Cuban Sandwich Sliders and the Joy of Easy Meals

At some point in the past few months I made a batch of Cuban Sandwich Sliders.

I have no idea why, or when.

All I know is that at some point in the craziness of life, school, and family of the past few months I made them and I photographed them.

Those pictures have been chilling on my camera ever since.

I didn't even download them.

What can I say...life's been a little crazy.

Another more, ahem, adult student and I were laughing with each other before class one day about the number of convenience foods we'd been relying on since school started- time to cook has been a luxury, most of my meals have gone un-photographed, and my goodness I certainly haven't had time to blog about them!

I have some catching up to do this summer, don't I?

Simple Pork Caesar Salad

I'm a big believer in salads.

You know...doughnuts taste good- but I can honestly say I've never felt good about myself after polishing off a doughnut.

Salads, on the other hand, leave your body feeling good- and if you do them up right they leave you feeling full and happy too.  I serve a lot of side salads at my house, just because they're so easy to throw together at the end of a long day and require pretty much no thought.  As an added bonus they're a veggie side that my daughter will eat without complaint, which is always nice.

Salads are so versatile, and such a great way to use up whatever you have sitting around in your pantry or fridge.

Spicy Smoked Back Ribs with Maple Glaze

I'm back!  Woohoo!

So much craziness, so many big changes, so many things my family is still in the middle of!

All AWESOME, AMAZING, FANTASTIC things BTW!!!!

But, nevertheless, I've been absent lately as I deal with it all.

I've had to put my popcorn shop on vacation for a month or two.

I've pretty much stopped cooking altogether.

Life has been CRAZY!

But when Allrecipes comes calling, I must answer- it's always ALWAYS a good time when it comes to Allstars assignments!

This time they asked me to try a recipe using Smithfield pork ribs- um, yes.  Just yes.

Baked Bacon: Perfect Every Time

The first time I saw my husband cook bacon I thought he was crazy.  He put it...in the oven.

Not the frying pan.  The oven.

Who does that?

Well...he did.  And I'm sure lots of other people do to, but I'd never heard of such a thing.

There was no denying the results, though- it was as perfectly cooked as I could imagine bacon being and he was able to cook it in one big batch while attending to whatever else he was cooking at the time.

Knowing him, it was probably a stovetop full of sausage gravy.  :-)

Needless to say, it changed the way I make bacon forever.  No more small batches.  No more grease splatters.  No more burned bacon strips.  Possibly the biggest bonus of all?  No messy pan to clean up.

That's right.  No mess AND perfectly cooked bacon.  Intrigued yet?

Super Snacks for the Super Bowl: Pulled Pork and Slaw Snackers

Remember my insatiable craving for pulled pork and slaw the other day?

Once I figured out how to make ridiculously good low carb sauce for the pork I tackled the problem of how to eat it since bread was out and I didn't want to just eat it with a fork.

I so found the best solution in the world- when in doubt, stuff it in a jalapeño!

Absolute, football-friendly, deliciousness!

Everyone is going to like this, whether they're low-carb or not, and in my mind that's definitely the best kind of appetizer.  It's not a weird diet-y dish, it's just delicious.

Here's the beauty of this dish- if you're not watching your carbs it's still going to be delicious and it's going to be even easier to make.

Balsamic & Bacon Marinated Pork Chops

We already know I have a thing for balsamic- and I really have a thing for balsamic reductions.

Balsamic reductions are such an easy way to get a really nice, complex, sweet and savory flavor into dishes and they are ridiculously easy to make: heat, reduce, enjoy.  Sometimes I add a little black pepper to the balsamic before it reduces, just for that little extra depth.

I've been staring down an ever-growing collection of balsamics in my kitchen and the other day I decided to use some up on thick-cut pork chops for my husband.

Leftover Dressing and Pasta Salad

Remember that trip to Rugby, TN I talked about a couple of weeks ago?

Well, I went a little crazy.

We were only there 2 1/2 days and I brought enough food for like a week- and that was just me!  My inlaws brought enough to feed an army too, so we ended up bringing home a LOT of leftovers.

One of those leftovers was a bottle of Italian salad dressing that went completely untouched.  I brought green salad along with us, but forgot dressing.  We stopped and bought a bottle of nondescript Italian dressing at the last bastion of civilization on the way out to Rugby- a Dollar General.

Anyway, long story short, my family doesn't really use Italian dressing, especially of the rather bland variety we had sitting in our fridge.  I didn't want to throw it away, though, so I went looking for recipes in which to use it.

Amazing Muffin Cups with Zucchini Crust

This time last year I was swamped.

Overwhelmed.

Trying to keep my head above the flood of zucchini my garden was throwing at me.

Boy am I glad I didn't plant four zucchini plants this year!  What was I thinking last year??

Anyway, even if you were smart enough to only plant one, you're most likely a little overwhelmed yourself right about now- those can be some CRAZY prolific plants.

There are only so many ways you can fix zucchini before you're just done, you know?

Earlier this year I was lucky enough to work Johnsonville again.  We were asked to make their popular recipe for Amazing Muffin Cups.

Easy Family-Friendly Pasta Dinners

It seems like it's been forever since I've had a fun brand experience from Allrecipes to share with you (actually, I just went digging through posts, it's been since our last Johnsonville partnership in April!).  Last month our assignment was to help flesh out the Allrecipes Mexico site with photos of their recipes, but we came back strong this month with several fun brands.  This month, I got Barilla and was asked to make a couple of recipes from their collection on Allrecipes.com.

Click the picture to find the recipe at Allrecipes.com! 

I chose two that seemed fairly family-friendly because I have a pretty picky little 8 year-old to feed.

I went with Spaghetti with Broccoli Florets and Traditional Sauce and Elbows Mac and Cheese with Tuscan Herb Sauce.  They were both popular with my daughter, which is pretty impressive to say the least.

The sight of broccoli on a plate of spaghetti was enough to elicit an eyebrow raise and a "you think she's going to eat THAT??" from my husband the other night.

Surprise!  Not only did she eat it, she raved about it.

She ate every last bite and asked for more.

Marvelous Meatballs (and My Secret Ingredient!!)

I've always enjoyed meatloaf, and I have fond memories of my grandmother's version- unfortunately, despite many attempts, I'd never really been able to make it very well.  The taste was merely acceptable, the texture subpar.  

Until last Fall, that is, when I discovered The Trick.  I was following a meatloaf recipe that called for pork sausage, an ingredient I'd never thought to include, and it was wonderful.  The texture perfect, the flavor outstanding.  I will never, ever make meatloaf without it again!

The best part?  I use the cheap stuff.  No joke, the tube of sausage that's $1.50/lb.  The stuff that's a little fattier than the expensive stuff and you really wouldn't want to fry up as patties for breakfast.

Super cheap- and for some reason PERFECT when combined with pretty much any other ground meat.  In fact, I think I oddly prefer meatloaf made with that cheap pork sausage and ground chicken to ground beef!  Weird, right?  I know.

So You Have Some Leftover Ham...

Leftover ham is awesome.  It's wonderful.

Personally, I love it sandwiched in a leftover roll with other leftover Easter ingredients...

My husband, I'm sure would prefer it in some delicious ham salad.

When you're tired of sandwiches, try this Baked Denver Omelet.

Is it omelet or omelette?  The recipe has it spelled "omelet," but "omelette" looks right to me...lol I suppose that's neither here nor there...I get sidetracked easily.  :-)

Showing Johnsonville A Little (More) Love

I've been lucky enough to work with Johnsonville through the Allrecipes Allstars program a few times now, and each and every time I'm blown away by their generosity, awesome attitude, and great product.

Last time, I shared with you how impressed I was with their gratitude towards their customer base and generosity to thousands of people, not just the hundred or so of us working with them through Allrecipes.

This time, I have another personal "oh my word, I've never come across such an awesome company" story...

My #AllstarsMazola® Mission

Boy have I missed my Allrecipes Allstars assignments the past couple of months!  The program took a little bit of a break as it reorganized and evolved a little, and my fellow Allstars and I were going through withdrawals of sorts.

Until I got a surprise box in the mail from Allrecipes a couple of weeks ago!  Woohoo!

Inside the box was a bottle of Mazola corn oil and quite a bit of information about recent studies that show that corn oil can be part of a healthy diet.

I can honestly say that I've never purchased a bottle of corn oil in my life...I'm picky about my olive oil, but tend to go with what is cheapest for the rest of my cooking oils.  Vegetable, canola...always kind of overlooked the corn.  That's one of my favorite things about being an Allstar, though- I get to try products I might have otherwise overlooked!

A California Girl Learns a New Trick

I love green beans.  Period.

I don't care how they're prepared- fresh from a farmer's market or simply reheated from a can, I'm going to love them.  

I'm going to DEVOUR them.

My mom laughs about how I used to eat them by the can as a kid.

Well, then I moved to Tennessee ...Southern cuisine is the one type of cooking that I continually struggle with- and between Mississippi and Tennessee I've lived in the South for 12 years now.  That seems like such a long time!  Ugh.  I'm getting old.

I once made corn bread so bad my ex-husband spit it out.  I couldn't fry anything- I had no idea what I was doing.  And green beans?  Well...um...I wasn't used to cooking them with bacon grease/fatback/etc.

Super Snacks for the Super Bowl: Grilled Bacon Jalapeño Wraps

I love a good jalapeño popper, of pretty much any variety.  They're a little addictive, aren't they?  Or is that just me....?

I've made these before on the grill and they were wonderful, full of that outdoorsy grilled flavor.

But it's January.

And it's cold.

And I wanted these before my husband could get home to do the grilling anyway :-)

So what's a girl to do when she wants grilled jalapeño poppers without the grill?  Pull out my trusty grill pan, of course!  It's not quite the same, but close enough, and certainly comes through in a pinch.

Would these have been better grilled outside?  Yep, no doubt- but don't let that fool you, these are crazy good and so simple to make!

Super Snacks for the Super Bowl: Veggie Squares and Stuffed Jalapeños

A couple of years ago I wouldn't have cared that the Super Bowl is coming soon.

In fact, I probably would have rolled my eyes and found a movie to rent.

I've mentioned before that I've tried to get into football the past few years, and- as my very excited husband warned me would happen- I'm actually enjoying it these days.

So of course I love the Super Bowl...it gives me an opportunity to cook a bunch of fun foods AND spend time with my husband watching football!

I'm probably a little more excited about the cooking part...but baby steps, right?

Anyway, over the next few weeks I'll be sharing some of my favorite game-watching snacks with you- starting with a couple I've made before.

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

In the past couple of weeks my family has spent a lot of time on the road.  A 16 hour drive across a few states (and back...), 2 nights in a hotel, some awesome time with family- and LOTS of meals on the road (remember those sandwiches I wrote about?)

 

I was starting to go through cooking withdrawals- I needed to get back in the kitchen!

So yesterday, as my family settled back into our home and rested, I made soup.

Is there anything more comforting on a cold day than a warm bowl of soup?

I had a hodgepodge of ingredients in the fridge after our trip and didn't want to leave the house to go to the store.  I had pretty much exactly what I needed for this and it came out wonderfully!

Citrus BBQ Chops

A couple of months ago I won a giveaway from Hudson Valley Handymom's blog- free stuff is always nice, right?

I was lucky enough to win some amazing BBQ sauces as well as two delicious rubs from Feiny's Rubs.   It's always fun to try out new flavors and products, so I definitely enjoyed playing with these.

They have a large variety of "Fein tasting foods," and I received the Citrus BBQ and Original BBQ varieties of their rubs.  

I chose to try out the Citrus BBQ rub on thick cut pork chops and wasn't disappointed- full of flavor!  I think next time I'll try it out on chicken (or even salmon!), the pairing would be great!

Ham...Salad?

For several years my husband begged me to make ham salad for him.  

For several years, I kept putting it off.  A salad made of...ham?  Really?

I mean...we've discussed my love of chicken salad and my love of egg salad...so it would stand to reason that I'd enjoy one made of ham too, right?  Something about the idea of it just really turned me off, though.  I found a recipe, saved it to my recipe box, and then put off making it for as long as possible.

Click on the picture to find the original recipe on Allrecipes.com!

What a mistake that was!

It turns out that as weird as ham salad sounds (I'm not alone in that, right?) it tastes amazing and it's super easy to make.  

It's nice on a sandwich, bed of lettuce, or as a spread for crackers, but my favorite way to eat it is on celery sticks.  I found the original recipe to be a great base, but slightly bland, so I've included my tried-and-true changes to the recipe below.  Definitely give this one a try, it's so tasty!

Meatloaf on a Lazy Sunday

Sunday was chilly and rainy- and I've certainly never been one to complain about weather like that!  I'm a sucker for a gray day.

Click to see recipe on Allrecipes.com

My husband and son both had colds and I was absolutely up for a slow-paced lazy day.  Meatloaf is one of my favorite comfort foods and easy to throw together, so I decided to try out a recipe I've been meaning to make for a while- Classic Spicy Meatloaf.

Oh wow.

Now really...for someone who normally has a "take it or leave it" attitude about all things meat, I have a really odd love of meatloaf.  It's just so good...by itself, with mashed potatoes, on a sandwich the next day...mmmmm...  Personally I like mine with BBQ sauce or a spicy ketchup baked on top.  I've had some successes, some flops, but this...this one is absolutely a keeper.