Steak and Cheese Subs

Dan and I have very different eating habits to say the least. 

Dan is a meatatarian and I'm well...anything but that...

Since we've moved in, Dan's had to suffer through more than enough "Lauren Meals"..so I decided to make a "Dan Meal." I think it turned out to be a success!

Even though I don't eat much steak, I'm a huge lover of steak and cheese subs.

I mean it is smothered in melted cheese after all...

You can't hate that!

Makes about 4 small subs

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound shaved steak
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• olive oil
• 5 slices american cheese
• small sub rolls
• butter

Recipe:

• In a pan, saute onion and peppers in olive oil
• Add garlic to peppers and onion
• Cook until tender
• Remove veggies from pan
• Add shaved steak and cook until browned
• Drain excess grease from pan
• Add veggies
• Stir until combined
• Add american cheese
• Mix until well combined
• In a separate pan, melt butter
• Add sub rolls to pan and toast on each side until warm and buttery
• Add steak mixture to sub rolls

Honey Fried Bananas

I found this recipe on pinterest and immediately wanted to try it. It just looked too darn good to pass up.

 I had some extra bananas left over so it was perfect!

 It was a decadent and easy sweet treat. 

Thank you Rachelschultz.com for the recipe!!

Ingredients:

• 2 bananas
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp water
• olive oil
• cinammon

Recipe:

• cut the bananas into thick slices
• drizzle olive oil in a pan
• cook the bananas on medium heat (about 3-4 minutes on each side or until golden brown)
• whisk honey and water together
• pour honey over bananas
• sprinkle cinnamon on top

Cheddar Beer Fondue. The Perfect Stay-At-Home Date!

Last weekend was our first weekend in our apartment and I wanted to do something special to celebrate! 

I decided to try a new fondue recipe for dinner. 

It was just like being at the melting pot but better!

Our first stay at home date was a success. I can't wait to do it again.

Now for the recipe...

The cheese fondue I decided to make was a beer cheddar fondue. The beer really adds a great flavor.

Fondue Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups beer (1 can)
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 8 oz (1 package) of shredded mild cheddar cheese
• 8 oz (1 package) of shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 2 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 tsp dijon mustard

Recipe:

• In a pot on the stove, combine the beer and garlic on medium heat until bubbles appear. 
• Toss cheese with the cornstarch until evenly coated.
• Add cheese a handful at a time to the pot, stirring until evenly combined
• Stir in mustard.
• Once ready to serve, pour cheese into fondue pot or other serving dish.

Dippers:

This is the fun part! Choose whatever dippers you like!

I chose potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, apple, celery, sausage, bread, and pretzels!

The sausage and granny smith apples were my favorite dippers for this fondue. 

I also wanted something special for dessert!

Usually at the melting pot, we indulge in chocolate fondue for dessert.

I couldn't make another fondue because I only have one fondue pot...

I decided to make chocolate covered strawberries instead. They were yummo!

 It was almost like having chocolate fondue but less messy, and just as delish!!

Making chocolate covered strawberries is simple as can be!

 Take your favorite melting chocolate and melt in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time, stirring in between. Once the chocolate is melted, dip you strawberries in the chocolate and let harden in the fridge. 

American Chop Suey

American chop suey is most definitely a comfort food of mine. It is also a favorite of the boyfriends, so I can imagine that this is going to be a regular dish at our house.

For those of you who are not familiar with american chop suey, it is basically just pasta with meat sauce. It is a really quick weeknight meal which makes it an easy go-to for me. 

I likes this dish because I usually always have pasta and tomato sauce in the cabinet, and I can always customize the rest of the dish. For instance, ground turkey or chicken can be used instead of beef.  You can also add whatever veggies you like in it. Plus, this meal takes no time to make.

This is just an overall awesome family dish.

Ingredients: 

• 1 pound pasta (I used ziti, but you can use your favorite pasta)
• 1 (24 oz) jar of tomato sauce
• 1-1/2 pounds ground beef
• 1 diced onion
• Italian Seasoning (dried thyme, oregano, and basil)
• salt/pepper
• red pepper flakes
• parmesan cheese for topping

Recipe:

• Cook pasta according to package directions. I like to cook it al dente (a little hard) so that the pasta does not turn into mush when you add the meat sauce. To cook it al dente, just subtract a couple minutes from the cook time on the package. 
• Add the diced onion and ground beef into a pan. Brown meat.
• Drain excess fat from pan.
• Season the meat with a few dashes of italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. 
• Heat tomato sauce in a small sauce pan.
• Combine pasta, meat mixture, and sauce in a pan.
• Serve with parmesan cheese

Cheesy Beef Enchiladas

Let's be real...I think any food blogger strives to be The Pioneer Woman. I definitely drool reading her blog and watching her new tv show. Everything she cooks looks amazing!

 Unfortunately, she drowns pretty much everything with butter and oil so sometimes I need to tweek her recipes a little bit.  

These enchiladas are based off of one of recipes, but I cut out a few steps and ingredients to make it a little more user (and heart!) friendly. 

I thought my version of enchiladas were delicious, so I can only imagine how amazing her's taste.

 You can find the pioneer woman's beef enchiladas here.

 Ingredients:

• 1 (28oz) can of enchilada sauce
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 onion
• 2 (4oz) cans diced green chilies
• 3 large flour tortillas*
• 3 cups mexican cheese
• 1 cup chopped green onion
• salt/pepper

*Note: I used large tortillas to make three giant enchiladas. If you are using small tortillas, you could probably make about 14/15 enchiladas.

 Recipe:

• Heat enchilada sauce in a sauce pan. Once it is warm, let simmer.
• While the sauce is heating, add chopped onions to a large skillet.
• Once onions are tender, add ground beef and brown over medium-high heat.
• Drain fat from pan.
• Season beef with salt and pepper.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Pour half of the enchilada sauce into a 9 by 13 inch baking dish. 
• One at a time, dip each tortilla in the enchilada sauce remaining in the sauce pan. 
• In the enchilada, place some beef mixture, cheese, chilies, and green onion.
• Roll up tortilla and place in baking dish.
• Once all tortillas are made, pour remaining enchilada sauce over the enchiladas.
• Sprinkle remaining cheese, chilies, and green onions on top.
• Bake for 20 minutes.

White Wine Berry Sangria

This weekend was absolutely crazy and amazing at the same time. We finally moved into our new apartment, had a fabulous weekend getaway, AND celebrated my birthday.

My moving/weekend/birthday recap is coming but I wanted to make sure I got this recipe up for Tasty Tuesday! 

This was the official drink of the weekend and it is a new favorite of mine!

Forgive me, we were on vacation and didn't measure things out...so this recipe is just an estimate.

I don't think you can mess the recipe up so just go with it!

If you like sangria sweeter...add more sprite...

If you don't have blueberries or strawberries..add whichever fruit is in your fridge!

Enjoying this on a roof deck by the water is optional but I would most DEFINITELY suggest it!

Recipe:

• 2 (1.5L) bottles of pinot grigio 
• 2 cans of sprite
• 3-4 cups sliced strawberries
• 2 cups blueberries

Ingredients:

• Just mix it all together! Easy peasy!! 

Link up below for Tasty Tuesday!