Chicken Panini with Smashed Potatoes ***** (Erin)

YUM, YUM, YUM!!! Everyone loved this recipe...except Riley. :) I will forever make sandwiches differently thanks to this recipe.

If you don't have a George Foreman grill, go get one. They aren't terribly expensive, and they are SO SO versatile! I used mine as a panini press. I didn't use any non-stick spray, oil, or butter on my bread, and our sandwiches came out perfectly toasty on the outside and deliciously melty on the inside!

I had a hard time finding some of the ingredients for this recipe. I planned on making homemade pesto using the recipe on Page 303 of Cook This, Not That! However, Dillons only had one teeny, tiny package of basil. It was not going to be nearly enough. My second thought was to use store-bought pesto that I thought you could find in the deli area (near the specialty cheese). They had sun-dried tomato pesto (lots of calories in that) and artichoke pesto (Jase wouldn't touch that), but I couldn't find basil pesto there. I finally stumbled upon it with the spaghetti sauces of all places. I also struggled to find roasted red peppers. I thought surely they would be with the canned vegetables. I found all different typed of artichokes (sliced, whole, marinated), pimentos, sun-dried tomatoes, and hearts of palm...but NO roasted red peppers. Who organized this store? Where did I finally find the roasted red peppers you might be asking? Where else...near the salad dressing. Apparently the shelf designer didn't think they were vegetables. ;) Finally, I couldn't find baby Yukon gold potatoes. They only had the larger ones. I settled for baby white potatoes. They still worked for the smashed potato recipe, but I think the Yukons would have had a more buttery flavor. Try those instead if you can find them! I used whole grain honey wheat bread (just a plain 'ole loaf) and rotisserie chicken because I forgot to get chicken out of the freezer.

Overall this dish was delish. It will be one I duplicate again soon!!! YUM!

Madeline said with her mouth full: "I would give this recipe 5 stars!"

Jase didn't talk much...he was too busy eating. He loved this and wants me to make it again!

Riley ate a few bites of chicken and a bite or two of potato.

I LOVED it! It still doesn't beat the pot stickers as my favorite dish, but it comes close!

Rotisserie chicken - $4.99

Bread - $2.79

Roasted Red Peppers - $3.49 (have more than half the jar left)

Basil Pesto - $3.99 (only used 4-5 T.)

Fresh Mozzarella Cheese - $3.99 (still have half left)

Potatoes - $1.79

Garlic - had on hand

Olive Oil - had on hand

Rosemary - had on hand

Three, Two, One, "Start Cookin'!"

Grilled Cheese with Apples and Bacon and Homemade Potato Chips (Erin) ****.5

****.5 = 4 1/2 stars...how do you do half an asterisk?

You won't go wrong with this recipe that may sound a little strange! The picture looks really crumby (meaning having lots of crumbs...not yucky) because I couldn't wait to take a bite. I hurried to take a bit and try out this strange sounding combo...then I remembered I needed to take a picture. Oops!

This picture does not do the sandwich justice. So, I guess I'm asking you to take a risk and try this even though it sounds weird and doesn't look as fabulous as it tastes. The apples added such a different taste to the sandwich...so yummy! The homemade potato chips came out a bit weird just because I didn't cut the potatoes as uniformly in width as I had hoped. Some came out crunchy and others just soft.

• Madeline liked the meal. I had to make her stop eating the chips. She is in bed, so you don't get a direct quote. I'm sure you're as disappointed as she will be when she realizes I didn't wait for her. :)
• Riley LOVED her dinner...of course it was nothing that we ate. :)
• Jason LOVED the chips. He said they were his favorite thing I've made from the cookbook so far. (SERIOUSLY?!? You ate the pot stickers, didn't you?!?)
• I liked it all...especially the sandwich! I will make the chips again (I don't think Jase will give me a choice), but I will add some of the offered flavor combinations in the future to spice them up a bit. I will definitely make the sandwich again too, but I will use sliced cheese instead of shredded cheese...I like how sliced cheese "glues" the sandwich together.

Butter - on hand

Bread - $3.45

Dijon Mustard - on hand

Cheese - $1.96

Apple - $.78

Bacon - $4.79

Potatoes - $1.49

Olive Oil - on hand

MAKE THESE RECIPES!! THEY ARE YUMMY!! (Pages 130 and 298 in Cook This, Not That!)

Three, Two, One, "Start Cookin'!"

Saturday Cheesteak Sandwich and Homemade Chips (Teressa)****

Let me start by telling all of our followers and those who might want to comment. The settings have been changed so you don't have to have a sign on to comment. We would LOVE to hear from you.

So last night I made our version of the same thing Erin made Thursday. Ours had Red and Green peppers with the onions. I like Erin don't like blue cheese... YUCK! so we left that part out too. We used provolone cheese instead. It was very easy to make and quite pretty to look at when it was done. (and very tasty!)

Here is what the critics had to say

Tracy- really liked it,

Emma- said it was kinda good,

Amanda- made Spaghetti-Os and tried it, she liked it a lot and wanted the sandwich instead,

Me- really liked it also. All the different flavors mixed together was like heaven in a bun!

The chips we made were good also. Some of the chips were extra crispy the book gives you several options for toppings i just used a season salt it must have been really good because Emma and Amanda kept eating them. Everyone liked them, Emma said we should have them again.

It was a really good dinner. It is perfect if you want something that is easy to make, something that looks good, and something that takes about 30 minutes this is just the thing for you and your family! Since starting this I've lost 5lbs and I've changed nothing else.

Huddle up 3 2 1 Start cooking!

3 Recipes, 2 Hours (at least it FELT that long), 1 Meal *** (Erin)

Tonight was a marathon night of 3 recipes for 1 Meal. What in the world was I thinking? To add to the craziness, Jase had conferences so I was wrangling the girls too. What a night!


I made Cheesesteak Sandwiches (Page 156) with Caramelized Onions (Page 305) and Sweet Potato Fries (Page 299). All 3 recipes came from Cook This, Not That! Overall I would give the meal 3 stars.



First, the sandwich:


The skirt steak was very tasty, and it was easy (and quick!) to make using my George Foreman Grill (LOVE that thing!). It wasn't tough, but it was kind of hard to bite. So, when I bit into my sandwich, a whole piece of meat came out. For that reason, I would probably chop the meat after it rests. The sandwich was kind of dry. It wouldn't be if you followed the recipe more closely, but I don't do yogurt, I don't do blue cheese, and I DON'T do mayo. Those three ingredients make up the spread that goes on the recipe sandwich. I added BBQ sauce to Jason's (he benefited from eating later than us), and I would guess that helped a bit. I couldn't find arugula at the store, so I used bagged Spring Mix which had arugula in it. Since I didn't put blue cheese on it, I melted provolone on ours under the broiler. If I was just rating the sandwich, I might have given more stars. The caramelized onions on the sandwich were quite tasty! They took some time to make, but they were worth it...very easy and very flavorful.




Next for the Sweet Potato Fries:


What in the world went wrong? I followed the recipe...as closely as I could since it didn't tell me how long to cook the fries. I have never made sweet potato before. I'm not a big fan, although I do like The Anchor's version...YUM! The outside of the potatoes were sticky...really sticky. Is that normal? The inside was like a rock...SO hard to cut! The fries were in the oven forever...40 minutes, maybe? The ends were starting to burn, the rest was mushy, and it never got crispy. Not even close. They were also SOOO sweet...in a bad way. They weren't good at all! The dogs liked them, but Madeline and I did not!



Here's the dirt:


Madeline - "This is good (after taking a bite of her sandwich). Do I have to eat these fries (after her first bite)."

Riley - Okay, this is weird. She loved the caramelized onions. She wouldn't even touch her mandarin oranges (her favorite food) until the caramelized onions on her plate were gone. She ate a few pieces of meat, but I didn't even bother with the fries.

Erin - You've already read what I thought.

Jason - "This is good. I'd love for you to make this again."



Skirt Steak - $6.43 (I cooked the whole thing, and after 3 sandwiches -- Jase's had LOTS of meat on it -- there's still some tucked away in the fridge.)

Provolone - had on hand

Balsamic Vinegar - $7.69 (I wanted good balsamic...lots and lots left!)

Wheat Rolls - $1.50

Tomato - $.79

Mixed Lettuce - $2.99 (lots left)

Onions - $1.79

Sweet Potatoes - $1.81 (what a waste!)
Olive Oil and Butter - had on hand


So, after a crazy night, my belly is full, and I tried some different things. I would say that's successful. Off to watch Grey's Anatomy. (McSteamy here I come...)


Three, Two, One, "Start Cookin'!"

Pulled Pork Sandwiches... Teressa

Tonight we had the pulled pork sandwiches (page 154.) and I made the coleslaw (pg 292). It really calls for very few ingredients.

First let me start by saying that tonight was the first time I have ever browned meat before putting it in the crock pot. WOW what a difference it makes.. who knew?!

The smell of apple cider vinegar was very over whelming to me but I didn't get any comments like I did last night. (thank goodness.) I started the meat around 9:00a.m. Tested it about 4:30p.m. and WOW it was so tender. You really can't taste the liquid smoke, which surprised me because I have used it before and it was super strong.

Then I started the coleslaw. I was hoping to cheat and get a bag-o-slaw at the store but they didn't have one. So I had to get the purple and white cabbage. Man it was cheep.... It was $.50 for the purple and $.69 for the white. Another surprise. Then I started to cut it and had to call Tracy for some guidance. Because I couldn't get the strips I wanted. He said it was because I was using the worlds dullest knife. (funny guy!) So after some talk about how bland the flavor was and the fact I forgot to get fennel seeds. I added a little more mustard. Then went and got the fennel. I have never really used fennel seeds so I wasn't sure how much flavor they would add. What a difference they made.

So finally put the sandwich together. I made mine HUGE!!!! So this is the picture of Tracy's sandwich. The kids didn't want the coleslaw and here is what the critics had to say.

Amanda- Yummmm....
Emma-- Thanks Mom this is really good!!!! ( I am NOT eating the coleslaw.!)
Corrina - this is good, but like Emma spit out the bite of coleslaw I made them try (it wasn't even a bite but one piece of cabbage.)
Keneson- This is really good Tees....
Tracy - WOW honey, the fennel seeds did make a huge difference on the coleslaw, and the toasted bun is perfect... We are making this again!!!!

ME----OMG...mmmmm... this is goofff.... (my mouth was full)

We will totally make this again!!!!!

Huddle up!!!! 3, 2, 1 ... START COOKIN!!!!