French Dip sandwiches

I made this for our Sunday dinner!!!

Slam dunk. Delicious and easy.

French Dip Sandwiches
 from Best Bites

Their most requested recipe.

1 2.5-3 lb. beef roast (you can use a frozen roast if you want)


2 Tbsp. olive oil


 salt and pepper

 
2 1-ounce packages dry onion soup

 mix 
2 c. water

r
2 cans beef broth


6-8 large buns

 (or more…6 would be VERY generous servings!)


Swiss, provolone, or mozzarella cheese, shredded or sliced.

Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat and rub roast with salt and pepper.

When very hot, carefully place roast in pan and sear on all sides. You’re not cooking the meat, you’re just browning it quickly on all sides to add flavor and seal in the juices. Oh, and it smells so good–just like Grandma’s house on a Sunday afternoon.

Place in crockpot and sprinkle with onions soup mix. Pour water and beef broth over roast.

I cooked high for 2 hours and 4-5 hours on low. It’s hard to screw this part up; basically, the longer it cooks, the more tender it will be. But you know it’s done when you pop a fork in it and the meat just falls apart. When meat is ready, shred with a fork.

Place meat in crusty rolls. Top with cheese and broil open-faced in the oven or toaster oven for a few minutes, until bread is golden and cheese is melty. And don’t even think about walking away–things can go from lightly-toasted to on fire within a matter of seconds when you’re using your broiler.

Ladle juices into small cups for dipping and enjoy!

Creamy Balsamic chicken

I tried this 15 minute recipe and loved it.

1 lb. chicken tenders ( I cut them up in chunks)

½ tsp thyme

½ tsp mrs. dash chicken seasoning ( or not if you don't have it)

salt and pepper

1 -15 oz. jar light Alfredo sauce

1 ½ Tbs. Balsamic vinegar

Sprinkle dash and thyme on chicken and place in hot skillet and brown. Remove from pan.

Pour sauce and vinegar in pan and stir. Add chicken. Heat through till chicken is cooked and sauce is hot.

Pour over noodles or rice. ( I used rice.)

BECAUSE WE ARE A SAUCY FAMILY I DOUBLED THE SAUCE.

Seriously yummy.

Sizzler Malibu Chicken

Love me some malibu chicken...This was a great copy cat recipe.

6 boneless chicken breasts

6 slices of ham

6 slices of swiss cheese

1 egg

1/4 c. flour

1/4 tsp salt and pepper

3/4 c. panko bread crumbs

2 TBLS. oil

2 TBLS. butter

1 TBLS. water

1 tsp. mustard

1/4 c. mayo

stir egg and water with fork. Combine flour, s+p and coat each chicken piece, dip in egg and then coat with bread crumbs, making sure to press crumbs. Heat oil and butter in large skillet over med. heat. Brown chicken 4-5 minutes each side. Place chicken on cookie sheet top with ham, cheese. 350-until cheese melts.

Serve with dipping sauce of 1/4 c. mayo and 1 tsp. mustard

Really good sloppy Joe recipe

I made this for the 4th of July and lets just say Jake had "5" of them.

2 TBLS. vegetable oil

2 med onions chopped

21/2 pounds of ground beef

2 TBLS. tomato paste

2/3 c. BBQ sauce

1/2 c ketchup

1/4 c. Worcestershire sauce

1/4 c. soy sauce

ground pepper

11/2 TBLS. brown sugar

8-12 potato rolls

preheat oven to 300

Heat the oil in large skillet over med. heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring till translucent, about 4 min. Add the beef and cook, stirring and breaking up meat, until it is finely crumbled, the liquid boils off and the meat begins to brown, about 10 min. Drain the grease off meat and onions. Stir in tomato paste, and keep stirring until meat is coated. Add the BBQ sauce, ketchup worcestershire, soy sauce, and pepper and brown sugar and bring to boil. Cook until the sauce is slightly thick. You can make the sloppy joe meat up to 2 days in advance and reheat it over low heat or in microwave.

Can wrap the rolls in foil and warm for about 10 minutes.

Serve the sloppy Joe mix on warmed rolls.

HMS Admiral and Swabs Navy Bean soup..

Its freezing outside. Nothing warms the innards like hot soup. This recipe comes from my good friend Marci.

1 lb. small white or navy beans (do not soak)

3 qts. water

2 tsp. salt

pepper to taste

1 clove of garlic crushed or 1 tsp of garlic salt

2 med. onions chopped

can add 1/4 tsp oregano

Put all ingredients in large kettle and bring to boil. Then simmer all day on top of stove or in the oven at 300. Then add

2 c. ham pieces

1 lb. bacon cooked

1/2 c. barbeque sauce

3 TBls. brown sugar

Put in ham and bacon, sauce, sugar and add more water if necessary. Cook 2-3 hrs. more to blend flavors.

Makes 2 quarts soup..

Enjoy!

Turkey leftovers.. Turkey pot pie

I had 1 and 1/2 c. leftover turkey, and that is it for our leftovers this year...

so I made this delicious pie.

You can see its not runny inside.

 

 

 

4 Tbls. butter

small onion diced

2 carrots

3 potatoes

2 c. chicken broth

11/2 c. turkey

3 TBLs. flour

1/2 c. milk or 1/2 and 1/2 or cream

turn oven 425

melt 2 TBLS. butter in skillet, add onion and diced carrots. Cook till soft.

Stir in chicken broth, bring to boil. Stir in potatoes and cook till tender, but firm.

Melt 2 TBLS. butter in another pan, stir in flour and add milk and turkey, and  heat through. Combine with other mixture until thick. Pour into prepared pillsbury pie crust and top with crust. Dust with a little milk and salt.

Bake 15 min at 450 then 350 for 20 min. Cover top with foil after pie is brown enough to further browning too much.

Top with gravy, or catsup.

Delish!!



T-day Turkey

{**Cooking a turkey may be one of those things that

everyone knows how to do already-- but I didn't!

This year was my first turkey, and I just wanted it to 

be flavorful and juicy. I used some tips from Food

Network's Thanksgiving Live show, as well

as some tips from friends and family... and it was

PERFECT! So, just in case you're like me and don't know,

here it is!}

-

Holiday Turkey

---

Turkey

1 onion, largely chopped

1 lemon/lime, quartered

1 orange, quartered

Garlic (I was out of fresh, so I used

a little minced from a jar.)

Rosemary (I used dried, and I

loved the slightly sage-y flavor)

Thyme (Just a little bit)

Oil or butter. Or both.

S&P

Any other seasonings/herbs you like

---

First, after cleaning the turkey, I rotated

putting onion, lemon, and orange into the cavity

(squeezing the juice of the citrus out into the

cavity before tossing it in.) I also added the garlic,

rosemary and thyme with those, too. I filled the 

cavity completely, then tied the legs back together.

-

Next, shook a couple of tablespoons of flour around

in the turkey bag and placed the bag in the pan.

Brush or rub some oil or butter (or both) onto the skin

of the turkey. Add salt and any other seasonings you like.

(I used S&P, a little seasoning salt, garlic salt

and onion salt.)

---

Place the turkey in the bag, add a 1/2-1 c. water and seal.

Cut a couple of slits in the top of the bag.

Cook at 350 for 15 minutes per pound.

---

This was super easy, and so yummy. I'd make

this regularly if I could!

Thanksgiving success ;)

Quinoa Casserole

I have posted several recipes for Quinoa.

This is the first casserole dish.

Cook 1 c. quinoa in 2 cups of water. Add 1/4 tsp salt.

In another pan

cook 1 med. chopped onion in 2 TBLs. butter and saute till soft. Add

1 C.  chopped carrots, 1 c. chopped Celery,

and 2 c. chopped Cauliflower or brocolli and cook for 5-10 min. till tender.

(can add a little water to steam the veggies)

Then combine quinoa and veggies with

 2 TBLS. mayo, 2 TBLS. milk and 1 1/4 c. cheese

(can add a shake of nutmeg and pepper).

Add a white sauce of:

1/8 c. dry pd. milk

1. water

2 TBLS. corn starch

1 TBLS. chicken boullion

cook till thickened and add to other mixture.

Put in greased pan, and top with Parmesan cheese.

350 for 40- minutes

Honey Garlic Meatballs (or sauce for meat)

===

Okay, this one is all about the sauce.

I have used homemade meatballs, with my meatloaf

recipe (see below), and I've also used store-bought frozen

meatballs, if I was crunched for time. Or lazy ;)

This sauce, in my opinion, would also be great for

chicken or pork. It's a bit Asian, but very mild.

===

Honey Garlic Sauce

-

INGREDIENTS:

-

~ 4 garlic cloves, minced

~ 2-4 Tbs. butter/margarine (or oil if you prefer)

~ 3/4 c. ketchup

~ 1/2 c. honey

~ 3 Tbs. soy sauce

(*If you wanted a more Asian, less ketchup-y flavor,

take the ketchup down to 1/2 c. and add 2-3 more T. of soy sauce.)

===

DIRECTIONS:

-

1.

In a sauce pan, wok, or small/medium frying pan, melt the

butter over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook til tender

(you may need to stir to keep from burning the garlic.)

-

2.

Add the ketchup, honey and soy sauce and bring to a boil.

-

3.

Once bubbling, cover and reduce temperature to low.

Let simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring so the bottom

doesn't scald.

-

4. That's it! Add the cooked meatballs into the saucepan, or

pour the sauce over the meatballs and mix up.

Serve over rice, with potatoes, or even with pasta.

===

~~~

Meatloaf / Meatballs

-

INGREDIENTS:

-

~ 2 lbs. ground beef

~ 2-4 eggs (depending on how moist you want it,

and how much bread you'll use)

~ 3-4 slices of bread (or you may use bread crumbs if you prefer)

~ 1/2-3/4 c. diced yellow onion, or 2-3 T. dried onion flakes

 or dried minced onion

~ Salt and Pepper

===

DIRECTIONS:

-

1.

Preheat oven to 350 for meatloaf, 400 for meatballs.

-

2.

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl.

Make sure everything is incorporated.

-

3.

For meatloaf, press into a cakepan, or into

one or two bread loaf pans.

For meatballs, form into 1-2 inch balls and place

on a baking sheet or in a cake pan.

-

4.

Meatloaf will cook about an hour, depending on

how thick it is. Meatballs will typically cook in

about 30-45 minutes.

===

*For meatloaf, we always use this Sweet & Sour sauce,

which you pour over the meatloaf before baking.

It's so delish.

A different kind of Reuben

This is a different, fun take on a Reuben....and super simple.

Dough
Pastrami (I just used the stuff from the lunch meat section, pre-sliced. One pkg. per reuben)
Cheese (I used swiss)
Sauerkraut
Thousand Island dressing.

For the crust, you could use any pizza dough you want. I happened to have some extra time on the day I made this, so I made my own...also super simple:
1 pkg. active dry yeast (I have a huge bag, so I used two tbsp.)
1 tsp. sugar
1 cup warm water
1 tsp. salt
Extra-virgin olive oil
3 cups flour, plus more for dusting.

I used my Kitchen-aid, with the dough hook. In bowl, combine yeast, sugar, and warm water, stir gently to dissolve. Let it stand until it foams (5-10 min).
Turn mixer on low, add salt and two tbsp. olive oil. Add the flour a little at a time until incorporated. When it comes together, increase mixing speed to medium until it gathers into a ball. If it's too sticky, add flour 1 tbsp. at a time. If it's too crumbly, add a few drops of water.

Turn dough onto floured surface and knead until it's smooth and elastic. Form a ball and put in a lighly oiled bowl, turning it over to coat in oil. Cover and let rise for about an hour.

When it has doubled in size, turn it onto a floured surface. This is enough dough to make three pizzas, but I used it to make two Reuben loafs. Separate it into two equal balls and roll one out into a large rectangle shape. If you're only making one loaf, you can wrap the extra ball of dough in saran wrap, then again in tin foil and freeze it for later use.

Slit the sides, but leave about 4-5 inches in the middle uncut.Start layering. Pastrami, sauerkraut, cheese, dressing.
Repeat.

Then, starting with the top right strip, fold it over the sandwich stuff. Then fold over the top left strip. Continue folding over, right-left until you get to the bottom. Tuck in the expose ends and squish the dough together at the top and bottom to close up the gaps.

You can brush the top of the loaf with egg white if you want to. Bake at 450 degrees for 12-15 minutes. Slice off a piece and enjoy!

Lemon Chicken

On Sunday I made this dish. I cut the recipe out from the newspaper.

*

2 egg whites

1-1/4 lbs. chicken strips

1 onion thinly sliced

1 red bell pepper thinly sliced

juice from 1-2 lemons and rind from 1 lemon

1 TB rice wine vinegar

2 TB cornstarch divided

1/2 c. canola oil

1 clove garlic minced

2/3 c. chicken stock

1 TB soy sauce

*

In med bowl whisk egg whites with 1 TB cornstarch.

 Add Chicken and toss well. Refrigerate 15 min.

 Heat oil in skillet until very hot. Add the chicken strips.

 Cook 2-3 min. or until golden. Remove to paper towels.

 Add onion, garlic and bell pepper to skillet. Cook 2 min.

 Add stock, 1 TB grated lemon peel, lemon juice,

 sugar soy sauce and rice vinegar. Dissolve remaining

 cornstarch in 2 TB water and stir into sauce.

 Cook 30 seconds or until thick. Add chicken and coat with sauce.

 Serve with rice.

Hawaiian Chicken

A.LO.HA

Put your grass skirts on ladies and start cookin up this

delicious Hawaiian dish!

1 chicken cut up or tenders or breasts

1/2 c. flour

1/3 c. oil

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

preheat oven to 350.

 Coat chicken in flour and brown in heated oil.

 Remove as browned to shallow roasting pan, sprinkle with S&P.

SAUCE:

1 can sliced pineapple

1 c. sugar

2 TB cornstarch

3/4 c. cider vinegar

1 TB soy sauce

1 chicken bouillon cube

1/4 tsp. powdered ginger

1 large green pepper

Drain pineapple, pouring syrup into 2 c. measure.

 Add water to make 1- 1/4 cups, add vinegar,

 and soy sauce. In med pan combine sugar,

 cornstarch, and ginger. Stir to get out lumps.

 Add pineapple juice mixture and bouillon;

 bring to boiling, stirring constantly.

 Boil for 2 min. Pour over chicken.

 Bake uncovered 30 min.

 Add pineapple slices and green pepper, bake 30 min. longer. Serve over rice.

*

Mark and I both loved this dish. It was given to me by a friend.

Marinade How-To (and an approximate pork chop marinade recipe ;)

I very clearly remember hearing something on Food Network

that I never forgot about marinades:

To make a marinade, you need 3 things:

an acid, an oil and your herbs/flavoring.

-

I can honestly say that there are a couple of bottled

marinades and sauces that I love, but that after learning that,

I'm also not afraid to whip up my own marinade!

-

So a few weeks ago when all we had left in the fridge was

pork chops, I threw together a few things and it was yum!

(This is not a specific recipe, cuz the husband "accidentally"

threw away my post-it note recipe...)

-

PORK CHOP MARINADE:

-

Mix in a large bowl:

-

2-4 c. soy sauce

3/4 c. brown sugar

1/4 c. lime juice (or lemon, or pineapple...)

1 T. sesame oil (this stuff is powerful!)

1/2 an onion, diced (or a couple tablespoons of onion flakes)

3-4 cloves garlic, crushed

a couple tablespoons of garlic, sliced, diced or crushed

1/2 c. veg oil

-

Stir and smell- if it doesn't smell like you want it to,

you could add more of any ingredient, depending

on what you think it needs.

Also, there's not much seasoning in this marinade,

other than the salt in the soy, so season your meat when you

cook it!

For pork chops, this was yum.

Baked 'Fried Chicken'

This is an awesome recipe that has a fried chicken flavor,

but is a bit healthier- and easier- 'cuz it's baked! Yay!

-

I've made this using boneless, skinless check breasts (cut into strips),

but I've also used thigh meat. One thing I really want to try is

using bone-in thighs, just because I heart those, and I think

those'd be delish here, too. So whichever type of chicken you

choose, here we go...

-

1. Soak chicken strips or pieces in a bowl of milk (or buttermilk,

if you like more tang) for 20-30 minutes.

-

2. Mix in a large ziploc bag OR a bowl:

~ 1 c. flour

~ 1 1/2-2 tsp. paprika

~ 1/2 tsp. salt

~ 3/4 tsp. pepper

~ 1 Tbsp. Season All or Seasoning Salt

-

3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut 1/2 stick of butter into slices

and place in 9x13 cake pan. Place pan in oven just long enough

to melt the butter. (This is such an awesome trick!)

-

4. If needed, spread melted butter around bottom of pan so there

are no dry spots (you may use nonstick spray on dry spots, too,

if you need to.)

-

5. Shake excess milk off each piece of chicken and coat with seasoning

(either by shaking in ziploc or pressing into bowl).

-

6. Place each piece of chicken in pan.

-

7. Cook for 20 minutes. Turn chicken over and cook about another

20 minutes. (**Timing depends, of course, on the size of your

chicken pieces. The smaller/thinner the chicken, the less

cooking time you'll need, so check it along the way ;)

You don't want it overcooked- just til it's cooked through.

-

So yum! And really pretty simple.

This sort of reminds me of our copycat Chik-Fil-A nuggets,

except it's SO much less time-consuming because of the

baking- plus, a bit healthier ;)

Enjoy!

Ham and cheese potato casserole



I came home from church yesterday, hungry and didn't know what  to make for dinner.

(hadn't planned ahead)

 oh shut up!!

I had potatoes, ham and cheese.

This is what I ended up making and it was delicious.

I was excited to have some left overs..

but then....

 3 of my sons came over to visit and asking

 for something to eat.

 I warmed this up and they loved it. Simple to make.

Just needed a little time to bake.

HAM 'N CHEESE POTATO CASSEROLE

Read more about it at www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1638,157187-247198,00.html Content Copyright © 2012 Cooks.com - All rights reserved. 3 tbsp. butter 1 c. minced onion 3 tbsp. all-purpose flour 1 tsp. salt Few twists freshly ground black pepper 1 1/2 c. milk 4 med. potatoes, sliced thin 2 c. diced, or sliced thin cooked ham 1 c .or more shredded cheddar cheese Melt butter in medium saucepan. Add onion and cook, stirring, until tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in flour, salt and pepper until blended. (Be very careful not to scorch.) Gradually stir in milk. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture boils and thickens. Spray pan with pam, or lightly grease the pan. (easier for cleanup) In 2-quart casserole layer half the potatoes, ham  and sauce. Repeat layers and sprinkle with cheese. Bake covered 45 minutes. Uncover and bake 15-20 minutes longer or until potatoes are tender. Makes 4-6 servings



Simple Crock Pot Pulled Pork

Recipes like this are all over Pinterest.

I had a pork roast on hand, so I tried this one-

and it was delish!

---

You can use this to make pulled pork sandwiches,

or you can serve it with potatoes and veggies...

we went the polynesian route and served it over rice ;)

---

INGREDIENTS:

-

Pork Butt

(I'd recommend one with some fat on it ;)

-

1/2 bottle of your fave BBQ sauce (we used

Sweet Baby Ray's, from a recommendation)

-

1 can Diet Pepsi

-

Lawry's Seasoning Salt

===

DIRECTIONS:

-

1. Rub seasoning salt all over pork butt roast.

-

2. Place roast in crock pot and mix in BBQ sauce

and diet pepsi.

-

3. Cook on low for about 4 hours.

-

4. With two forks, shred pork. Cook for another hour.

===

That's it!

Cream Cheese Chicken Wraps

I've done chicken crescent wraps before,

but I have no idea what I put in them and I

cannot find any recipe for it... hmmm...

-

But today, I wanted to make them,

so I took a recipe from Plain Chicken

and tweaked it for my family ;)

The original recipe is HERE, and includes

a gravy, which my family thinks is "weird."

haha.  not.

Anyway, so here's my final product,

and I must say, I was eating the chicken filling

Out Of The Pan! yummy.

As always, I'd say season more/less/differently

based on you and your family !

===

INGREDIENTS:

-

3 large chicken breasts (or any chicken meat, really)

-

6 oz. cream cheese

-

2-3 T. butter

-

1/2 to 1 tsp. garlic powder

-

3/4 to 1 c. grated cheddar cheese
-
2-ish tsp minced onion flakes

-

1/2 tsp seasoning salt

-

1/2 tsp pepper

-

1/4 to 1/2 tsp celery salt

-

2 T. milk

-

*if desired- 3/4 to 1 c. grated cheddar to sprinkle

on top of crescents

-

1/2 can cream of chicken (cream of celery

would be yummy too)

-

2-3 cans refrigerated crescent rolls-

I prefer the larger sized rolls

===

DIRECTIONS

-

1. Preheat to 350. Cut chicken into bite-size pieces

and cook (I boiled). (You may cut afterwards, instead.)

-

2. I used the same pan, while the chicken was draining

in the colander, to mix up the cream cheese, butter, garlic

powder, onion, cheddar, salts, pepper, milk and soup (I only
used a half a can of the soup to keep it from being too thin)

over low heat.

-

3. You may leave the chicken in bite-sized pieces, but

this time I shredded it up just a bit.  Mix it into the filling

mixture. Fill each crescent dough triangle with a heaping

tablespoon of filling (for larger crescents).  Place crescents

into a sprayed/greased 9x13 pan.

-

4. You may top crescents with a bit of cheese or gravy

(see original recipe link for gravy).  Bake for about 30 mins

or til crescents are golden and cooked through.

Loco Moco

Loco Moco is a traditional Hawaiian dish.

It's often eaten for breakfast, but can also be

enjoyed at lunch, dinner, after school...

Plus, it's pretty simple.

---

INGREDIENTS:

-

Rice

-

Water

-

Eggs

-

Brown gravy

(This can be made from a packet mix or by

adding 1 can beef broth to the beef drippings,

then stir 2 T water and 2 T flour together and

add to broth for thickness.)

-

Hamburger patties

(In a pinch, just use regular beef patties. For more

flavor, add some onion, S&P, garlic salt, egg,

even bread crumbs if you want- to the beef! yum)

-

bit of oil for cooking patties and eggs

---

DIRECTIONS:

-

1. Start cooking rice, so it can cook while you're

doing everything else.

-

2. [After mixing beef mixture, if applicable],

cook patties on a frying pan or griddle

-

3. Remove beef from pan, fry eggs (usually

over easy, but you can cook however you want!)

-

4. Either cook gravy in a saucepan, or mix it in fry

pan after eggs are removed

-

5. Build on plate as follows: Rice at bottom, then hamburger(s),

then eggs, then gravy over everything.

Delish ;)

---

What to do with left over french dip beef.. (see post on French dip sandwiches below)

Kay...I loved my french dip sandwiches.

 But I made enuf (don't question my spelling) to feed an army.

I had them 3 days in a row.

So with the leftovers I did this.

Probably a revamped shepards pie.

Put the left over juicy shredded beef in the bottom of a pan.

Pour 1/2 -3/4 c. gravy over the top.

I added a can of corn

and topped with mashed potatoes ( can use instant) and grated cheese.

Bake at 350 till warm through.

***

you could do this with left over Sunday roast too!!

Am I good or what?

(My kids use to tease me that I could stretch a meal out a whole week.)

I consider that a talent!

French dip sandwiches...was Sunday dinner today

Slow Cooker French Dip Sandwiches

approx 3 1/2 lbs beef chuck roast

2 cans (regular size) of beef broth

2 cans ( regular size) condensed French onion soup

1 tsp garlic powder

salt and pepper, to taste

4-6 French rolls

sliced provolone cheese, optional

*
Season meat all over with salt and pepper.

Pour beef broth, condensed French onion soup, and garlic powder into slow cooker and place beef roast into liquid.

Cook on high for 6-8 hours. I put it in around 5 am and it was ready when we got home from church at 12:00 pm.

Take beef out and rest it, covered with aluminum foil, for about 15 minutes. Slice beef and return to slow cooker on low or very low for 30 minutes. (I just put it back in the cooker and starting devouring).

Lightly toast the buttered roll and evenly distribute cheese between rolls, if using. Divide beef onto rolls and spoon the beef juice into small bowls and eat everything while it is hot. Serve each sandwich with its own dip.
*****
love, love, love this dish!!! Is it easy enough for you?
Mark downed?...Well, lets not go there.

Seves 4-6.