My Healthy Fried Egg Sandwich

For those of you who don’t know, I have been training for a half marathon. It’s coming up in 3 weeks (yikes!), so my long runs are getting up there in mileage. And after a long run, I need to eat. Immediately. It’s important to replenish your energy and rebuild your muscles with a combination of carbs and protein. This fried egg sandwich accomplishes both of those nutritional needs – the bread gives you the carbs you need to replenish glycogen, and the egg gives you protein to rebuild your muscles – and it takes about 5 minutes to make, satisfying that urgency to eat.

Don’t let the word “fried” fool you. Instead of frying the egg in oil or butter like in a traditional fried egg sandwich, I just use a little cooking spray. I also use high-fiber whole grain bread and light mayo instead of their high-calorie counterparts. It’s a great post-workout snack or even a quick, healthy lunch.

Ooey, gooey, and delicious. You can barely tell it’s healthy!

What you’ll need:
2 eggs
2 slices high-fiber whole grain bread
1 tbsp light mayo
Optional toppings: ketchup, pickle relish, or mustard

What you’ll need to do:

Put your bread in a toaster and toast to your liking; set it and forget it.

Set a small pan over medium-high heat and spray with cooking spray. After it has heated, crack one egg into the center and let it cook for about 2 minutes – you’ll see the white of the egg start to cook.

Kind of like a pancake, when you see the white start to bubble and cook you know it’s time to flip.

Flip the egg, and cook for another 2 minutes.

The yolk will cook over-easy, which makes for some great dipping later.

After it’s done, put the first egg on your toast (which should be done by now; if not, you burned the bread).

Repeat with the second egg. Once that egg is done, top your first egg with the second egg.

Smear your second piece of toast with the light mayo and top your egg sandwich.

Yum. And so easy.

Cut it in half and enjoy. You can dip your sandwich in the yolk that has run all over the plate – yum!

Grandma’s Grilled Cheese

I’ve made grilled cheese sandwiches my whole life, but never realized until very recently that I always made them the same way my Grandma does. My grandma taught my mom, my mom taught my dad, and one of my parents (I forget exactly who) taught me. Either way, this is the easiest way to get a perfect grilled cheese sandwich any time the craving strikes.

The trick with this grilled cheese sandwich is the butter. By putting butter on the non-cheese-facing side of the bread, the bread grills perfectly while melting the cheese on the other side. If you don’t use butter, your bread will burn before the cheese is fully melted. And microwaving doesn’t work either – it’s grilled cheese, after all. I guess that’s what you get when you come from a Southern family – butter is always the trick.

Delicious grilled cheese, so gooey that the cheese runs right out onto your plate.

What you’ll need:
1 tablespoon of butter or margarine (1/2 tablespoon for each slice of bread)
2 slices of bread
A few slices of sharp cheddar cheese

What you’ll need to do:

Heat your grill pan over medium-high heat.

Spread butter or margarine on one side of each slice of bread. Have your cheese sliced and ready to go.

Make sure to cover the bread entirely with the butter or margarine. It helps the heat from the pan go straight through the bread to melt the cheese.

Put one slice of bread on the grill pan, butter side down. Stack the cheese on top of the bread, making sure to cover as many edges as you can. Top with the other slice of bread, butter side up.

After a couple of minutes, flip your sandwich to grill the other side. You’ll see nice golden-brown grill marks on the cooked side.

The grill pan makes beautiful grill marks, but you can just as easily use a regular pan instead.

After a couple more minutes, your sandwich is done. You’re left with perfectly grilled bread and gooey melted cheese on the inside. This sandwich is great to eat alone, or served with a bowl of tomato soup.