Stuffed Sandwiches

Whew, it's been a busy week!  We have had a few beautiful days here and I am getting so excited for it to stay around for a while!  Ben has been finding all sorts of "signs of spring" around the yard and I heard the birds singing this morning.   I love this time of year.

So yesterday was Friday and I don't know about you but most Fridays I don't fix a big meal.  We usually throw in a pizza or make grilled cheese.  But last night I was wanting to make something I could blog about.  I used to sell Pampered Chef products a long time ago.  I started doing it after I moved out on my own to fill my kitchen with great gadgets.  I'm not really one to get up in front of people and talk, but I really enjoyed doing that - I think because I got to talk about food as I was making it.  I get excited about food :) and it's easy to talk about something that excites you.

So this recipe is from their Stoneware cookbook.  It is very simple to put together and you can substitute the meat/cheese/fillings to suit your own tastes.

I used ham in the whole sandwich, American cheese on 2/3 of it - along with sauteed peppers, onion and garlic for my husband and just plain provolone for my side.  I also chose to half this recipe for just the three of us.

I rolled it all up and put it in the oven to bake.

My picture may not do it justice, but it turned out such a nice toasty brown color. 

Here's Grant's side oozing with cheese.  The more, the better according to him.

And here is my side.  It tasted so good.  Ben got the middle piece - close enough to get a little of both cheeses and far enough away from the onions and peppers.

Stuffed Sandwich

(adapted from The Pampered Chef Stoneware Cookbook

Philly Beef-Stuffed Sandwich)

1 cup green bell pepper, chopped

3/4 cup onion, chopped

1 T. vegetable oil

2 garlic cloves, pressed

1 tsp. dried oregano leaves, divided

2 pkgs (10 oz each) refridgerated pizza dough

8 oz thinly sliced deli meat (your choice)

8 oz thinly sliced cheese (your choice)

1 egg white, lightly beaten

1 T. water

Preheat oven to 400.  Put oil into sauce pan.  Add pepper, onion, garlic and 1/2 oregano.  Cook until tender.  Remove from heat.  Unroll pizza dough.  Roll out on lightly floured surface to form two - 12x9 inch rectangles.  Layer meat, cheese and veggies on top of dough.  Roll up jelly-roll fashion, sealing the ends.  Form dough into circle on cookie sheet or stone.  Brush dough with egg white/water mixture.  Sprinkle with remaining oregano.  Bake 20-25 minutes.  (I went with 20 and the very center of the dough was a little too doughy yet for my liking.  I will let it bake a little longer when I make it again)

A little treat for St. Paddy's Day

Happy St. Paddy's Day!  I'm not Irish, but just to be festive I wanted to whip up a little green treat for today.  I had a bag of mint M&M's left from Christmas and I gave my little kitchen helper the choice of cookies or brownies.  He wanted cookies.  So I hopped over to Picky Palate and made Jenny's recipe for Intimint Chocolate Chip Cookies.  Dark chocolate, white chocolate and mint...yummy. 

Italian Loose Meat Sandwich

Well, I only have one picture of this meal.  I have to be honest and tell you I don't get as excited about taking pictures of my meals as I do my desserts.  But I promise to do better with the next meal I post. 

This is another crockpot recipe.  It is very tasty but a little messy to eat.  My sister shared this recipe with me after she made it for a family gathering.  She found the recipe on http://www.allrecipes.com/.  It makes a bunch, so when I make it for just the three of us I usually half it.  My son still isn't very keen on eating it but my husband loves it.

I'm not sure what the actual name is for this recipe so I'm going to call it:

Loose Meat Italian Sandwich

(adapted from http://www.allrecipes.com/)

2 lbs ground beef, cooked and drained

2 lbs Italian sausage, cooked and drained

1 of each red, yellow and orange pepper, sliced

1 red onion, sliced

1-2 T. red pepper flakes

1 jar spaghetti or pizza sauce

shredded mozarella cheese

hoagie buns or rolls

In a large crockpot layer 1/3 ground beef, 1/3 sausage, 1/2 peppers and onion.  Layer once more ending with the sausage on the top.  Sprinkle with red pepper flakes.  Cover and cook 5-6 hours on high.  When it is finished cooking, stir all together. 

This is how we like to put our sandwiches together - warm the spaghetti sauce, spread it on a bun, fill the bun with the loose meat and top with cheese. 

Like I said, messy - but worth it!