Costco Turkey, Provolone, Pesto Sandwich Melt

I can't think of a single thing to say about these awesomely delicious sandwiches other than they are awesomely delicious.  They are a nice change from the standard bread, mayo, meat sandwich that we eat more often for lunch than I would like to admit.  Some of the kids had a hard time getting past "the green stuff", but once they tasted them, they were sold!

5 square sandwich rolls (Torta or Cabaccia rolls)
1/2 cup pesto
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 pound sliced turkey breast
1 large tomato, thinly sliced
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
5 slices provolone cheese

Slice the rolls in half and lay them on a large baking sheet covered with foil.  Combine mayonnaise and pesto and spread evenly on both sides of the rolls.  Place sliced tomatoes and onions on the top half of the rolls, and the sliced turkey breast on the bottom half of the rolls.  Place a provolone cheese slice on top of the onion and tomato on the top half of the roll.  Bake sandwiches at 400 for 10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted.  Turn the oven onto broil and cook until the cheese is lightly browned (I leave the rack in the same spot as when I bake the sandwiches so they don't burn quite as easily). 

Recipe from Jamie Cooks It Up!

Baked Stroganoff Sandwich

There are times when I come across a recipe and think, "Really?!?!  Who comes up with this stuff!?!?"  Well, this Baked Stroganoff Sandwich is one of those things.  Baked Stroganoff Sandwich happens to be the favorite food of my 10 year old's BFF.  That means we just had to try it.  The entire family enjoyed it (even if half of them picked off the veggies.  Really!?  That's my favorite part!) 

1 pound ground beef
1 package stroganoff mix plus ingredients to mix ( I used my Hamburger Stroganoff recipe)
1 large tomato, thinly sliced
1 green bell pepper, sliced
2 cups shredded cheese (I used cheddar)
1 loaf French bread, sliced in half lengthwise
4 tablespoons butter

Turn oven on to broil setting.  Spread 2 tablespoons of butter on the inside of each half of the French bread.  Place bread on a large cookie sheet and place in the oven to toast.  Watch closely so it doesn't burn.  I use the middle rack to keep it from burning  as easily and it takes about 5 minutes of brown nicely.  Prepare stroganoff sauce and brown ground beef.  Combine the sauce and cooked ground beef.  Spread half of the meat sauce onto each side of the bread.  Top with sliced peppers, tomatoes and then sprinkle with cheese.  Return to the oven and cook until cheese is melted - about another 5 minutes on the middle rack.

Linked on Show Me What Ya Got.

Speedy Ham and Cheese Hot Pockets

We love our sandwiches here, but it's always nice to switch it up a bit sometimes. These Speedy Ham and Cheese Hot Pockets have a wonderful, tender biscuit crust and are packed full of ham and gooey melted cheese. With the biscuit crust, there is no need to wait for the dough to rise, so they are quick to make up. I have to say, I LOVED these!

2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup cold butter
2/3 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups sliced ham, diced

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and oil a baking sheet. Combine dry ingredients. Slice the cold butter into the flour mixture. Use a pastry blender to cut the butter into the flour mixture until you have a coarse, grainy mixture. Make a well in the middle of the flour and pour the buttermilk into the flour mixture. Stir until just moistened and knead a few times to make a smooth dough. Roll the dough out on a floured surface to about 1/2 inch thick (just a little less). Cut out 4 inch circles (I used a large glass). Place about 3 tablespoon of meat and 3 tablespoons of cheese on the center of a circle. Lay another circle over the top and pinch the sides together. Just before sealing the entire circle, finish putting filling inside if it wouldn't all fit before. Place the pocket on the prepared sheet and flatten slightly. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes or until the pockets begin to brown.

Recipe adapted from Get Off Your Butt and Bake.

Linked on Get Your Brag On.

Easy Frech Dip Sandwiches

I LOVE easy! But even more than easy, I love yummy AND easy. This is super yummy and easy. The family all loved it, too. Some dipped, some didn't, but they all loved it.

I really liked being able to throw it in the crock pot the night before and not have to worry about dinner the next day. At dinner time the roast fell apart so I didn't even have to shred it. Can it get any better?

1 (5 pound) pot roast
2 (10.5 oz) cans French onion soup
1 (10.5 oz) can beef consomme
1 can water (from soup or consomme)


Place roast in a crock pot. Add soup, consomme and water (do NOT add more water than 1 can - don't dilute like the can says). Turn on low and cook over night and all day. Serve on long hard rolls. Top with provolone cheese if desired and dip in juice.

BLT Wraps

I have been in a serious lunch rut lately. I mean, how many times can you stand to eat soup and sandwiches. I do switch between tomato soup and chicken noodle soup, but mostly stick with cheese sandwiches. Sometimes grilled and sometimes open face. I know, I know. BORING!!

I looked through my fridge really, REALLY hoping that some sort of divine inspiration would hit me and I would have a brilliant idea as to what different I should/could make for lunch. No luck. I decided to put away my groceries I had just bought, once again hoping for an epiphany to hit me, but still no luck. I was seriously kicking myself (not literally, that might hurt!) for not picking up one of those super yummy cooked chickens while I was out shopping. Then I got to the last bag of groceries and found bacon. Turkey bacon to be exact. Why turkey bacon? Do you ever go through those....things.... You know, where you decide you are going to eat healthier? Well, I was in the middle of one of those. And then I followed it up with a big batch of Yummy Chocolate Chip Cookies......

Anyway, back to the the bacon. I looked from the bacon to some beautiful tomatoes I picked from my garden earlier that were sitting pretty on my counter. Bacon + tomaotes = an idea!! BLT Wraps! Honestly, the ideal started with sandwiches, but quickly changed course to wraps where it stayed. The 2 little girls loved them (except for the sauce) and my sweet hubby and I loved them as well (and with the sauce).

8 slices bacon, cooked
1 tomato, diced
3-4 cups lettuce
4 tortillas (I used the kind you cook)
Creamy BBQ Sauce

Crumble 2 slices of bacon onto each tortilla. Top with lettuce and tomatoes, drizzle with Creamy BBQ Sauce and roll up.

Recipe from The Royal Cook - an original!

Hot Chicken Sandwiches

When I was a kid, my parents would take us to a hometown cafe and they would often order hot sandwiches. I would sweet talk a bite out of them almost every time (man I was good!) I LOVED the hot sandwiches. They were served with potatoes and smothered in gravy. Yum!!! I usually serve mine with mashed potatoes as well, but when I pulled out the potato bag, it was.....*gulp*.....empty! Who does that!?! Who runs out of potatoes!?! That's right up there with running out of ground beef! (That's a whole other story. I know everyone is dying to hear, so brace your self. I get it free. That's right. FREE! And I still ran out.) I don't run out of things. Really, I don't. I am the neighbor that all the other neighbors go to when they run out of stuff. I always have what they don't. *Sigh* Oh well. I have potatoes now and am determined not to run out of them again (or ground beef for that matter).

2 cups chicken gravy
1 pound deli sliced chicken
6 sliced bread
butter

Toast the bread and butter. Warm the gravy in a sauce pan over medium heat. Add the chicken and heat through. Divide the meat between the slices of toast and drizzle with any remaining gravy.

Recipe from The Royal Cook

Hot Roast Beef Sandwiches With Dip

These Hot Roast Beef Sandwiches (aka French Dip) are so easy and so good. This was my first time making them and they were a hit! My hubby (he thinks I should refer to him as my HOT Husband) was very impressed with my mean cooking skills - he loved them! I cut them in 3 pieces and put a toothpick in them for the little kids. It made them easier for the little ones to handle and dip. And they LOVED to dip!

1 pound deli sliced roast beef
1 (10.5 oz) can beef consomme
4 slices provolone cheese
4 large hard rolls (I used telera rolls)
butter

Pour consomme in a sauce pan and reconstitute (I used Campbells - 1 can water to reconstitute). Add roast beef and cook* over medium low heat heat until it simmers. Slice rolls and butter the top half. Divide roast beef between the 4 rolls and place on the bottom half. Place 1 slice of cheese on the roast beef on each roll. Place on a baking sheet and broil until the cheese is melted - 1 to 2 minutes (I use the next to top rack - watch carefully so it doesn't burn!). Serve with the consomme to dip in.

*Could also be cooked in a crock pot on low for 3 hours.

Fantastic Tuna Salad

Growing up, my mom would make us tuna fish sandwiches for lunch. She made them with just a little Miracle Whip......they were quite dry..... Needless to say, I was not a fan of tuna growing up, and I still can't stand Miracle Whip. I think the reason that the revolting stuff is called "Miracle" Whip, is because it is a miracle anyone likes it. Just my own personal opinion. When I married my sweet husband, for some strange reason, he liked that nasty stuff. *Shudder* I can proudly say that I have never purchased any and my hubby is still alive and thriving without it.

Anyway, I got to the point that I would rather starve than eat a tuna sandwich. Then one day it happened. I ate one. You see, my mom didn't make it. A friends mom did. I decided to be a good guest and eat the smelly thing. Well, as luck would have it, it was rather delicious! It wasn't dry, didn't have ANY Miracle Whip in it, and I didn't even have to gag it down. That's when I realized (I was in the 7th grade) that tuna was not all bad, just Mom's (sorry Mom, I still love you and will be down to visit next week - if you will still let me....). I decided to take what I could from that sandwich and make my own. To this day I still love a good tuna salad sandwich, or just plain old tuna salad (very tasty with buttery crackers).

2 (5 oz) cans tuna (I prefer Albacore in water)
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon mustard
2 tablespoons sweet relish
1/4 cup celery, chopped small
1 tablespoon onion, finely chopped

Put the tuna in a bowl and break up with a fork. Add remaining ingredients and mix well.

This is what we made with the tuna salad.

It's a fish!! I found the idea in my Family Fun magazine this month. To make it, all you need is a heart cookie cutter and a circle cookie cutter. Stack 2 pieces of bread and place them on the counter. Cut out a circle with the round cookie cutter (If you have wide bread, you will only need 2 pieces of bread. Make the round cut on one side. If you have regular bread, you will need 4 pieces. Make the cut in the center). Next, use the heart cookie cutter to cut out a heart (if you are using the wide bread, cut the heart on the opposite side of the bread as the circle with the pointed bottom of the heart pointing towards the circle. You will want the point to be inside the circle so that when you cut, the tip is off. If you are using regular bread, cut out the heart and then cut the bottom of the heart off with the round cookie cutter). Spread one piece of each shape with the tuna salad (or any filling you would like) and top with the other identical shape. Put the fish together by putting the cut off part of the heart against the circle. So fun, so cute!

Cold Chicken Salad

I have had this recipe for close to 10 years. It was served at a baby shower when I was pregnant with my oldest daughter. There are so many ways to serve it. I have used it in croissants, wraps, in lettuce bowls, or just plain. Very tasty anyway you eat it.

3 cups chicken, cooked and diced
1/4 cup water chestnuts
1 cup slivered almonds
1 cup celery, sliced
1/4 cup green onions, sliced
1/2 cup red seedless grapes, halved
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup mayonnaise
1 lemon, juiced
1 1/2 cups Chinese noodles

Mix chicken, water chestnuts, celery, almonds, green onions, grapes, salt and pepper. Mix lemon juice and mayonnaise. Just before serving add sauce and Chinese noodles to chicken mixture.