French Dip Sandwiches

I found this incredible easy recipe on allrecipes.com-I LOVE that site! I was willing to try the "real way" someday but when I found this I was so happy. I made sure to file it away in my brain for the right time. Brad and I both love these when we go out to eat so I wanted to try it at home without making a roast and then using the juices to make the 'dip'. But I had to have good au jus since that is Brads favorite part. He soaks his sandwich in it, he dips his fries in it and if I don't stop him he will drink any that is left over. Yes, he did that the other night in our home :)

French Dip Sandwiches


1 can beef stock
1 pound thinly sliced deli roast beef
provolone cheese
4 hoagie rolls-split open

1. Turn broiler on low. Place the hoagie rolls inside face up and put under the broiler until they are slightly toasted. Remove from oven; turn broiler off and set oven to 350.
2. In a pan heat stock until almost boiling. Reduce to medium heat and add roast beef allowing to heat through.
3. Remove beef from stock and pile on one half of each hoagie roll. Top with provolone cheese. Place back in oven until cheese is melted.
4. Place top of hoagie roll on sandwich-cut in half if you wish. Serve with a dipping bowl of the beef stock.

The Pioneer Woman's Chicken with mushrooms and artichokes....sort of

In food blog world Pioneer Woman is a legend. Revered by any blogger worth the salt in her recipes :) She is a wonder and rumor has it that they are now even making a movie about HER life. All because she started a blog! Her story is quite interesting and she has a way with words. She is a pro in the kitchen without ever taking real cooking course and her recipes are inspiring. I haven't done one...until now. This one was great for us. We always have tons of chicken in the house and we LOVE mushrooms in anything and Brad had just picked up a carton of fresh ones and asked if I could 'make something with these in it'...but of course he gave no suggestions ;) I really enjoyed this recipe but think I may try to add some cheese to the sauce next time. Don't judge, I told you we like cheese. Oh, and of course I had everything in the house so you know I jumped on this recipe (but I did tweak it since we don't like artichokes). However, I did the unspeakable. I committed the worst crime when it comes to handing on recipes. I forgot to take a picture!!! But, go to Pioneer Woman's website if you want to see this complete project. Plus, she has photos of EVERY step in the recipe. And, she is hilarious. Go see her site. You'll love it. I promise.

Pioneer Woman's chicken with Mushrooms and Artichokes

8 whole chicken legs or thighs (my package only had 5 legs)
Salt and pepper to taste
3 tablespoons olive oil
16 ounces white mushrooms, sliced
5 whole garlic cloves, minced (I thought this would be too much but did it anyway...trust me-do all 5!)
1/2 cup white wine (I omitted. Didn't have any cooking wine in the house. Only the good stuff and since I can't drink it I didn't open it :))
2 cups chicken broth (more as needed)
1 14.5 ounce can artichoke hearts-drained, rinsed and patted dry
1 cup heavy cream
freshly chopped chives to taste (you know I didn't have fresh ones)
Freshly grated parmesan
16 ounces pasta cooked and drained

1. Salt and pepper chicken pieces.
2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken to pan and brown for 1-2 minutes. Remove chicken from skillet.
3. Add mushrooms to pan with garlic. Stir around and allow to cook for a few minutes. Add wine and cook allowing it to evaporate a bit.
4. Pour in chicken broth. It should make the sauce very liquidy. Stir to get all the bits off the bottom of the pan. Return chicken to pan. Add artichoke hearts.
5. Place lid on pan and cook for 30 minutes on medium low heat. Check often to be sure the chicken broth hasn't evaporated. If it has just add a bit more.
6. Remove lid and turn heat to low. Remove chicken once more. Pour in cream and stir it around. Add chives and then put chicken back in pan. Put lid back on and continue cooking for 10 minutes to allow sauce to thicken.
7. Pour over pasta and top with parmesan and more chives.

Double Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake

This is the dessert I made for Mother's Day dinner. I was really excited to try it but it was a semi-fail. It tasted great but the chocolate pudding stuff was supposed to get thick and mine never did. I found this recipe on kraftfoods.com and the picture looked great. Mine shows how runny the cake was but it was still delicious!

Double Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake


1 box chocolate cake mix and the ingredients needed to make it
1 box (4oz.) jello instant chcolate pudding
1 tub whipped topping
2 tablespoons strawberry jam (I thought I had jam but only had jelly...jam would have been easier)
2 cups fresh strawberries sliced; divided
3/4 cup milk

1. bake cake into two 8 inch rounds according to package directions. When done, remove from pans and cool on wire racks.
2. in a bowl mix milk and pudding mix with wire whisk. Beat for about 2 minutes. Mixture should be thick. Add whipped topping and mix well.
3. Place one layer of cake on cake stand or cake board. Spread jam on top cake and top with HALF EACH of the pudding mixture and strawberries.
4. top with second cake and finish off with other half of pudding and strawberries.
5. Chill for at least one hour. Store in refrigerator. Top with powdered sugar if you like.

Roasted Potatoes...on the grill

I kind of made this one up and researched online how long I would need to put them on the grill for. I love grilled veggies and these were good! I made them to go with our Mother's Day dinner.

Roasted Potoatoes


4-5 large potatoes
1 medium sweet onion
2 bell peppers (I had an orange and yellow on hand-you can use whatever color you like)
salt
pepper
garlic salt
poultry seasoning
4 tablespoons of butter cut in slices

preheat your grill on high heat
1. on your countertop lay out about 2 feet of tin foil.
2. cut the potatoes into large slices or wedges and place them down the center of the foil. Cut up the onion and the peppers and mix in with the potatoes.
3. sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic salt and poultry seasoning. top with the butter slices.
4. fold in the ends and sides of the foil making a packet around the potatoes. Wrap in a second piece of foil going in the opposite direction of the first piece.
5. place on grill for about 45 minutes.

Grilled Tomato and Mozzarella Sandwiches

I hate tomatoes. I only like grape or cherry tomatoes where they are all in one bite and aren't runny and oozing everywhere. I just don't understand why anyone would want a cold, gooey mess leaking it's juices all over their food! When I worked at the Yacht club though I found out I loved them when they are grilled with some mozzarella cheese. I don't have a panini press so I imporvised this recipe the other day when I saw I had some cherry tomatoes that were going to go bad soon and I wanted something different for lunch.

Grilled Tomato and Mozzarella Sandwiches


Two slices of bread
butter
basil
cherry or grape tomatoes (you could also use just regular tomato slices)
shredded mozzarella cheese

1. butter one side of each piece of bread and sprinkle with some basil
2. in a heated pan place one piece of bread in butter side down.
3. cut the tomatoes in small pieces and place on the bread in the pan. Top with a handful of chees and sprinkle with more basil.
4. Place the other piece of bread on top with buttered side up. Cook on first side for about 3 minutes or until bread is toasted. CAREFULLY flip and cook on second side until bread is toasted.

Bacon, Potato and cheese chowder

This is a recipe I found on kraftfoods.com and we like it in our house. It is very simple and would qualify as 'semi-homemade' in my opinion. I now try to keep the ingredients in the house at all times. This came in handy when the weather turned cold this past weekend and Brad asked for soup for dinner. Well, I didn't have most ingredients for my other soups since I didn't think we would need any cold weather meals anymore! But, I did this with some sandwiches and it was great!

Bacon, Potato and Cheese Chowder


1 can condensed cream of potato soup
3 cups milk
8 pieces of bacon cooked and crumbled
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups Southern style frozen hashbrowns (I just dice up about 3 large fresh potatos)

1. In a saucepan mix the milk and soup.
2. Add potatoes and bring to a boil on high heat. Simmer on medium high heat for about ten minutes.
3. stire in cheese and bacon pieces. Sprinkle with parsley or scallion slices.

Chicken Crescents

I found this one on another food blog and it isn't all that bad. Another big plus is that I usually have everything on hand in the house already. Noticing a pattern yet on what a good recipe is to me?! :)

Chicken Crescents



1 Chicken breast (I use BIG ones)
Vegetable oil
4 oz. Cream Cheese
1 package Crescent Rolls
about 1 cup diced onion
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup sour cream
little bit of milk
parsley

Preaheat oven to 350
Place the cream cheese in a bowl to soften
1. In medium skillet heat oil and add onion and chicken meat. Don't move the chicken too much but rather cook 3-5 minutes on each side and flip only once. You can also add some minced garlic to the skillet if you wish.
2. When chicken is done remove from pan and set aside to cool.
3. layout the crescent rolls on a a cookie sheet. They should be separated like you are actually making them into the rolls.
4. Finely dice the chicken and add to the bowl with the cream cheese and mix it well.
5. spoon a spoonful of the mixture onto the large part of each crescent roll. Fold up the long cornere and wrap it around the roll to hold it in place. The chicken mixture may peek out a bit and thats ok. Put in oven and bake for about 8 minutes.
6. While they cook in a small saucepan heat the soup, sour cream, a few splashes of milk and a dash of parsley. Stir together well and heat thoroughly.
7. When crescents are done top them with the sauce before serving.

Chicken Parmesan Stromboli

This is another one of those recipes from that 'club' I used to get recipe cards from. I tried it years ago and it quickly became a regular at the dinner table when I still lived at home. Brad and the rest of the guys in my family really like this one as do my two nieces. I can't complain about it either plus it is really easy! I tried a variation of this one the other day and instead of chicken I browned some ground Italian sausage and threw some fresh mushrooms in there as well. The rest of the recipe I followed as is....so good! I also put cheese on the outside of mine-big surprise!

Chicken Parmesan Stromboli


1 pound chicken breasts
salt
pepper
olive/vegetable oil
2 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese
1 jar (28 oz is what I always have on hand) pasta sauce, divided
2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon parsley
1 pound (1 ball) frozen bread dough-I buy a big bag of them at Meijer

Preheat oven to 400
1. Season chicken with salt and pepper. In a large skillet heat the oil over medium high heat and brown the chicken. Remove chicken from pan and let cool. Pull the chicken into large shreds...this takes a while for me.
2. In a medium bowl combine chicken, mozzarella cheese, 1/2 cup of pasta sauce, parmesan cheese and parsley; set aside.
3. On a greased cookie sheet press dough to for a large rectangle. Poul chicken mixture down center of dough. Cover the chicken filing by bringing one long side then the other; overlap them and pinch together to seal. Fold the ends in and also pinch together to seal. CAREFULLY flip the roll so it is seam side down. Bake for 35 minutes or until dough is cooked and golden. cut into slices and serve with remaining pasta sauce.
(again, I added the mozzarella on the outside as well and some garlic salt and Italian seasoning.)