hawaiian baked ham & swiss sandwiches...

This is how much of a recipe hoarder I am:  26 weeks ago I pinned this recipe.  Either I need to quit pinning recipes or I need to start making and eating more food!

I finally made these ridiculously easy, ridiculously delicious little sandwiches!  So.Freakin'.Good.  My grandpa had a few and he loved them so much that a week after he ate them he was still telling me how good they were and asking why I hadn't given him more!

I never thought I'd find anything better than a plain Hawaiian roll, but...I did.  Smother said roll with butter, onions, and mustard.  Bake them with cheese and ham.  Shove in your mouth.  You might never eat them plain again.

the recipe:

Hawaiian Baked Ham and Swiss Sandwiches
From the Kitchen of:  The Kitchen Life of a Navy Wife blog
Makes:  12 sliders

Ingredients:
1, 12 pack of King's Hawaiian Original Rolls
1 pound deli ham, shaved
1 pound Swiss cheese, thinly sliced
1 1/2 sticks butter
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
3 teaspoons poppy seeds
1 onion, chopped

Recipe Instructions:
Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Melt butter and mix in mustard, Worcestershire sauce, onion and poppy seeds.  Simmer for several minutes.

Cut the entire pack of rolls in half, horizontally (keeping all top and bottom halves intact).

In a greased 9x13 pan, place bottom half of rolls and spread 1/3 of the onion mixture over the bottom of the rolls followed by the ham and cheese.

Replace the tops of the rolls and spread the remaining onion mixture over top.

Cover and bake for 15-20 minutes and separate for serving.

sun-dried tomato linguine...

This is one of the first recipes I ever blogged about!  I've had it for about three years and this is only the 3rd time I've made it.  I'm not sure why...guess I just got caught up in the "trying new recipes hooplah" and forgot it was tucked away in my recipe binder.  But I will not let myself forget about this again!

The recipe came from Southern Living magazine in the April 2010 issue.  I love Southern Living...I have a pile of their cookbooks and stacks of torn out magazine recipes just waiting to be made!

This is such an easy recipe!  I mean...it takes about 30 minutes.  What's better than that?  Not much, I'd say, when you're cooking on a weeknight.

The salty kick of the feta pairs perfectly with the sweet punch of the sun-dried tomatoes.  And the smell of it all with the basil...oh my!  To die for.  Seriously.

If you don't have or don't want to buy the pine nuts (because they are a bit pricey), don't worry.  You can either use almonds or walnuts (and chop them up) or you can leave them out altogether!

the recipe:

Sun-dried Tomato Linguine
From the Kitchen of:  Southern Living Magazine April 2010
Makes:

Ingredients:
1, 16 ounce package linguine
1 jar sun-dried tomatoes in oil
1/4 cup pine nuts
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup olive oil
1 package crumbled feta cheese
2 tablespoons fresh basil, cut into thin strips

Recipe Instructions:
Cook the linguine in boiling salted water.

Drain the tomatoes, reserving 2 tablespoons of oil.  Cut the tomatoes into thin strips.

Heat the pine nuts in a nonstick skillet over medium-low heat.  Stir often and cook until toasted and fragrant.  Remove from the heat when toasted so not to burn.

Increase heat to medium and saute garlic in the 2 tablespoons of reserved tomato oil and the olive oil.  After about 1 minute, stir in the tomatoes and remove from heat.

Toss tomato mixture into drained pasta.  Add feta and basil and toss to coat.  Sprinkle toasted pine nuts over pasta and serve hot.

want to cook vol. 1...

I've accepted that it's probably going to be a hot summer.  I hate hot summers, so I'm already planning my relief!  When the mercury rises above 100 degrees, I'll be lounging in the shade with a cold drink.

Lemonade is so last summer...he he he.  I'm thinking I'll mix up a refreshing lime slush to soothe my summer woes!

You know...lemonade really is quite refreshing.  So, let's forget what I said and sip on a sparkling sweet cherry lemonade.

I can already tell you that there will be one day, one hot lazy summer day that I'm feeling extra ambitious.  One day that even water, lemonade, or sweet iced tea won't do the trick.  And on that day, I'm going to make myself a watermelon juice with ginger and lemongrass.  I can already tell you that on that day, nothing else will matter!

pepper steak...

 

You see that?  That gorgeous, mouth watering dish?  Well...I made that.  Yup.  I.All.By.Myself.Made.That.  If you didn't already guess, it's kind of a big deal.

Long story short: pepper steak is one of my favorite things.  This recipe is one of my favorite recipes.  But in all the four years that I've been eating this pepper steak, I've only made it once.  And that one time I over-cooked the steak and the dish was sort of a flop.  So...I let my then (now ex) boyfriend make it for me, all the time!

Want to hear my secret to pepper steak success?  (Lean in a little closer...closer...closer...)  It's basically because I'm awesome.  Shhh...don't tell anyone.  It'll be our little secret.

But seriously, it's because this recipe is pretty hard to mess up.

I don't know what planet I've been living on but I had no idea that you could ask the butcher at the grocery store to slice your steak for you...for free!  It's true.  Go ask your meat man and he'll dash into the back and then dash right back out with the best looking sliced steak!  For this recipe, I picked out my sirloin steak and asked the butcher to give me fajita slices.

Want a helpful hint?  Well...if you're too embarrassed to ask or you already have the steak at home don't fret.  You can slice it thin yourself!  Just pop your steak in the freezer for an hour or two.  Once it's firm but not completely frozen you can thinly slice it with little effort!

Once you start cooking, the smell will fill your house!  The garlic, onions, and peppers are so fragrant.  Your nose will try and fool you into thinking that you're sitting in a booth at that little Asian place you love.

This recipe makes enough for 4 servings.  Luckily for all you singles and couples out there, this pepper steak is even better left over!  So pack up what you don't eat and pop it in the fridge.  Just re-heat it the next day and you'll "mmmmm" your way through lunch!

Here's some advice:
Let the steak marinate for at least 30 minutes, but it's better if you can spare an hour.
Let the steak sit out at room temperature for 30 minutes before you begin to cook.
Don't over-cook the steak!

the recipe:

Pepper Steak
From the Kitchen of:  unknown
Makes:

Ingredients:
1 sirloin steak, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons ginger root, grated
1 bunch scallions, chopped
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 onion, quartered
1 green bell pepper, sliced into strips
4 garlic cloves, minced
for the marinade:
1/2 cup soy sauce
4 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 cup water
4 teaspoons cornstarch
4 tablespoons vegetable oil

Recipe Instructions:
Stick the steak in the freezer for about 45 minutes, then remove and slice into thin strips.  Mix all marinade ingredients in a bowl or dish.  Marinate steak in a bowl for at least half an hour and up to 2 hours.

Add 1 tablespoon of oil to a wok on medium heat.  Add garlic, ginger, and scallions and fry for about 1 minute.  Add half the steak and brown on each side, then remove to a plate.  Repeat with remaining steak.

Add the remaining oil to the pan and add onions and bell peppers.  Cook until tender.  Pour in the marinade and cook until thick and bubbly.  Add steak to the wok and heat thoroughly, then remove from the heat.

Serve pepper steak over white rice.

back to the books...

Big Book of 30-Minute Dinners by Better Homes and Gardens

I snatched this cookbook off the $1 shelf at Half Price Books in Austin.  Who can resist a dollar cookbook?  I mean really…I certainly can’t.  Plus…what busy gal can resist a book full of 30-minute dinners?  Again…definitely not me!

Number of recipes:  270

A few recipes I want to make: 

Mexican couscous, Asian chicken noodle soup, chive sauce, up & down biscuits, pork diane, chickpea pita pockets, basil-mozzarella cheeseburgers, stir-fried chicken pizza, tortellini alfredo with roasted peppers.

What I love about this cookbook:

Every recipe has a picture!  Really.  Every.  Single.  One.  It’s amazing!  The more I cook, the easier it becomes for me to envision the final outcome of a printed recipe.  But let’s face it…a recipe always sounds better when it’s paired with a mouthwatering picture.
Almost every page has a helpful hint or tip.  Whether it’s to aid in the preparation of dinner or inform you about an ingredient you’ve never used, these tips are great.
Every recipe has nutritional information.  I’m not a calorie counter, but some people are and I imagine this would make their lives just a teensy bit better.

What I don’t like about this cookbook:

I didn’t flag many recipes in this book that I wanted to make out of 270.  I think I only want to make 30 or so.  But…being that I’m so very picky that could just be a personal problem.

Interested in this book?  Check it out from your local library, buy it from your local bookstore, or you can get a copy here.

 

What's your favorite Better Homes and Gardens recipe?

 

one week ago:  want to cook