Super Easy Meal Solution

Let me paint a scene that might be familiar to you. It’s 5:30 in the evening and you just got home from work. The family is looking weak from hunger and everyone is staring at you like you’re supposed to fix this situation. You quickly try to solve this crisis by saying “Hey I could whip up some (insert the one thing that you know how to make here) for dinner. How does that sound?” Your proposed solution insights a round of eye rolls and a chorus of groans from the crowd. Does this sound familiar to you? If so I’ve got a great solution for you.

Today, I’ve going to give you a recipe to add to your repertoire that is super quick and easy to make and is guaranteed to be a crowd pleaser.

Grilled Peanut Butter and Jelly

Now before you exit this page in disgust please give me a second to explain myself. A while back someone told me about Grilled PB&J and thought I’d give it a try. Since I have a reputation of trying out recipes gone bad on my family I decided to try this one out on myself first. To my surprise I really liked them. Of course it helped that I’m already fond of PB&Js. In fact, I think they are just about the perfect food but in the words of Emeril this recipe kicks up the common PB&J a few notches. BAM!!!

The first time I unveiled this recipe on my family I got a lot of turned up noses and groans from them. Since I knew how utterly good they were I made it mandatory that they at least give them a try. They all loved it, even Jenny!

The other good thing about this recipe is it’s so simple to make you can get everyone who is eating to make a majority of their own. Here’s how it works.

Ingredients:
Peanut Butter
Jelly or Honey
Sliced Bread
Margarine or Butter

The first thing you do is make your traditional PB&J. Since even kids know how to make these you can put the whole family to work at this point.

Even 14 year olds know how to make PB&Js

The insides will be warmed up when you’re finished so try to go a little lighter on the PB&J than you normally would if you weren’t grilling them. If you prefer yours to run down your arms while you’re eating then I would suggest to make the PB&J thicker.

Now that you have your PB&J built the outsides need have a light layer of margarine spread on them. This is the same technique as used in making grilled cheese sandwiches. The way I do this is butter one of the sides then place the sandwich butter side down on the skillet and butter the other side. By doing this it eliminates a lot of mess.

Not sure how this picture got turned sideways but you get the picture

The next step is to cook your PB&J on an electric fry pan or skillet or what ever you have at 350 degrees. Cook until golden brown on both sides. I’ve never timed it before but to get them to be golden brown it probably takes 2 minutes on each side.





Now you’re ready to eat.

He likes to have the PB&J slide down his arms for some reason

So the next time you’re in a pinch for something to make for dinner or just want to make a heck of a good PB&J give this a try. Once you’ve had a grilled PB&J you’ll be a changed person.

The Perfect Cycling Fuel

Years ago when Jenny and I went on our first long distance organized ride we overheard someone talking about his pre-ride meal. He very proudly told his riding buddy that he had a huge plate of spaghetti before the ride. I’m usually a big fan of spaghetti but he was telling his buddy this at 6:30 in the morning. I can honestly say I’ve never climbed out of bed in the morning and said “Boy, I’m starving I think I’ll start off the day with a big bowl of spaghetti”. Actually, I don’t think I ever will.

Back then I didn’t know much about good cycling nutrition but since then I’m discovered the perfect pre-ride cycling fuel. That’s right my favorite pre-ride meal is a Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich! This might sound funny but here are my reasons why it’s the prefect pre-ride food.

• A PB&J is full of the perfect blend of carbohydrates, protein, and youth.

• This meal is portable so you can take it with you and eat it on your way to meet up with your buddies.

• It’s relatively cheap when you compare it specialized cycling food.

• It gives you a good case of PB&J breath which I’m sure your cycling buddies will all envy.

• Most importantly it’s full of your daily recommended allowance of youth.

I don’t care who you are, riding a bike makes you feel like a kid again or at least it should so eating a PB&J before a ride doesn’t just taste magically delicious it also gets the youth juices going before you start turning those pedals.

You should be careful with what you combine your PB&J with though. If you were to eat a PB&J with an orange soda and follow it up with some pop rocks you would far exceed your daily allowance of youth. This might cause you to ride off of your trail spontaneously throwing rocks and catching frogs. Trust me your cycling buddies won’t like this.

If you’ve never tried a pre-ride PB&J you should give it a spin but be careful. They’re powerful!