Steak Hoagies

When it comes to sandwiches, I'm pretty boring. Growing up, unless it was PB&J, cold meat w/ cheese or grilled cheese, we didn't have it. Which probably explains my fascination with Subway throughout high school. I especially loved Subway's Philly Cheesesteak sub, and ate it frequently as my high school job was next door in the strip mall to a Subway! I don't think I loved it because it was Philly Cheesesteak...I think I loved it simply because it was something different. Something more fancy than PB&J or bologna with a cheese slice sandwiched between two slices of bread.

So that all goes to explain why I have been on a mission lately to find lots of delicious sandwich recipes that I can create right here at home. I found this particular recipe over at My Kitchen Cafe and was very pleased with how delicious this hoagie sandwich came out! It was also super easy to create! This is another recipe that is going into my file for lighter and amazing recipes to put into rotation this spring and summer! The only downside is that this was perhaps a bit on the peppery side, which if you like pepper is a good thing! But if you don't care for lots of pepper on your food (like me) then you may want to scale it back...but don't eliminate it -- it adds a great dimension to this sandwich! I also strongly encourage that you don't skip the broiling process at the end. The way that it melts the cheese into a state of ooey gooey deliciousness and toasts the bun just a tidge makes this recipe seem completely pulled together and not just like you whipped up a filling, spooned onto cold buns and ran (even if that is, in fact, the case...)

Ingredients...

...2 medium sized steaks, cut into strips

...1 T. of equal parts pepper, salt and garlic salt (this is where you would lessen the pepper if you aren't a fan)

...2 T. olive oil

..1/2 onion, thinly sliced

...1 green pepper, thinly sliced

...1 can mushrooms, drained

...1/2 tsp. oregeno

...1 slice of cheese per sub

...sub rolls or hoagie buns

Directions...

Heat olive oil in a skillet until rippling. Cook steak strips in oil until cooked through and no longer pink. Add onion, spice mixture, green pepper, mushrooms and oregano, stirring to evenly coat with all spices. Cook until vegetables are tender and the mixture is heated through. Using a slotted spoon, spoon onto sub roll or hoagie bun and then add cheese. Broil for about 5 minutes, until bun is toasted and cheese is melted.

Hobo Beef Stew

While my computer was away getting all fixed up, I had a craving for beef stew. I have one tried and true recipe that I found on the internet and had bookmarked, but with no computer, I didn't have access to that recipe. I started to scrounge my many, many, many cookbooks and found a lot of recipes that sounded delicious, but none that I had all the ingredients on hand for at the time.

In comes my trusty Taste of Home Slow Cooking Cookbook to the rescue! This recipe was originally called Hobo Meatball Stew...but I was in no mood to make meatballs. So I just eliminated the meatballs and replaced them with some cut up steak. Wa-la! Hobo Beef Stew!

I also made a few other changes, but that's typical of any recipe I try...

Ingredients...

...1 lb. steak or stew meat
...4 medium potatoes, peeled and chunked
...4 medoum carrots, peeled and chunked
...1 1/2 tsp. salt
...1/2 tsp. pepper
...1 medium onion, chunked
...1/2 c. ketchup
...1/2 c. water
...1 1/2 tsp. vinegar
...1/2 tsp. dried basil

Directions...

Place all ingredients in slow cooker and stir until well combined. Cook on low for 8-9 hours or on low for 4-5.

Steak Stir Fry

I have professed my love for mexican fare before, but I have a confession.

Mexican food is not my all time favorite when it comes to ethnic foods.

Nope. Chinese takes the number one spot in my heart when it comes to ethnic foods. Which is lucky for me because Chinese food is so darn easy to make at home. Which saves us from paying an arm and leg for take out every time I have a craving.

Which is often at almost 6 months pregnant...

I've tried a lot of stir fry recipes before, and I'm surprised at myself that I haven't shared any of those recipes yet. I better get on the ball!! So here's a first...steak stir fry. Which was actually a first for me as well. I usually only use chicken when I make stir fry. But when taking inventory of my deep freeze last weekend I realized that I desperately need a good meat sale to come about. But until then we have more than enough steak to experiment with. I figured no time is better than now to make my first steak stir fry!

Ingredients...

...1 beef boullion cube
...1 cup boiling water
...2 T. cornstarch
...1/3 cup soy sauce
...1 pound steak
...1/8 tsp. garlic powder
...1 tsp. ground ginger
...1/4 tsp. black pepper
...2 T. vegetable oil
...1/2 green pepper, julienned
...1/2 yellow pepper, julienned
...4 stalks celery, chopped
...1 cup frozen peas
...Rice, cooked

Directions...

Dissolve boillion cube in boiling water. Combine cornstarch and soysauce until smooth, add to boullion and set aside. In a skillet, brown steak to desired done-ness in vegetable oil. Add peppers, celery and peas to skillet. Toss mixture with garlic powder, ginger and pepper until everything is well coated with seasonings. Stir fry mixture until vegetables are crisp tender. Add soy sauce mixture and bring to a boil. Let boil for 2 minutes and then remove from the heat. Serve over a bed of rice.

Jagerschnitzel

I have no idea what jagerschnitzel stands for in english. But I do know that it's a German dish. So whatever the German phrase for "this was good" is...insert it here. I should really learn more German, considering it's where my ancestors are from. The only German is know is "Oh my good God", but only when someone is feeding it to me word for word, lol! Anyways. This really was good. Since I've never had authentic jagerschnitzel, I'm sure that it won't be heartbreaking to change it up a bit next time, so I'm going to bake the pork instead of frying it. Just to save some calories. Hubs really liked this too...and the gravy/topping stuff would make a great gravy on mashed potatoes. I did serve this with mashed potatoes, but we just put some butter and salt on them. Next time I'll try the gravy...as gravy.

Ingredients...

...2 pork steaks, pounded thin (make sure you don't skip the "pounding thin" part. I did and it took FOREVER for the steaks to cook through!)
...1/2 cup bread crumbs (unseasoned)
...1/2 T. flour
...2 T. vegetable oil
...1 egg, beaten
...1/2 medium onion, chopped
...1 small can mushrooms
...3/4 cup water
...1 cube beef boullion
...1/2 T. cornstarch
...1/4 cup sour cream

Directions...

In a shallow dish, mix together the flour and bread crumbs. Place the beaten egg in a seperate shallow dish. Dredge steaks through egg and then through bread crumb mixture, making sure that all sides are evenly coated. Place oil in skillet over medium heat. Place coated steaks in heated oil and cook until meat is no longer pink. Remove from skillet keep warm. Pour water into same skillet and dissolve beef boullion cube in water. Stir in mushrooms and onions and let simmer for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl stir together the sour cream and cornstarch. Add to skillet when done simmering. Lower heat to low setting and continue cooking until mixture has thickened but do not boil. Pour gravy mixture over steaks and serve warm.

Crockpot Fajitas

Mmmmmm! We love us some mexican! I don't typically make fajitas, but I found this recipe and began wondering why I haven't been as the ingredients are all things I have on hand...

Ingredients...

...1/2 each of green and yellow pepper, sliced in strips
...1 yellow onion sliced in strips
...1 pound steak (I used pork steak)
...3/4 cup water
...2 tbs. apple cider vinegar
...1 tsp. ground cumin
...1 tsp. chili powder
...1/2 tsp. salt
...1/2 tsp. garlic powder
..1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
...1/2 tsp. black pepper

Directions...

Place ingredients in slow cooker, stir to coat veggies and meat with seasonings. Cook on low for 8 hours, or until the meat is tender (it only took mine about 7-ish hours for really tender meat). Use slotted spoon to remove from crockpot so as not to have watery fajitas. Serve on tortilla shells with sour cream, salsa, tomatoes and cheese.

My Thoughts...

This was really good, but I think I am going to stick to making them on stovetop. The veggies and meat were both kind of mushy, and we prefer our fajitas to have a bit of a crunch to them. I also thought this was pretty spicy, so if you have kids or a low spice tolerance you might want to tone it down a bit. This will be a great standby for when we want mexican, but only have time to pop something in the slowcooker in the morning.