guys SO MUCH! We’ve tossed around dropping off meals with other families that live nearby, but nothing has taken off yet.
Ahh, me too!!! It’s looking like Nick is going to have evening classes every night next semester (booh!), and I was thinking “Man, it’d be so nice to have Anne & Spencer cook dinner for us twice a week!” Let’s set up a pact that if we ever live in the same town again, we’ll figure something out!