Lots of Good Things

First off let me apologize for not blogging in a while. My daughter has RSV and we've been taking care of her as a top priority. She's so sad looking while taking her medicine, but she's just such a trooper. She is better now but still on her meds 4X a day as well as antibiotics for an ear infection.
But I have been cooking and taking pictures and i'm here now to share with you what I've done over the past week.

just makes you want to cry-this was taken on
day 1 after we got back from the doctor's office.

So we've been anxious for the super bowl and it was a great game! We rooted for the Steelers and were very excited when they won. My husband just about had heart failure on several occasions!
So without futher interruptions.....the food. I love trying new things and for the big game I wanted to find something to make for dinner that would be authentic to Pittsburgh. So I did some research and found this sandwich. It's funny looking, but it turned out really good!!!!!

Pittsburgh Sandwich
deli style roast beef
hamburger buns
provolone cheese
carrot slaw (recipe to follow)
french fries, hot and crispy

Here's where is gets funny! Layer all ingredients onto bun , eat and enjoy.
Yeah I know, french fries on a sandwich....????? But it was really good. The husband had 3 sandwiches so I guess it worked. He added mustard to his bread and I added a bit of mayo. But you don't' have too. But I have to say, as odd as it sounds, it was really good. And once I found the recipe I remembered that I had seen it featured on a Food Network show. The story behind it that there was a worker who came into his favorite sandwich shop on his lunch break and didn't have a whole lot of time. So he asked the guy behind the counter to just put everything on the bun and he'd eat it that way. So that's how the sandwich was born. Interesting.

Carrot Slaw
1/4 head of cabbage
3 medium carrots, washed and peeled
1/4 medium red onion
garlic powder
oregano
parsley
salt and pepper
1/4 C mayo
3-5 tbsp red pepper italian dressing

*all the measurments are approximate-use however much you like of each ingredient*

In a food processor, grate the carrots, cabbage and onion. Put in bowl and mix in mayo and dressing and add spices to taste.

This was basically, throw it together and see how it tastes slaw, and I think it turned out really well. There's enough left over from the sandwiches for hot dogs later in the week. And I love slaw on my hot dogs. Yummy!!!!!

Next on the list of Superbowl Sunday food was a munchie. It's just not football without the munchies. So I made these and we also had chips and salsa. Easy finger food!!!

Fried Cheese Sticks
12 of your favorite string cheese (I used the cheddar and mozz ones)
italian style bread crumbs
2 eggs, mixed with a little water
veg oil for frying

Cut each of the cheese sticks in half. Coat in the egg mixture and then into the bread crumb mixture. Repeat. Place stick on wax paper lined cookie sheet. At this point place in the freezer for 2 -4 hours until you need them. This helps the bread crumb mixture stay on the cheese stick.
Once ready to cook, heat oil in pan and fry sticks until golden brown.
Serve with favorite marinara sauce (I whipped up my own using 1tbsp tomato paste, 1 roma tomato chopped, garlic powder, oregano, parsely, salt and pepper-cooked on stove top for about 10 minutes until thick). These were really ooey and gooey and so good. I think I made too many for our little family, but we sure enjoyed eating them.
I really liked the cheddar cheese ones. A little different take on the traditional fried cheese stick. Just make sure you plan ahead since these need to go into the freezer.

And lastly I made cupcakes to celebrate. Gotta have something sweet after all that salty. So I whipped these babies up. Just a regular boxed mix with chopped crunch candy thrown in for good measure. The design on top is the steelers logo on top of the grass on the field. Nothing fancy, just good eats as Alton Brown would say!

HAPPY EATING!!!!!!!!!!

Super Bowl (GO STEELERS) Snacks

I'm so excited for the Super Bowl this Sunday!!!

Even though we live in AZ we are die hard Steelers fans. We've received a lot of grief about that. But that's ok. It's all a part of the fun!!!

So here's a recipe that would be super yummy to munch on during the game. My mom used to make these little appetizers all the time while I was growing up. They aren't fancy, yet they pack a HUGE punch of flavor. I really love them and anytime we had company I would always ask her to make them. Oh and did I mention that they are really easy??

Cheesy Sausage Balls
3 cups bisquick mix
1 pound sausage (I like mild but I bet the spicey would be super in this!)
4 C shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 C milk

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and shape the mixture into balls. Place on a lightly greased cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Let cool and eat. These are good by themselves or you could have a dipping sauce of your choice. My mom always had these without sauce.

sorry, not my picture, found it online.


HAPPY EATING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Upside-down Pizza Pulls

Happy Friday!!
It's football night at our house. BYU vs. UTAH St. It's a big night. So we decided instead of our regular pizza we'd try something new. I found this recipe on the kraftfoods.com website. It looked really easy and super yummy. Here's what I did:

Upside-downPizza Pulls
1 refrigerated pizza dough
1/2 pound sausage, cooked and crumbled
1/2 large onion, chopped
2 large tomatoes, chopped
shredded cheddar cheese
shredded mozzarella cheese
1C (give or take) italian dressing



Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Spray a 9X13 pan with cooking spray.
Place veggies and cheese in bowl and coat evenly with dressing. Add more or less depending on how you like it. Place mixture on bottom of baking dish. Cover with the cheese, again as little or as much as you like (we like a lot so ours is extra cheesy).
At this point I added a little more dressing to the top of the cheese.
Open dough and spread out on counter. Cut into squares. Place squares on top of cheese until covered. Place in oven for 30 minutes. Once cooked, cool 10 minutes and invert onto platter or pan of choice.



I had leftover dough so I took the squares and added some sausage to each one and scrunched them into balls. I cooked them at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes. I like to call them little sausage poppers. These are great anytime.




Hope you enjoy!!!

Mmmmmm Nachos

I love nachos.....yummy! My favorite thing to order whenever we go to Taco Bell is the nachos. So why not have some homemade ones. I'm feeling the need to feed the craving..

I think I made enough for an army even though me and the husband were the only ones eating them.

• Nacho cheese flavored tortilla chips (or plain tortilla chips)
• cheddar cheese, as little or as much as you like
• 1 C black beans
• 1 C corn
  
• 1/2 large tomato chopped
• 1/2 onion chopped
• drizzle of ranch dressing or sour cream
• 1C salsa

This is basically whatever you like and whatever you have on hand. This is what we had lying around and therefore what we used. Feel free to tweak it as you see fit.

Put oven on broiler-if it has a low/hi setting use the low setting.
Place ships on sheet pan and top with cheese. Broil for about 5 minutes.
When they come out of the oven if you have super pickey eaters then let them top their own, or you can do like I did and just throw all the toppings on it right out of the oven.

This makes a great lunch or if you just make a little a perfect after school snack. Since we are currently watching our BYU Cougars beat UCLA I thought it would be perfect.

Rachel Sandwiches

I had no intention of turning on the stove or making my kitchen hot last night so we had these little gems for dinner. My pickiest eater cleaned his plate and my husband thought they were pretty dang good. So much so that this has been added to the repertoire.





Rachel Sandwiches
6 Kaiser buns, hamburger buns, or any other sturdy bread
deli sliced turkey
provolone cheese (original recipe used Swiss but since we don't like Swiss I improvised)
cole slaw (i used premade found in the deli section)
Thousand Island dressing

Slice open buns and slather dressing on bread. layer ingredients, eat and enjoy.

I liked mine extra sloppy so I put lots of cole slaw on it. The others weren't as excited about sloppy. I hope you enjoy!!! We served it with a yummy Caesar salad.