Virtual Running Date No. 40: Italian Beef Sandwiches

Good morning, Crushers!

If we were on a virtual running date this morning, I'd tell you to get back inside and put on a sweater. We would NOT be running today. It'd be very dangerous. It's another chilly day in Wisconsin. The news said that today's high is a whopping 17 degrees F. It was -5 when I woke up. No one likes or wants frostbite.

Fortunately, yesterday was spent all nice and cozy at home after church. We cleaned up a few more boxes from the move, I worked more on the baby quilt and we made Italian Beef Sandwiches for watching the Super Bowl. I must admit that I was looking forward to the food more than the game. I am not a Seattle Seahawks fan, but I do love Russel Wilson and appreciated the speed and athleticism of their team. Plus, I think the Broncos forgot that it was the Super Bowl or something. They obviously did not bring their A-game. I actually gave up on watching the game when Downton Abbey came on. At least there was more action!

I just need to go buy some fabric for the back!

Anyway, between sewing, catching commercials and other fancy moves by the Seahawks, we had these amazing sandwiches:

Yes, that's a bit of mozzarella cheese peeking out at you!

They were just the perfect amount of spicy and juicy! Plus, since I ate my open faced, I only used up one of my "3 carbs per meal" allowances. Then I could enjoy a few chips and guac, too. Yum!

Since we had such a low key weekend, I'll just share the recipe with you.

Italian Beef Sandwiches:
Ingredients:
2-3 pounds of beef roast (you're cooking it low and slow, so you can pick a less fancy cut of beef)
1/2 cup water
1/2 jar of jalapeno peppers (or a milder pepper if that's your thing)
5-6 white mushrooms, sliced
1 medium onion, sliced
2 cloves of garlic, diced
1-2 tbsp of Wildtree Italian Dressing Mix or other Italian mix
Hamburger buns or rolls
As many thin slices of mozzarella cheese as you'd like

Gear you'll need: a Crockpot or slow cooker, measuring spoons, knife, cutting board, and will power.

Directions:
Place the roast in the bottom of the slow cooker and pour in a the water. It doesn't have to be a lot, but just enough to make the bottom of the cooker wet. Then sprinkle the roast with the seasoning giving it a good coating. Put all of your sliced veggies and peppers on the roast. We even used some of the juice from the jalapenos. Let that mix cook for 4-6 hours on high or 8-10 hours on low. Since you're cooking it for so long with all these fantastic juices, you don't have to use a fancy cut of beef. It'll all become melty and tender.

About one hour to one half hour before you're going to dish up these great sandwiches, pull the meat out of the slow cooker and shred it. You can do this by using two forks and pulling them in opposite directions to pull the meat apart. At this point, you can trim off any fat, and return the meat back to the slow cooker for a bit longer. Give it a stir and try not to eat it directly out of the pot. Trust me, this is harder than it seems.

Serve up on buns or rolls with a slice of mozzarella cheese and even a pepper or two for garnish. Be prepared to use napkins because these things are juicy! It should make 6-8 servings. So maybe make that lots of napkins?

Gestational Diabetes trick:
Eat them open faced or bun-less with carrots or pickles so you can enjoy other Super Bowl snack carbs like a serving of veggie chips (15 g), 3 pizza rolls (13 g), and a glass of milk (15 g). If you have heartburn while prego, I really suggest the glass of milk or using a really mild pepper! Hot stuff!

Enjoy!

Faith-filled Friday: Trying new things

Good morning Crushers!

I am so excited for this weekend! Tonight, my brother, sister-in-law, sister and brother-in-law are going to the Packer pre-season game. That means I get to watch the game on a big(er than our TV) screen from the comfort of my parents' couch while playing with my nephew, Patrick. I know that all babies/children are cute and that I'm beyond biased, but Patrick is the CUTEST kid ever! You know, until our next niece and/or nephew arrives (I have a sister-in-law on both sides due to have a new kiddo due this fall). Can't wait for fun playground times and teaching him to raise his arms and yell, "Touchdown!"

Another fun thing this weekend, is my friend, Hannah's, first race! We are going to do a 5K together. She has trained for it, so I fully expect her to rock this race and have a great time. Plus, we're going out to brunch afterward, so there's always good food to share!

Besides being very excited about football season and new races, this fall has a whole new set of opportunities for me. I was asked to be an adjunct professor to teach a public relations class at my alma mater. Go Warriors! I'm thrilled to be asked, and even happier to get this chance to teach. As I may have mentioned in the past, I taught Sunday School, so I have some experience being in front of a classroom. Granted, the college students are much more likely to have their fine motor skills down, but at least I'm hoping for eager learners.

You may think that teaching preschoolers in Sunday School to be much easier than college students, and it might be, but you try wrangling 15 4-year-olds and get projects done with crayons and stickers and finger plays and songs in an hour and see how you feel. You are lucky to get out of there with only one random sticker on your pants! HA!

Anyway, all of these new opportunities made me think of a picture that I got as a graduation present from my fellow student senators. It's a beautiful picture of a path in the woods with the light barely filtering through the trees. Underneath this photo are the words:

The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD; And He delights in his way
- Ps. 37:23

I will admit that when an out-of-the-blue opportunity or a new life situation hits me, I do a momentary freak out. Then I remember that God's got this. He does. I may not have it together, but He does. He knows what path He's sending me on and if I'm going to hit a pothole or smoothly continue on my way. I'm going to try and exude confidence in that passage from Psalms as I stand in front of 28-or-so students this fall and try to teach them everything they need to know. Which I won't be able to because there are some things they're just going to have to figure out for themselves.

I should probably remember that for someday when I become a parent.

Anyway, I hope you all get to take a moment today and think about your path and how it all led to just where you're supposed to be. If you're confused as to how you got where you are or if you're in a tough spot, just remember that the road doesn't stop. Maybe there's a U-turn or a detour ahead?

Meals for the week

Hi Crushers,
I know I didn't have much to write about last week, but that's for two reasons: one, Steve did most (OK, practically all) of the cooking last week, and two, it was a rough week for my family with funeral preparations for my aunt. One more reason that I didn't cook last week was because it was exam week for Steve's school, so we didn't have as many after school commitments as usual. Also, he makes a killer spicy chili and it's never quite the same.

Hmm, I guess that's four reasons. Anyway, we're getting back on track sharing the prep, cooking/baking, and shopping this week.

Here is the plan for the week, so stay tuned!
Monday: Stirfry
Tuesday: Leftover Chili (with homemade bread sticks from this post) and making some sort of treat for Steve's card night with the guys since I really don't have to cook dinner. Thank you to whoever invented the microwave!
Wednesday: Pasta with chicken tenders from my freezer meal class
Thursday: Chicken and Dumplings
Friday: Up for grabs! Pizza? Fajitas? Who knows...

Coming up this weekend is the SUPER BOWL! Not only is this THE night for NFL fans (unlike the pro bowl...), commercial fans and Beyonce fans, but it is a fun food night. We are going to be attending a party at my cousin's house which should be exciting for a number of reasons:

1. Her husband is from San Fran, so we've all become honorary 49ers Fans.
2. She is a good cook and has invited lots of fun foodie people to the party. 
3. I'm betting that at least 3 people have e-mailed/called/texted her brother/my cousin to make his "bacon-wrapped, chicken bites of holy cow that's spicy". 

I think I'm going to make one healthy option like a spicy buffalo dip with celery sticks and Greek yogurt and then one that is loaded with cheese and such. Any requests? Please write them in the comments!

Family Style Pasta - Spinach Tortellacci with Spicy Italian Sausage

Hello crushers,

I did a LOT of cooking over the weekend because we were home getting lots of things done around the house. It was nice to take down some of the Christmas decorations and organize things so we know we can find them next year. It was also nice to get to have enough time to make a gigantic meal for the Packer game so we weren't rushed to have dinner ready by kickoff. Sadly, the Packers did not continue on to the next playoff game, but we had a great meal.

See how big those noodles are?

One of the things I love about recipes is when you know you've made enough for a family to sit down and enjoy a meal without having to get up a million times to grab this or that. Family-style pasta is a great option, and this meal was inspired by two things: the awesome elderly gentleman at Glorioso's, the best Italian grocery in Milwaukee, who hands out cookies to chew on while you decide what cut of meat to order and Giada Di Laurentiis, the Food Network Queen of Family Style Pasta.

Glorioso's is one of my favorite specialty grocery stores to wander through. They will often let you have a taste of olives or something if you're really undecided. I got to try an olive stuffed with Gorgonzola cheese. It was amazing! We left the store with a wedge of Parmesan cheese, a few types of olives including the kind I got to sample, a half pound of caprese salad from the deli, a pound of spicy Italian sausage (they make their own!) and a pound of spinach tortellacci.


No, you didn't read that wrong. I said tortellacci. If you haven't already typed that in a search engine, please let me explain what it is. You are probably familiar with tortellini, the delightful stuffed round pasta. It rhymes with teeny, so it's the smallest. Tortelloni is the next size up. Tortellacci is the biggest version of this stuffed noodle. Another way to remember it is that when you say the words, your mouth has to open the least to say the word for the smallest noodle, and it has to open the widest for the biggest noodle. No matter the size, it's delicious.

Ingredients:
1/2 pound spicy Italian sausage (about two links)
1 pound spinach tortellacci, cooked according to the package directions
1/2 green pepper, diced
5-6 button mushrooms, halved and sliced
1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, diced
2 cups of your favorite marinara sauce (we like the kind with basil or chunky veggies)
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

(Note: We made side salads to go with this, so we put some of the onions, mushrooms and peppers on the lettuce. We also snacked on the caprese salad and olives. We had plenty of leftovers for dinner the next night!).

Directions:
First, pour yourself a glass of wine because you're about to make a mess in the kitchen. Second, get out a large pot to boil the pasta in and a large sauce pan because you're going to be cooking everything else in that.

If your sausage is very lean (ours was), then put some olive oil in the pan and let it heat up. Cook the sausage in the pan browning it on both sides. You'll want to make sure that the insides reach at least 160 degrees. Normally, you cook pork to 165, but you'll keep cooking this later, so it'll finish then. I cooked up all of the sausage so that we could have it for another meal later, but you really only need the two links.

Cooking sausage - the white things are rough-chopped garlic.

While the sausage is sizzling away, dice up your veggies. When the sausage is done, take it out of pan to drain on some paper towels. Drain off all but about a half to a whole tbsp of grease/olive oil. Dump all of your veggies in the pan and saute them in the leftover oil. Once the onions get translucent, slice up the sausage into 1/2 inch pieces and put them back in the pan with the veggies. Add your marinara sauce and let that simmer until your pasta is done. Drain the pasta and add it right to the sausage and veggies. Mix it all up and let it heat through together.

Fancy "tailgating" food! If you can see it, there are olives,
mozzarella and tomatoes, and the salads on the side.

While you're doing that you can get all your plates and sides ready to go. Settle in to watch your favorite football team play or maybe light a few candles for a romantic meal or feed a family of four hungry people. Anyway you serve it, I hope you enjoy it!

Pulled Pork and Prayers

This weekend was a blur as most weekends are for the two of us. We generally have packed weekends spent with friends, family and football. This weekend was no different. 

Friday night, I was at book club at church (we read the Kitchen House - one book covered two book clubs!) and my husband was scouting a game for the high school playoffs. After book club, I went home to make the dough and filling for my cookie contest entry. Somehow, I broke two hand mixers in the process. You heard that right, I broke TWO hand mixers.

The dough is kind of tough, so after simply plugging in my hand mixer, I heard a pop and then nothing. Not even a whir. I think it gave up. The second hand mixer was my husbands mixer from before we got married. I have no idea how old this thing is, but it was kind of tiny. It gave a valiant effort until it started smelling like melted plastic and there was smoke. SMOKE! This is when my husband came home and asked if it was really necessary to break small kitchen appliances just so we could go shopping. Then after he stopped laughing over the fact that this was the second mixer I busted in one night, he said, "You've got to put that in the blog!" So, here it is.

Hi, my name is Jen, and I'm a hand mixer menace.

Fortunately, everyone on Facebook was really nice about it and even let me know that you can get those awesome (expensive!) KitchenAid (R) stand mixers for a pretty good deal on their outlet website! If I can't beat the online price with some Black Friday shopping or with coupons and Kohl's cash, then I'm definitely ordering it online. Whoo hoo!


Saturday, after a nice 4-mile run with a good friend, the two of us spent some time doing one last sweep over the house before we had friends over from my college. Although we did not go to the same college, we see at least one football game at each school every year. He is a UW-Whitewater grad (and former nose tackle), and I am a Wisconsin Lutheran College grad. It's nice to live close enough to both schools to see the games!

With 10 adults, two toddlers and two babies, I wanted to have a dinner that was easy and something that everyone would enjoy. That leads to BBQ pulled pork! This is the second easiest recipe in the world thanks to store-bought sauce and a slow cooker. We have all been a part of church potluck dinners in the past, and we're all pretty good cooks, so here's what we ate:

• BBQ Pulled Pork on bakery rolls
• Pasta salad with Italian dressing, olives and tomatoes
• Steakhouse potato salad
• Chips and dip and salsa
• Cut veggies
• Chex (R) Mix - pumpkin and regular
• Carmelita bars
• Chocolate chip cookie bars

We had plenty to eat and everyone who wanted them went home with leftovers!

BBQ Pulled Pork in a Slow Cooker
Ingredients:

• 1 3-4 lb. Pork roast (shoulder, butt, whatever is on sale is fine because you will cook it to tender goodness)
• 1 18 oz. bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce. Our house happens to love Sweet Baby Ray's. My favorites are the Hickory and Brown Sugar or Original recipes.
• 1 large onion
• 1 oz. whiskey (I prefer Southern Comfort or Jack Daniels)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Slice the onion and place the pieces at the bottom of the slow cooker. Pour the whiskey (one standard shot glass will do) over the onions. Place the roast (trim off fat) on top of the onions and whiskey. Pour the entire bottle of BBQ sauce over the pork. If you don't like your pulled pork to be very saucy or you want to add more sauce on your own later, then save some of the sauce. Cook on high for 4-6 hours or low for 8-10 hours. When it's done bubbling away, take two forks and shred the meat. Stir and serve!

Unfortunately, the contest entry cookies did not get made yet. I spent Sunday literally hot glue-gunning craft projects for my sister's up coming wedding (yes, two girls getting married in the same year!) or figuratively glued to the TV for the Green Bay Packer game (win!) and the news on the horrible shooting at a Wisconsin Spa which shut down half the city and two hospitals. We said some extra prayers last night for all the victims and their families affected by one man's rage. If you pray, please add them to your list. If you don't, please take a moment to think of them and do something kind for someone today in tribute.

Easiest. Recipe. Ever.

As you know from reading this blog, football is a big part of our household. Our first date was to watch a Green Bay Packer game together. The year we got engaged, the Packers won the Superbowl over the Pittsburgh Steelers and both Aaron Rodgers and I got a ring (mine did not have diamonds in the shape of a G though).

Tonight, the Green Bay Packers are playing their long time rivals, the Chicago Bears. I have my fingers crossed and prayers said that "The Pack" plays well and beats the Bears with no one getting injured! I usually help "coach" the team by yelling at them from the comfort of my living room couch. The only thing that's better is being at the game.

Unfortunately, my book club is scheduled to meet tonight. I know, I know. Poor planning on our part. While I'm discussing Shanghai Girls by Lisa See (read it!), my husband and his buddies will be at our house in the "man cave" watching and "coaching" (aka yelling at the TV). Since I'm the kind of person who can't let anyone ever enter our house without being offered food, I made a big batch of crockpot chicken chili. It is seriously the easiest recipe I've ever made, and my husband and his friends LOVE it.

Crockpot Chicken Chili (adapted from Weight Watchers (R) Southwest Soup)
Makes 8 bowl-fulls or feeds 3-4 hungry men
Ingredients:
3-4 Frozen Chicken Breasts
3 tbsp Wildtree Taco Seasoning
2 tbsp Wildtree Garlic Galore Seasoning
1 medium onion, diced
1 can crushed or diced tomatoes (the fire roasted ones are good, but I go for the low sodium ones)
1 can white beans (navy or northern)
1 can black beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can baked beans (don't use the maple kind; original, vegetarian or spicy are best)
1 can kernel corn

Directions: Put everything in the crockpot in order. Do not thaw the chicken. Do not drain the beans, tomatoes or corn. Do not stir. See how easy this is?! Cook on high for 4-6 hours or low for 8-10 hours. Before you serve it, remove the chicken and shred it with two forks or chop it up. Put the chicken back in and now you stir. Serve and enjoy!

My lunch today

Serving suggestions: top with a little shredded cheese and sour cream. You can add hot sauce if it's not spicy enough. It is always better the second day, but there are rarely leftovers! Here's a tip: if you start the crockpot before you go to bed, it'll be done by the time you wake up. Then all you have to do is put it in the fridge (and take a little for yourself for lunch), and then it thickens up so you have nice hearty chili by dinner time!

This also freezes well, so I'm going to take some and put it in a bowl for my friend's sister who was just diagnosed with cancer. This way she has an easy delicious meal too!

Kitchen Catch Ups

Hello blog world!

I have been cooking relatively simple things lately and working on other house projects, so I haven't made anything cool lately. Unless you want some pictures of Sloppy Joes or brats on a grill, I've got nothing. We had corn on the cob, baked beans, and (gasp!) box pasta salads as side dishes.

Here are a few quick tips for the foods mentioned above.
1. The canned Sloppy Joe sauce says that it has a whole serving of veggies for every sandwich. I'm not sure I buy that, so I always add diced onions, mushrooms and green peppers. I like a little crunch, so I add them to the browned ground beef after it's cooked but before I add the sauce. If you like them with less crunch, then add them right away.
2. Both the baked beans and the pasta salad give you lots of options for "add-ins". With the baked beans, we added some hot sauce (like Franks) and onions. With the pasta salad, I added some chopped tomatoes. You could also add some grated carrots or cucumbers, but I had neither in the house.
3. Corn on the cob is amazing no matter what. If you eat it with mayonnaise and chili powder as my friend learned to do in Mexico or with a little butter and salt or with nothing at all. It's pretty hard to screw up this amazingly summer-fresh veggie.
4. With the brats, make sure your grill is nice and hot and that there's a beer or other beverage of choice in your hand. Then just go enjoy the great outdoors and the sizzle of brats on the grill.

We ate relatively easy things this week because we've been so busy in other parts of our lives that we haven't spent much time in the kitchen. However, I'm hosting a Thirty-One party soon, so I'll have some fun party snacks to share soon. Plus, it's Football Season, which is like a weekly holiday in Wisconsin or for any NFL or College ball fan. This means that there will be some fun finger foods coming up!

If you have a recipe to share, please post it in the comments!

Coming up: Dinner with Friends

My husband coaches high school football, which makes him Coach and I am Mrs. Coach. Next week we are having although I went to nearly every game through the time we were dating and engaged, there are still some of the other coaches that haven't met me yet. We're having Coach S and Mrs. Coach S over for dinner next week to hang out.

Now, I thought I was pretty knowledgeable in football considering I come from a long line of dedicated Green Bay Packer fans and I was a cheerleader. Cheerleading is not just all rah-rah, shake your pom-pons and do a bunch of high kicks. Cheerleaders are athletes who had to train and know specific details of both cheer routines and what was happening on the field. You wouldn't want to be cheering your team on for a first down when they were on defense. Duh.

Steps off soap box...

Anyway, what cheerleaders didn't have to know were the many, many types of coaches that each team has. You've got your head coach, offensive coach, defensive coach, line coach, special teams coach, QB coach, etc. However, there is one thing that I do know about coaches: They all love BBQ. I have yet to meet one that doesn't enjoy a tangy red BBQ sauce or anything off of the grill.

Next week: BBQ Ribs, garlic oven-roasted potatoes and (veggie yet to be determined).

Please share your favorite BBQ recipes in the comments and help me pick out a veggie to serve with the meal! Zucchini? Corn?