Black Forest Reubens November 11, 2010

Another one from my Rachel Ray Express Lane Cookbook, this was quick to make and really quite tasty. Mike and I love regular reubens and this one was really good with the ham and mustardy twist! Also, it actually does only take a few minutes to make, which is rare for any meal!

I should have photographed the inside of this sandwich so you could see all the ooey gooey layers, but uh, I was hungry and scarfed it down instead! So whatever, on to the recipe!

Black Forest Reubens

slices of pumpernickel bread (enough for however many you are feeding)

4 tablespoons butter, softened

3 rounded tablespoons dill pickle relish

1 shallot, finely chopped

1 rounded tablespoon capers, chopped

4 rounded tablespoons spicey brown mustard

slices of swiss cheese (enough so that there is 2 per sandwich)

1/2 pound of deli corned beef (or more if more sandwiches!)

1/2 pound of deli black forest ham (same as above)

1 jar of cooked red cabbage or sauerkraut (we used sauerkraut cuz we had it home)

pickles and chips for sides

Method:

Spread one side of each slice of bread with the butter. In a small bowl, combine the relish, shallot, capers and mustard. Build the sandwiches with buttered sides facing OUT:

slather liberal amounts of mustard mixture on bottom slices of bread, top with a slice of swiss, a few slices of corned beef, a few slices of ham, a small mound of cabbage or kraut, another slice of cheese and top with other slice of bread.

Heat a skillet over medium heat. Toast the reubens for 5 minutes on each side or until the cheese melts and bread is toasty. Cut in half and serve with pickles and chips. YUM!

Super Delicious Chicken Salad February 6, 2010

Sometimes you just want simple and easy dinner, and chicken salad is great for that. You can put so many different things into it, it’s never the same thing twice! For this recipe I used leftovers from an oven roaster, which is my new favorite cash stretcher. It’s an entire chicken in a bag, really seasoned amazingly, and you just have to pop it in the oven IN THE BAG and roast for an hour and a half! Then it is perfectly done, with zero mess! If you buy them on sale, you save a ton of money, but even if you don’t buy them on sale it is worth it if you need chicken meat for more than one dish that week. Last week I wanted to make  Greek Chicken Pizza and this salad I’m currently writing about and to purchase chicken to cook up for both it was going to be over 15 bucks, but I got the roaster for 10! Whoo hoo!

Anyway, I really like how I made the salad this time, I added almonds to it after looking through a bunch of different versions of chicken salad online and taking the most interesting things from them to add to mine. The result was sweet and crunchy and great!

Super Delicious Chicken Salad

1-2 cups of cooked chicken, diced, preferably roasted first

1 c. chopped red onion

1 c. diced celery

1/2 c. dried cranberries

1/4 c. slivered almonds

salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped up

1 c. fat free mayo

Method:

Combine all ingredients in a big bowl. Season to taste. Serve on toasted bread with some bacon on top if desired. Enjoy!

Fancy Pants grilled cheese January 28, 2010

Sometimes you just want simple and yummy comfort fo0d. Lately, Mike and I have been feeling rather under the weather. We are tired, cranky and feel downright awful! We decided last night that the only cure, aside from you know, sleep and medication, was some grilled cheese and tomato soup! I made the soup straight out of the Campell’s fancy box (it was too chunky, blah!) but we did make two kinds of delicious fancy sandwiches. The key to making fun grilled cheese to me is to just wander the grocery store and see what strikes your fancy.

I went to Trader Joe’s, because they usually have a nice variety of presliced fancy cheese. They did not disappoint! I came home with sliced swiss, sliced Asiago, prosciutto, tomato and thick sliced bacon. The makings for some epic grilled cheese, let me tell you!! Here’s what we did:

Pancetta/Asiago grilled cheese:

two slices of sourdough bread (we just used Arnold or some other very common brand)

4 slices Asiago cheese

2 slices tomato

1 slice prosciutto

butter or butter-like spread

Method:

Layer your sandwich like this: 2 slices cheese, meat, tomato, last two slices cheese. Slather the top with butter. Place the sandwich BUTTER SIDE DOWN in a hot frying pan. Butter the other side. When bread is browned, flip it! Then, cut in half and eat! YUM!

Swiss and Bacon grilled cheese

4 slices swiss cheese

2 slices thick apple cut bacon

2 slices sourdough bread

butter or butter-like product.

Method:

cook bacon in a frying pan. (If you get the thick cut, don’t be lazy like me and microwave it; it just wasn’t crispy enough!)

layer the sandwich like this: 2 slices cheese, bacon, more cheese! Butter bread and cook it up! Delectable!