French Dip sandwiches

This meal is another favourite of my partner in crime. I feel like it's more of a fall/winter dish, and I made it this past week for this first time this season. I got the recipe from Allrecipes. I make a few modifications (explained below). It is amazingly easy for how good it tastes. I just get up half an hour earlier than I usually do, and that's enough time to get it prepped. You wouldn't believe how good the house smells when I come home after work.

I don't do too much different than the original recipe, but this is how I do it. I think it probably adds a bit more flavour. If you don't have a slow cooker you could just do it in your oven in a covered casserole dish instead, adjusting times and temps accordingly.

Brown the outside (all sides) of a 3 lb beef roast (fat trimmed off first). (I usually get what's on sale and/or looks good. This week I used eye of round. It was a 3 lb roast on sale for $6 (from $12 because it was close to the sell-by date). I was quite pleased with my thriftiness, especially because we get at least 3 meals out of this.)

Put in slow cooker (I have the smaller size, not the larger family-size one, which is why I use a smaller roast than the recipe calls for). Deglaze the frying pan with the beer. Add to the slow cooker.

Add the soup/broth as in the recipe.

I also add a few cloves of garlic, chopped into a couple of chunks each, and a small sprig of rosemary (or some dried rosemary). I also add a few shakes of Worcestershire sauce to it, and a few grindings of black pepper.

I don't know if I need to do this or not, but when I get home, I take the roast out, slice it up, and then put it back in all those juices while I get the side dish ready, toast the buns, etc.

I usually serve this with something light and mostly vegetable-y because it's so meaty and rich. This week it was just plenty of raw veggies and dip on the side. But homemade oven fries are very nice too - you can dip them in the au jus. :)

So anyway, toast your hoagie buns, put your meat on them, and serve with the juices in the slow cooker, ladled into ramekins or small bowls. Dip your sandwiches with each bite. Yum!

I actually hardly ever use my slow cooker (though I want to use it more - post your recipes!), but I think it's worth it to have one just for this dish, it's that good.

Spaghetti Cheese Bake

This is a comfort food dish that I've found is especially enjoyed by kids. It freezes really well and it's great to pull out and pop in the oven when you don't have time, or feel like cooking. I will put it in the fridge in the morning to unthaw somewhat before baking. Taken out of the freezer/fridge, it'll take probably about 30 - 45 minutes to bake.

8 oz. (250 g) spaghetti (I use multigrain or whole wheat spaghetti)

1 lb. hamburger

1 cup chopped onion

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can tomato soup

1/2 cup water

1 tsp. salt (or seasoned salt)

1/4 tsp. pepper

2 cups of grated cheddar cheese

Cook spaghetti, drain and set aside

Brown the beef and chopped onions

Add soups, water, salt & pepper to the beef & onion mixture and simmer slowly, uncovered, 10 - 15 minutes

Add cheese and stir until melted

Add spaghetti and mix well

Turn into a 2.5 - 3 quart greased casserole

You can sprinkle some more cheese on top or top with buttered breadcrumbs before baking

Bake uncovered at 350 for 20 - 30 minutes until hot and browned

Serves 6 - 8

Fast weeknight dinner no. 2 - chicken "fajitas"

Now I don't claim that these are even remotely authentic, but they are very tasty and pretty fast. They are also heavier on veggies than on meat, which I like.

Brown an onion (sliced into thin half-moons) and some minced garlic in a frying pan (you could also add a pepper like jalapeno or serrano). Add 1 chicken breast, cut into strips. Sprinkle liberally with salt, pepper, cumin (lots), coriander, chili powder (lots) and oregano (a little). Stir around to coat.

While the chicken cooks in the spices, chop up two bell peppers (two different colours is nice). I do them in strips - it looks nicer than cubes and is easier to eat out of a tortilla. Add the peppers when the chicken is cooked and browned. I add a bit of water (couple of tablespoons) to deglaze the pan, to make a bit of a sauce out of the spices for the peppers, and to steam the peppers. I cook it just a few minutes more to soften the peppers slightly. I don't like them too mushy.

We often cook this together, so while one person mans the stove, the other person does the toppings. Warm tortillas in the toaster oven wrapped in foil. Grate cheese and chop a tomato, set out in bowls. Dice an avocado, sprinkle it with lime juice, salt and pepper, set out in a bowl. Set out salsa, sour cream, and Mexican hot sauce (I really like Pico Pica). Serve it with lime wedges if you have a lime hanging around.

You're done! Scoop the pepper/chicken mixture into warm tortillas, top with cheese, tomatoes and avocado. Add sour cream, salsa, and hot sauce to taste. Squeeze a lime wedge over top to finish, then roll up and eat. Yum! If you take it easy with cheese and sour cream, this is actually a pretty healthy dinner.

Generically Chinese fast weeknight dinner

When I'm tired after work and don't want to think too hard about what to make for dinner, and I don't want to do complicated shopping, this is often what I do. A fair amount of the things I have in the house already, and so I always know exactly what I need to grab at the store, which makes for a very fast shopping trip. It's yummy and leaves enough for leftovers for lunch the next day. It's also good with a cold beer. :) I'll just write out what I do and include ingredients as I go.

Chop a knob of ginger, a couple of cloves of garlic, and the white part of a bunch of green onions. Put on a small plate.

Chop the green part of the green onions and put on a small plate with a handful of peanuts or cashews.

Chop a small head of broccoli (or Chinese greens - much better but not easy to get for me), put on a plate.

Dice a cake of extra-firm tofu (or firm would be okay too), put half on a plate, and put the other half in a ziploc to freeze for next time. (Be super-industrious and squeeze in some oyster sauce into the ziploc, and squish it around, so the tofu marinates as it freezes and thaws next time you make this dish.) I guess you could substitute some chicken or other meat if you prefer that to tofu.

Preheat your wok (or frying pan). Pull out of the fridge: soy sauce, Chinese cooking sauce of your choice (e.g. oyster sauce, black bean sauce, hoisin sauce), sesame oil.

Now the wok is hot. Add some vegetable oil and some sesame oil, and the garlic, ginger and onion whites. Stir around while they sizzle. When they smell fragrant but haven't burned, throw in the tofu. Add a splash of soy sauce to deglaze and to add moisture and flavour. If you want to be really fancy, you could add a splash of dry sherry (equivalent for Chinese cooking wine) for a nice flavour. Let cook for a few minutes. Add a couple of tablespoons of the cooking sauce you want (hoisin or whatever), and add the broccoli. I usually add a bit of water too at this point (no more than a couple of tablespoons), to help the sauce thin out and to steam the broccoli a bit. Stir around till the broccoli is cooked how you like it. I do it till it's a vibrant green colour and has a bit of crunch to it still. Turn off the heat, and add a splash of sesame oil, the greens of the green onions, and the nuts. Stir it all around. You're done!

I serve with either rice or with a package of fresh Chinese noodles (I get them from the same case as the tofu at the store), cooked according to package directions.

Note about the Chinese sauces: In my town in the States Lee Kum Kee sauces can be found at the one Asian specialty grocery store. If you live in a bigger town this brand might be easier to find. Fred Meyer and Albertson's don't carry it here, but maybe Safeway does - I'm not sure. It's definitely the best, but I have also used Sun Luck which seems to be more common in the States. It's okay, but definitely use Lee Kum Kee if you can find it.

Also, sometimes I add a can of baby corn or a can of bamboo shoots to the stir-fry, along with the tofu. It's really yummy and adds a third texture and colour to the dish.

Super easy macaroni salad

My partner in crime loves macaroni salad. But the kind you get at the deli is way too sweet for our taste, and a lot of the recipes I looked at seemed over-complicated. They'd add vinegar for tang and then add sugar for sweetness, and then lemon juice for more tang, etc. Harrumph. I thought I could do something simpler, so I came up with a recipe that after a few tweaks, now resembles deli macaroni salad but without being so sweet (and is probably a lot healthier).

Boil 2 cups of whole wheat macaroni noodles until they still have a bit of bite to them (they will soften further as they sit in the dressing), then drain and rinse under cool water to stop the cooking process.

Dice finely and uniformly:

• 1 large red pepper
• 2 or 3 sticks of celery
• a couple of pickles
• half a red onion OR a bunch of green onions

Make the dressing by stirring together:

• 1 cup of mayonnaise OR 1/2 cup mayonnaise and 1/2 cup low fat plain yogurt (partner in crime did not notice when I subbed yogurt for some of the mayo)
• 1 heaping tablespoon (not the measuring variety but the kind you eat cereal with) of Dijon mustard
• 1 heaping tablespoon (not the measuring variety but the kind you eat cereal with) of yellow mustard (e.g. French's)
• Salt and pepper (maybe a half teaspoon of each? do it to taste)
• 1/2 tsp (or so) of dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp (or so) of dried dill

Mix veggies and macaroni in a large bowl and season it with some salt and pepper. Stir in the dressing. You're done! For the best flavour, let the salad sit for a few hours before you eat it. This makes enough for two of us to eat for a few days.

Oma Noodles!

Cheesy Broccoli Noodles

5 Cups Pasta Shells
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp Flour
2 Cups Milk
2 Cups Grated Cheese
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 Cups Broccoli Florets

Cook pasta shells. Melt butter in pan, add flour until thickened about 4 or 5 minutes. Add 1.5 Cups cheese, salt and pepper. Add pasta, broccoli and toss together. Transfer to 1.5 qt baking dish and cover with remaining cheese, broil till golden brown.

I don't really know where the 2 Cups of milk come in, or if they do, because I added the milk into the flour and butter, and then the pasta and broccoli, and it was a bit soupy. Tina- could you help me out with this quandary? DELICIOUS recipe though! I highly recommend it.

Quick and Easy Dessert

1 container of Philadelphia Ready to eat cheesecake filling
1 jar of 1/2 the sugar smuckers strawberry jam
Shortbread cookies or graham crackers

Mix jam into cheesecake filling, dip cookies into filling, and enjoy.

"That almost makes me ill, it's so good" -Dave