St. Patty's Day!

Around Christmas, I saw my grandparents and they mentioned that they wanted to come up and see the house - since they haven't been over since our housewarming party. I thought it was a great idea and decided to invite them up for St. Patty's Day so I could make my reuben recipe (it's been about just as long since I've made that). 

Reubens
Severing for 6

2 1/2-3 lbs corned beef roast - pre seasoned
12-16 oz beer (Sprecher's Irish Stout recommended)
1 can sauerkraut, warmed
6-12 slices of swiss cheese
12 slices of marble rye bread
Butter - for frying
Russian dressing (if you want to make it use the ingredients below)
3/4 cups mayo
1/4 cup chili sauce
2 Tbs sour cream
2 tsp curly parsley, chopped
1 Tbs spanish/sweet onion, minced
1 Tbs dill pickle, minced
1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp grated horseradish
1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Russian Dressing

Tastes best if you make it the day before you serve. Also, it will be pretty spicy if you taste it alone, but the heat goes away when you eat it on the sandwich.

• Combine all of these ingredients in a bowl: mayo, chili sauce, sour cream, parsley, onion, pickle, lemon juice, horseradish, Worcestershire

If you don't want to use Russian dressing you can use Thousand Island dressing.

Corned Beef

• Basically follow the directions on the package, but here is what I did.
• Put the entire roast in a large pot (I used a dutch oven).
• Toss in 2 bay leaves.
• Pour in 12-16 oz beer.
• Pour in enough water to cover the roast (I ended up using maybe about 12 cups).
• Cover pot, bring the liquid to a boil, and then turn down to a simmer (you might need to tip or remove the lid to keep the liquid from boiling again).
• Simmer for about 3-4 hours or until the meat is fork tender.
• When the meat is done, pull from the pot and place on a cutting board and let rest before slicing. If you are not ready to assemble the sandwiches, tent the meat with foil to keep it warm.

Assemble the sandwich

• Place a full layer of beef on the bottom of the sandwich.
• Lay down a layer for the kraut on top of the beef.
• Place a slice or two of cheese on top.
• Top with the second slice of bread
• On a frying pan or flat griddle, grill the sandwich like you would a grilled cheese. Be careful when you flip the sandwich; it's easy to send beef and kraut flying out the sides!

Since the bread is dark, it can be a little hard to decide when the bread is ready to flip, so instead of looking for the golden color, you can just use the flipper to tap the bread and see if it feels kinda crusty. If you can't find marble rye you can use a pumpernickel or light rye bread 

Once again, I know this looks like a lot of steps, but it's really pretty easy! If you make the dressing the day before (which is best anyways), on the day you want to make the sandwiches you just put the corned beef on the stove and it does all the work! The only "hard" part was assembling the sandwiches and frying them efficiently enough so everyone ate around the same time. But it's sooo worth it! 

The Lunch Lady

I feel like I am one of only a few people who didn't grow up on Manwich. I ate plenty of sloppy joes as a kid, but my dad always made them from scratch. Yes, pre-made sloppy joes are easier but if you put in a little extra effort, you'll be rewarded.

Pop's Sloppy Joe
1.5 lbs of ground beef
Vegi oil
1 medium onion (white or yellow), chopped
3 celery stalks, cut into about 1/2 inch chunks
2 cups of ketchup
2 oz vinegar
1 Tbs lemon juice
1 Tbs worcestershire sauce
2 oz brown sugar - about 1/4 cup
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder

• Brown and drain beef, set aside.
• Put a little oil in a hot pot. Make sure the pot is large enough to hold all of the ingredients.
• Saute the onion and celery for a few minutes, until the onions are softened.
• Add back the ground beef and all remaining ingredients.
• Combine well and stir occasionally until heated through. 

My dad's sloppy joe recipe is so easy to make and sooo delicious! I really should make this a lot more than I do. It reheats very well and would be great to take to work!

Healthful dinner

For a couple months I have been counting my calories. Even though it's really been a lot of work, the pounds are coming off (oh yeah, with a little bit of exercise)! Dinner is the most challenging meal because by that time of the day I don't have many calories to work with. Typically, I end up with 300 - 400 calories. I did a quick Google search for some low calorie dinners and surprisingly found a lot of options. All of the recipes I've tried have been good, but my favorite so far is below!

Hot Chile Grilled Cheese (415 calories)

via eatingwell.com

4 poblano peppers
1 can (14oz) pinto beans, preferably low-sodium
3 Tbs prepared salsa - I used an apple salsa
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack or Cheddar cheese
2 Tbs low-fat plain yogurt
3 scallions, sliced
2 Tbs chopped fresh cilantro
8 slices sourdough bread

• Place peppers in a microwave-safe bowl and cover with plastic wrap.
• Microwave on high until soft, 3 to 4 minutes.
• Let stand, covered, until cool enough to handle.
• In a medium bowl, mash the beans with a fork until they begin to form a paste.
• Add in salsa and salt.
• In a separate small bowl, combine cheese, yogurt, scallions, and cilantro
• When the peppers are cool enough to handle, slice each one in half lengthwise and remove the stem and seeds.
• Heat a panini maker to high. - We used a George Foreman grill
• Spread 1/3 cup of the bean mixture on each of 4 slices of bread.
• Top with a heaping tablespoon of the cheese mixture.
• Place 2 pepper halves over the cheese. Cover with the remaining slices of bread.
• Grill the sandwiches in the panini maker until golden brown and heated through, about 4 minutes.
• Cut in half and serve immediately.

Like with most "diet foods" I didn't expect much flavor from this dish. However, it was delicious and filling! I loved the bean and salsa mixture and have been making more all weekend to spread on the leftover sourdough to make an open face egg sandwich.

Sorry Boys...

When I was little, my parents would sometimes ask me what I wanted for dinner and I often said, "sorry boys." What I really wanted was a po-boy. I had always thought it was called a poor-boy and I missremembered it as sorry-boy. Opps

There are many different versions of this southern-style sandwich, but I really like the way my dad makes it.

Pop's Po-Boys

Fresh French bread

About 10 - 14 slices of deli-style cheese. I suggest a mix of the following: Munster, Pepper jack, Mild cheddar, and Mozzarella

About 10 oz of sliced meat. I just buy a couple of the variety pack sandwich meats that include some of the following:Ham, Salami

Bologna, and Turkey

Mustard

Mayo

• Preheat the oven to 350
• Cut the bread in half
• Put an even layer of cheese on the bottom, start with the cheese that melts the best - I start with munster
• Follow with an even layer of meat
• Continue alternating layers of meat and cheese until your sandwich is full (about 6 layers or so total) - make sure to end with a layer of meat
• Wrap the sandwich in tin foil and place on a baking sheet and into the oven
• Bake for about 30-40 min - until the bread is crispy and the cheesed is melted
• Carefully unwrap the sandwich and cut into about 3-4 servings

I left the top layer without cheese so the top slice can be pulled off and you can add mayo or mustard.

This recipe can easily be swapped out with different meats and cheeses. I haven't found a combination yet that doesn't work!

This is a staple in my house now and I often use it as a quick backup dinner when I have last minute dinner guests. It's also great to bring for camping or something to make ahead for the coming week's lunches.

A delicious way to bulk up for Winter

The other night my husband and I were looking through our cookbooks and magazines for the weekly dinner plan. While going through a Paula Deen magazine, my husband found a recipe for "Fried-egg and Avocado Sandwich". He read the ingredients to me and I realized we already had everything in the kitchen to make this stack-of-fat-on-a-piece-of-toast.

We were lucky enough to live through the spontaneous triple bypass burger, I thought we could live through this.

Fried-egg and Avocado Sandwich

2 Tbs cream cheese - we didn't have this so we used sour cream and butter
1 slice of toasted wheat bread
1/2 tsp fresh parsley
1/2 tsp minced green onion
2 slices of bacon
1 large egg
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
2 slices tomato
1/2 avocado, peeled, pitted, and sliced

• Spread cream cheese over 1 piece of toast
• Sprinkle with parsley and onion
• In a small skillet, cook bacon over medium-high heat until crispy
• Remove from pan and drain on paper towels
• Remove all but 1 Tbs of grease from pan
• Fry egg in same skillet, over medium-low heat
• Sprinkle with salt and pepper
• Place egg over cream cheese mixture
• Top with bacon, tomato, and avocado

YUUUUM!! :)
Quick, easy, late-night snack to share.

aerial side-by-side of what we made compared to the picture in the magazine

I really love sandwiches

I haven't been eating very well lately (a lot of pizza and tacos) so I decided I should pre-plan some meals. I subscribe to a few different food magazines so I thought it would be neat to look into those instead of foodnetwork.com, like I usually do. I picked out two recipes from Cooking Light magazine and my husband picked two from Cooking with Paula Deen.

I'm going to share both of mine, but today I'm just going to share one.
Before I started, I had no idea what fennel was. When I got it home, I realized it smelled like licorice. I REALLY don't like licorice - but it was too late now. Surprisingly, after cooking it, I really liked it. The flavor mellowed down quite a bit and it had great texture.
Steak and Fennel Sandwich
1/2 tsp ground fennel seeds - I found whole fennel seed that I ground

1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
4 tsp olive oil
3 cups thinly sliced fennel bulb (about one bulb)

4 4-oz beef tenderloin steaks (1" thick) - sandwich steak
8 tsp homemade mayonnaise - Miracle Whip (or use a canola-based mayo if you want to stay healthy)
8 slices ciabatta - sour dough
1 cup arugula - organic salad blend with arugula

• Combine fennel seed, salt, cumin, and pepper in a bowl.
• Heat 2 tsb oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat.
• Add 1/2 tsp spice mixture and all the fennel.
• Saute for 15 min or until fennel is tender and lightly browned. Stir frequently.
• Transfer hot mixture to bowl.
• Wipe down pan with paper towel. Careful!! It's still hot!
• Heat remaining 2 tsp oil in pan.
• Sprinkle steaks with remaining spice mixture.
• Add steaks to pan and cook to desired doneness. About 4 min per side.
• Assemble the sandwich - Toasted bread slice, mayo, beef, fennel, arugula, bread

This is a fantastic and easy-to-make sandwich! I will defiantly make it again, but with one change. I will be sure to use tenderloin steak. I bought some generic sandwich steak and it was very tough. It made the sandwich very hard to eat and not enjoyable.

Lets get to the good stuff!

An absolute staple in my diet is grilled cheese. I've been making, eating, and ordering these for almost my entire life. I think I have perfected the art of grilled-cheese making and think that every new cook should practice making this delicious snack.

I have cooked with my dad for while and want to pass some skills off to my husband. I thought a great place to start is with making a grilled cheese. We have been together for almost 5 years now, and he's just starting to get it. - I'm not sure if that is due to his cooking skills or my teaching skills :)

Though it may appear simple, making a great grilled cheese does take some time and thought. Now, even though I said I cooked a lot with my dad, it was my mom who taught me how to make this one!

Tips on making a grilled ham and cheese sandwich (croque-monsieur)

1. Get a "nice" frying pan (this means one that cooks evenly) with a matching lid.
2. Don't use too much butter; your sandwich will become too greasy.
3. Use sliced cheese for a standard sandwich, or use a spread for a delicious messy sandwich.
4. I prefer to only use about 2-3 slices of thin ham so not to take away from gooey mess of the cheese.
5. Watch your heat closely and only keep the lid on the pan when cooking the first side of the sandwich. Remove the lid while you cook the second side.
6. Start learning with a basic white bread and sliced cheese grilled sandwich before working your way up to those fancy grilled sandwiches.

A recent sandwich - nothing fancy, but it does the trick!

Pet Peeve Alert:
I very much dislike going to a restaurant and seeing that they want to charge $9 for a grilled cheese sandwich. They like to include thick pieces of bread, thick cuts of meet, lettuce, tomato, blah blah blah. If I wanted a club sandwich I would have ordered one, but I wanted two slices of Wonder bread wrapped around two slices of american cheese. Thank You.