Happy Friday!! I am SO pumped for the holiday weekend! We have so much going on...it's going to be a blast for sure.

Now, I like to dedicate weekends of this type to ALL KINDS of amazing foods.  Whether it be new things that I am bringing to the table or awesome dishes my friends cook up.  Dan and I have plans to attend several different Memorial Day parties and I have some great ideas I plan to try out...but before that, I want to share some old favorites.  These are two recipes that I go back  to time and time again AAAND they are SUPER easy!!

First, here's my favorite Turkey Panini.  Sounds boring...but it's so not!

Ta da!  How good does that look? Super easy too...here's what you need:

A hearty bread (Here I used Aunt Millie's Crunchy Oat..my fave if I'm going full-on carb)

Cheese (of your choice...I used reduced fat, shredded colby jack)
Turkey

Mayo (I used reduced fat...can you see a pattern yet?)

Tomato

Lettuce

One wedge of Laughing Cow Garlic and Herb wedge

Avocado

Slivered Almonds

I layered them in this order: Shredded cheese, avocado slices (I used one half for one sammie), handful of slivered almonds, tomato, turkey, lettuce, Laughing Cow Wedge and mayo.  I layer them like this because the shredded cheese, avocado, and slivered almonds like to try and escape. If I layer like this and place the 'sam cheese side down first, these slippery ingredients tend to mesh together and less is lost :-)

I get a little bit of EVOO hot on a grill pan and put the sandwich cheese side down. 

Now, I don't have a panini press.  Neither do I expect to have one in the near future.  So what I do is put my CLEAN cutting board on top of the sandwich and then top that with a heavy jar of some sort (think big salsa jar, big can of tomatoes...you get the idea)  It gives the sammie the perfect squish.  Of course, there comes a point when you need to flip it....but it doesn't take too much skill ;-) 

Next up is my slow cook spicy chicken.

This really could not get any easier.  And it's SO versitile! Here's a peek:

Ok. Not too appealing in a picture, but I promise it's SUPER scrom.

All you need is chicken breast, taco seasoning and salsa.   .... That's it.

That's it!!

I dump it all in my trusty crock pot and cook it long and low.

This batch cooked for about 6 hours.  After six hours on low, I pull it apart with two forks.  This COULD be the last step, but I like to let it soak in the juices for another hour (I set my 'pot to warm at this point).

I have used this chicken for SO many things.  I use it for tacos, enchiladas and my super awesome Mexican lasagna (more on that later).

The best part about this is you can adjust it however you'd like.  I use medium salsa with hot taco seasoning.  Certainly you can use whatever level of spice you want.  Once, I tried it with this great black bean salsa.  Like I said, so versitile. And amaze with a cold beer.

Well, that's what is on tap for us tonight!!  Can't wait to see all of the awesome dishes that will be brought to the table this Memorial Day weekend.  Hope your table is just as exciting!!

Have a fun and safe weekend