Italian Sausage and pepper sandwiches on homemade hoagies

So this morning while trying to decide what to eat I went through the freezer. We had already had chicken like 3 days in a row so that was out and I wasn't really like eating beef that only left italian sausage. Well, I tried searching for a new recipe that uses italian sausage. Nothing sounded great. So I decided to just go to my standby recipe for italian sausage, sandwiches. Only problem was that I did not have hoagie rolls. My kids were on one today so there was no way I was venturing to the store by myself with them so back to the computer to find a recipe, and I did. I altered it a bit to what I thought would be good and they turned out great! I was pleasantly surprised! And honestly, they probably took me less time to make then had I gone to the store (thats excluding rise time, but they are still a super easy bread to make). Okay, heres the recipe:

Hoagie Rolls (makes about 6-8):
1 package yeast (or 2 1/4 tsp bulk yeast)
1 1/2 cups of water divided
1 tablespoon sugar, divided
1/8 cup vegetable oil
1/2 tbl salt
4-4 1/4 cups flour

1 egg white
1 tablespoon water

In a mixing bowl, dissolve the yeast in 1/2 cup warm water. Add in 1/2 tablespoon sugar. Let stand for about 5 minutes.
Add remaining water and sugar. Beat in oil, salt, and 2 cups of flour until smooth. I then switched the attachment on my kitchen aid to the dough hook and Stirred in enough flour to form a soft dough. Let mix on medium for a couple of minutes (this helps cut down on the time you need to knead it).
Turn onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic (you should be able to pull it a bit before it breaks)
Place in a greased bowl turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise until double, about 45 minutes.
Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured board and divide into 6-8 pieces.
Shape into an oval. You can kind of flatten them down a little bit so you get the nice oval shape. They will puff up nicely I promise!
Cover and let rise for about 30 minutes.
Mix eggwhite and water well. Brush onto the rolls and then bake immediately at 400 degrees for 13-18 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool (the egg whites give the hoagie that crustier crust).

Italian Sausage and Pepper Sandwiches
4 italian sausages
1 onion halved and then sliced
1 green bell pepper sliced
1 tsp oil

Cook italian sausages until done (I put mine in a pan with a bit of water and let them cook that way). Remove from the pan. I usually do this all in the same pan, but usually wash it before the next step.
Heat oil in pan until hot. Add in bell pepper and onion. Cook until almost soft and carmelized. While that is cooking, slice the italian sausages length wise. Add to the onions and italian sausages so that the sausage can get slightly crispy. Serve on rolls and we like it with mustard.

Chicken Stir fry

So, I made chicken stir fry last night. Delicious! Here's what I do.

1 chicken breast cut into bite sized pieces
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup honey
1/2 tsp ginger
red pepper flakes (if desired, i usually just sprinkle a couple in)
stir fry vegetables
1 package top ramen noodles cooked (without the seasoning, I used to buy the actual chow mein noodles, but they are like $3 for a small package. So one day when I didn't have any on hand I used top ramen noodles and they worked great, plus I like the price of them much better)

Mix together soy sauce, honey, ginger and red pepper flakes. Take half of the sauce and pour it into a bowl with the chicken breast. Let it marinate for 30 minutes or longer. Reserve the other half of the sauce.
In a hot pan, put 1 tsp oil. Cook the chicken until its done. Add in your stirfry vegetables (I use the frozen bag from costco and just throw in how ever much I think we'll eat, usually adding in some extra broccoli). Cover and let those cook until hot. Add in the cooked and drained top ramen noodles as well as the reserved sauce. Let the noodles and sauce heat up and its ready to serve. We eat it over white rice. Tasty!

Lion House Rolls- made them on Sunday

I made these on Sunday and they were tasty. I made them as written except instead of the dry instant milk and water, I used 2 cups of warm milk (110-115 deg). They turned out pretty good. I thought that they needed a touch more flavor (maybe a little more sugar and salt) but the texture was perfect! They were slightly dense but still so fluffy and airy. So tasty with the potato soup we had!

Found this recipe here. Can't wait to try it. I LOVE their rolls

Ingredients:

• 2 cups warm water (110-115 degrees)
• 2/3 cup nonfat dry milk (instant)
• 2 Tb. dry yeast
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1/3 cup shortening (butter or margarine)
• 1 egg
• 5-5 1/2 cups flour, all purpose (bread flour can be used if you have it on hand)

Method:

In the large bowl of an electric mixer, combine the water and the milk powder and stir so the milk dissolves. Add the yeast to tthis mixture then the sugar, salt, shortening, egg and 2 cups of the flour. Mix on low speed of mixer until ingredients are wet, then turn to medium speed and mix for 2 minutes. Stop the mixer and add 2 more cups of flour then mix on low speed until the ingredients are wet, then turn mixer on medium speed and mix for 2 minutes. The dough will be getting stiff and you may need to remove the bowl from the mixer and mix in the remaining flour by hand. Add approximately 1/2 cup of flour and mix again. (This can be done by hand or mixer). The dough should be soft, not overly sticky, and not stiff. (It is not necessary to use the entire amount of flour). Scrape the dough off the sides of the bowl and pour approximately on tablespoon of vegetable oil all around the sides of the bowl. Turn the dough over in the bowl so it is covered with the oil. (This helps prevent the dough from drying out.) Cover with plastic and allow to rise in a warm place until double in size. Sprinkle a cutting board or counter with flour and put the dough on the flour. It is now ready to roll out and cut into desired shape and size of rolls. Place on greased (or parchment lined) baking pans. Let rise in a warm place until the rolls are double in size (approx. 1-1 1/2 hours). Bake in a 375-degree oven for 15-20 minutes or until they are browned to your satisfaction. Brush with melted butter while hout. Yields 2 to 2 1/2 dozen rolls.

Can't wait to make this

I saw this

and can't wait to try them! I want to try using wheat though. We love chicken pita sandwiches. I had NO idea you could make your own pitas (I mean I figured you could, but who does that? Hopefully me soon).

Italian Sausage Pasta Revised

So I also made this again and made some revisions and it turned out even better!

1 package bow tie pasta (or whatever type you have on hand)
4 links of italian sausage, 2 with the casings removed
1 onion cut into quarters and then sliced
5 cloves garlic minced (yeah we like garlic)
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, drained slightly
2 tablespoons italian seasoning
1 1/2 cups of milk, separated
2 tablespoons cornstarch

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook pasta until al dente. Drain.
2. Heat a large deep skillet. Cook the two whole sausages until done. Take them out and slice and put in the 2 other sausages with the casings removed. Break them up into small pieces. Cook until brown. Add back in the sliced sausage and onions and garlic. Cook until the sausage is all golden brown and crunchy, and the onions and garlic are soft.
3. Add in the diced tomatoes, 1 1/4 cups of milk, and 2 tablespoons of italian seasoning. Let come up to a boil. Meanwhile, take the remaining 1/4 cup of milk and mix in 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. Stir into the pot and turn down the heat to a simmer. Let cook for about 8-10 minutes to let all the seasonings come together. 4. Stir in pasta. Let simmer all together for a few minutes. Serve and enjoy.

Quesadilla casserole Revised

I made this recipe last night but made some revisions that we really liked. Heres the new version.

1 lb ground beef
3 tablespoons taco seasoning, about 1 packet (I buy this at Costco because it is SO much cheaper than buying individual packets at the grocery store.
1 onion, diced into medium sized pieces
1 can (14.5 oz) tomato sauce
1/4 cup salsa
1 can black beans (didn't use it last night, but definitely want to- didn't have any)
1 cup frozen corn
2 cups of cooked white rice
8 flour tortillas
3 cups shredded cheese

1. Brown ground beef and onions with taco seasoning. Drain well.
2. Add in tomato sauce, salsa, black beans, and frozen corn. Let come to a boil and get nice and hot. Taste it now and see if it needs more seasoning, if so add some in. Stir in cooked white rice.
3. Take 1/2 cup of sauce, and put it into a greased 9 x 13 pan and spread around. Lay down 3 tortillas. Put half of the beef mixture on top. Then layer with cheese. Lay down 3 more tortillas and layer beef and cheese. Top with 2 tortillas and layer with more cheese. Bake in preheated 350 deg oven for about 15 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Homemade Corndogs

This is a delicious homemade corndog recipe. It is the perfect amount for 6 regular sized corndogs.

3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup flour
dash of salt
dash of pepper
3 tablespoons white sugar (next time I want to try honey for a richer sweetness)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
6 hotdogs
3 wooden skewers cut in half
vegetable oil for frying

1. Mix together all the dry ingredients. Add liquid ingredients and mix well. Let stand for 5-10 minutes.
2. Dry off the hot dogs very well. They need to be perfectly dry so the batter sticks.
3. Heat oil on medium-high heat. You don't want it too hot otherwise they will brown too quickly and not be done on the inside. Put the skewers into the hot dogs (I had the wooden grilling skewers and since they are so long I cut them in half). Dip the hot dogs into the batter. You will probably need to spoon it on as well since it is so thick.
4. Fry for about 3-4 minutes until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.