Pizza Steak Sandwiches in a Slow Cooker

Pizza Steak Sandwiches in the Slow Cooker adapted from Debbie Does Dinner
Adapted from Eat at Home
2 - 2 1/2 chuck roast, trimmed of visible fat
6 oz. pepperoni
1 large onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
2 - 15 oz. cans diced tomatoes
1 tbsp. garlic, minced
1 tbsp. oregano
2 tsp. basil
Salt and pepper to taste
Provolone or mozzerella cheese slices

Directions:  Place meat in slow cooker. Add the rest of the ingredients, except for the cheese. Cook on high 5 - 6 hours or low for 7 - 8 or until meat can be shredded. Serve on buns or over potatoes if you're gluten free. Top with cheese slices.

Here's what you'll need:

Salt and pepper the roast.  Put the roast and the pepperoni in a slow cooker.

Add the herbs.

Chop up the peppers, onions, and garlic.

Add to the crockpot.

Add the diced tomatoes.

Once the meat is cooked and tender, shred it.

Make a sandwich and add the cheese.

Here's what you'll end up with:

Our Thoughts:
This dish was easy to make and only took about 5 minutes in prep time.  As it was cooking, it smelled delicious. 

The meat was very tender and the onions, pepper, and garlic gave it great flavor.

One complaint that I had is that the pepperoni, even though it was Boar's Head, made the sauce very greasy.  I actually drained a bunch of the juices out and ended up adding an extra can of tomato sauce.  Another thing with the pepperoni is that it definitely did not get that crispy pizza-like crunch that you get when you order a pepperoni pizza. 

You could make this dish with any of your favorite pizza toppings (pork, Italian sausage, chicken, etc). 

Also, I think you could you either canned pizza sauce or even spaghetti sauce instead of the diced tomatoes.  Serve it on some crusty bread.

Overall, I think this dish was a success.

Hope you enjoy!
April

Sausage Pepper Heros

Sausage and Pepper Heros adapted from Delish 
2 tablespoon(s) extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing 
1 pound(s) red bell peppers, thinly sliced 
1 large red onion, thinly sliced 
2 clove(s) garlic, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon(s) dried oregano, crumbled 
1/2 teaspoon(s) crushed red pepper 
Kosher salt 
6  chicken sausages, about 5 ounces each, preferably with roasted pepper or parsley and cheese 
3  long hero rolls, split lengthwise

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Directions:  Heat a large cast-iron or nonstick griddle (you can also use 2 cast-iron or nonstick skillets). Add the oil, bell peppers, onion, garlic, oregano, and crushed red pepper and season with salt. Cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the peppers are softened and just beginning to brown, 6 minutes. Push the vegetables to the back of the griddle, cover with an inverted heatproof bowl, and keep warm over low heat; stir occasionally as you cook the sausages.

Prick the sausages with a knife and cook over moderate heat, turning occasionally, until no trace of pink remains, 10 minutes. Add the sausages to the vegetables and keep warm. Brush the rolls with oil and toast on the griddle. Fill the rolls with the sausages and peppers, cut each one in half, and serve. 

Here's what you'll need:

Slice up the peppers.

Slice up the onions.

Slice the garlic.

Put the veggies in a pot with some olive oil, salt, and oregano to soften.

Put the sausages in a non-stick skillet or wrought iron to brown.  I used 2 kinds of sausage, pork-based and chicken.

Split the bread.

Brush with olive oil.

 

Put the bread on a griddle to toast.

Here's what you'll end up with:

 Our Thoughts:

I am not a huge sausage/bratwurst, etc fan.  Scott and the kids, however, love them so I figured that these sandwiches would be a huge hit . . . and they were.  The onions, peppers, and garlic had some good carmelization that added a bit of sweetness to them.

The one thing that I didn't like about this recipe was the bread.  I don't know if it was just the bread that I chose but it was way too hard and way too bready (sorry, another made up word of mine-LOL) for our taste.  Luckily, I had hot dog buns that Scott and the kids transferred their sausages, too, but Scott said those buns were almost too soft.

Either way, they ate all of the sausage and the peppers/onions so that spells success to me!

Hope you enjoy!

April

Tex Mex Burgers

Tex-Mex Burgers adapted from Mennonite Girls Can Cook

Ingredients for burgers: 

1 pound lean ground beef

1 egg

1/4 cup fine bread crumbs

1 tbsp milk

1/4 cup grated onion

1 1/2 tbsp dry taco seasoning

Using your hands mix all ingredients together well. Form into 4 burger patties.

Ingredients for Pico de Gallo: 

3-4 Roma tomatoes, diced

3/4 cup diced yellow and red pepper, combined

1/2 cup red onion, diced

1 small seeded jalapeno pepper, dice very small

1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro or parsley

2-3 grinds fresh pepper

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

juice of one fresh lime (do not use bottled lime juice)

Add all ingredients together in a non metallic bowl. This can be made earlier in the day, covered and refrigerated. 

Ingredients for spicy mayo and other toppings: 

3/4 cup mayonnaise

1 tsp Sambal Oelek, which is ground fresh chili paste. You could substitute with hot sauce, or if you don't like it hot use ketchup.

2 avocados, sliced

Tex Mex cheese

4 kaiser buns

 

Method: Once you have all your toppings ready, fire up the barbecue. The last few minutes the burgers are on the grill top with cheese. Build your burger and enjoy!

 

Here's what you'll need for the pico de gallo:

 

I made this earlier in the day and refrigerated until dinner.

 

Chop up the tomatoes.

Chop up the peppers.

Chop up the onion.

Chop up the jalapeno.

 

Chop up the cilantro, sprinkle with salt and the lime juice and

here's what you'll end up with: 

Here's what you'll need for the burgers:

Mix all of the ingredients together:

Pad out into burgers.

Grill the burgers.

Top with cheese.

Top with pico de gallo and any other toppings you choose

here's what you'll end up with: 

  Our Thoughts:

I was worried about this dish because once I saw that bread crumbs, egg, and milk were added to the ground beef I was afraid that it would be too much like a meatloaf.  It was a little heartier than a normal burger but the taco seasoning added was really a great addition.

We don't normally put mayo on our burgers so I didn't make the spicy mayo but I wish I would have.  This burger was missing a little creaminess.  I added avocados to the pico and it did add a little smooth texture but Scott mentioned that he thought it would have been better by putting the pico/avocado in the food processor and I think I agree it might have made it seem more like that ketchup, mustard, mayo liquidyness (is that a word?) that we normally put on burgers.

Overall, I think this dish was a success and had good flavor.

Hope you enjoy!

April 

Sloppy Pizza Joes

Sloppy Pizza Joes adapted from Simple & Delicious
1lb ground beef (90% lean)
1 jar (14oz) pizza sauce
3/4 tsp garlic powder
3/4 tsp dried rosemary, crushed
3/4 tsp dried oregano
3/4 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp pepper
4 hamburger buns, split
4 slices part-skim mozzarella cheese

Directions:  Cook beef over medium heat in a large skillet until no longer pink; drain.  Stir in the pizza sauce and seasonings.  cook and stir until heated through.  Serve on buns with cheese.

Here's what you'll need:

I put the ground beef on to brown.  As it was cooking, I got to thinking that this might be the perfect opportunity to add some veggies and have "veggie pizza sloppy joes" so I grabbed a can of mushrooms, can of black olives, and a red pepper.  I drained the mushrooms and olives and then diced up everything.

Once the beef was cooked, I drained it and then threw in the mushrooms, olives, and red bell pepper.

Added the pizza sauce and herbs.

Let it simmer.

Sprinkled mozzarella cheese all over it.

Here's what you'll end up with:

Our Thoughts:

This was a very simple and delicious meal.  I am so happy that I thought to add the extra veggies to the mix.  Not only did the olives, mushrooms, and red bell pepper add to the flavor but also acted as a healthy filler.  For a family of 5, I only used 1lb ground beef.

I was thinking more about this and really anything that you would put on a pizza, you can add to this dish-pepperoni, sausage, onions, pineapple, Canadian bacon, etc.  The possibilities are endless.

Kanin gave this dish a 5 and that is good enough for me!

Hope you enjoy!

April



Baja Chicken & Slaw Sliders

Baja Chicken & Slaw Sliders adapted from Taste of Home Magazine
1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream
1/2 tsp grated lime peel
1/4 tsp lime juice

Slaw:
1 cup broccoli coleslaw mix
2 Tbsp finely chopped sweet red pepper
2 Tbsp finely chopped sweet onion
2 Tbsp minced fresh cilantro
2 tsp finely chopped seeded jalapeno pepper
2 tsp lime juice
1 tsp sugar

Sliders:
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (4 oz)
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp coarsely ground pepper
8 Hawaiian sweet rolls, split
8 small lettuce leaves
8 slices tomato

Directions:  In a small bowl, combine the sour cream, lime peel and lime juice.  In another small bowl, combine the slaw ingredients.  Chill the slaw and sauce until serving.

Cut each chicken breast in half widthwise; flatten to 1/2-in thickness.  Sprinkle with seasonings.

Moisten a paper towel with cooking oil; using long-handled tongs, lightly coat the grill rack.  Grill chicken, covered, over medium heat or broil 4 iches from the heat for 4 to 7 minutes on each side or until no longer pink.

Grill rolls, cut side down, for 30-60 seconds or until toasted.  Serve chicken on rolls with lettuce, tomato and slaw.

Modifications:
-I used whole wheat buns instead of Hawaiian rolls.
-I did not use cilantro in the slaw.

Here's what you'll need for the slaw:

Here's what you'll need for the sliders:



Preheat and clean the grill.

Mix the sour cream, lime peel and lime juice.

Combine the slaw ingredients in a separate bowl.

Chop up a little red bell pepper, sweet onion, and jalapeno and add them to the broccoli slaw mix.

Put the two separate bowls (slaw and dressing mix) in the refrigerator until time to serve.

Cut the chicken breasts in half width-wise.

Place the cumin, chili powder, and salt in a bowl.  

Add the chicken and stir to coat.

Grill chicken until done.

Pull the slaw and dressing from the fridge and mix together.

Serve the sliders with the slaw on top.  Add any other toppings.

Here's what you'll end up with:

Our Thoughts:

This was a really good summer dish.  The smokey spiciness of the chicken was a good combination with the creamy coolness of the slaw. 

I wasn't really thinking things through when I cut the chicken in half because the little slider-sized chicken did not fit on the buns.  They would have fit perfectly, however, on the smaller Hawaiian rolls.

The slaw was interesting.  I think the lime paired well with the cumin and chili powder on the chicken but, by itself, I don't think it was good at all.

Hope you enjoy!

April