Sweet and Spicy Pulled Pork with Honey Jalapeno Lime Slaw on a Grilled Onion Bun

I've always been told that it's best to leave the crock pot lid on at all times when cooking, so as not to let all the heat escape. Well....it's confession time! I think I l lifted the lid at least 5 times to taste this for quality control because I couldn't resist the smell of it! Of course I waited until after the pork was cooked through, pulled and back in the sauce before the temptation overwhelmed me. I put this in my crock pot when I left for work this morning and oh the joy of coming home to a BBQ pulled pork smell in my house after work, was heavenly. I was so excited to try these tonight for dinner that I actually overloaded my sandwich and was forced to use a fork to eat it, because it was too hard to pick up. But trust me, even with a fork...this sandwich was incredible. There are so  many wonderful tastes and textures that come together to create a perfect blend. Sweet, spicy, crunchy, smooth...just to name a few. So if you are looking for a quick and tasty crock pot meal to throw together, this just might be the right one for you!

For the Pulled Pork:

 

1 medium onion, chopped

1 cup fresh or frozen mixed berries ( I used blueberries and raspberries) *Original recipe calls for cherries

1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, chopped

1 tablespoon adobo sauce (from the can of chipotle peppers)

1 bottle BBQ sauce (I used Sweet Baby Rays)

3 lb pork shoulder

2 tsps paprika

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

 

For the Slaw:

 

Juice of 1 lime

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 tsp honey

1 jalapeno, seeded and minced

1 (10 oz) bag cole slaw mix

1/3 cup cilantro, chopped

1/2 tsp cumin

Salt and pepper, to taste

 

Directions

Combine first 4 Pulled Pork ingredients in the bottom of the crock pot. Mix in 1/2 of the BBQ sauce.
Season the pork shoulder with smoked paprika, salt, and pepper and place on top of the BBQ sauce mixture. Pour the remaining BBQ sauce on top.
Cook on low for about 6-7 hours, or until the pork is tender and can be pulled apart with forks.
Remove the pork, pull it (use two forks to shred it up), and return it to the crock pot.
Mix everything together in the crock pot and cook on low for an additional hour.
As the pork cooks, prepare the slaw by mixing together all of the ingredients. Cover until ready to serve.
Grill the onion buns by placing a small amount of olive oil in a large skillet. Heat on high. Place the buns (inside down) into the olive oil and grill until golden on the inside. 
When the pork is done, serve warm with slaw on fresh grilled onion buns.




Recipe adapted from: http://blog.hostthetoast.com/sweet-and-spicy-pulled-pork-with-honey-jalapeno-lime-slaw/

Spaghetti and Meatballs (Homemade Sauce and Meatballs)

For years, I used to buy jarred spaghetti sauce. I'm not really sure why except that convenience won out over taste. A long while back, I stumbled onto a new spaghetti sauce recipe on Pinterest. After tweaking it quite a bit to suit our families taste, I am so  happy with the results. This is super easy, super quick and trust me, it puts any jarred sauce to shame! I'm ashamed that I ever bought jarred sauce, after realizing how quick and easy it is to whip up your own. I also don't know why I have never posted the recipe before this. I guess I just figured  everyone makes  their own sauce. Well....after having a conversation with a friend about how truly easy it is to make your own sauce, she asked me to please post the recipe! So here it is....enjoy!

Recipe adapted from: 
http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Di-Palos-Spaghetti-and-Meatballs?cmpid=pin

For the spaghetti sauce:
1/4 cup olive oil
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
1 Tbsp dried basil
2 (28 oz) cans crushed tomatoes
Salt/Pepper to taste
1/4 cup sugar (you can use less if you like your spaghetti sauce less sweet)

For the meatballs:
10 oz hot Italian sausage
10 oz ground beef
1/3 plus 1/8 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/3 cup ricotta cheese
3/8 cup (1/4 cup plus 1/8 cup) grated fresh parmesan cheese
3/4 cup Italian breadcrumbs
3 eggs, slightly beaten
Salt/Pepper to taste

To make the sauce:
Heat 2 Tbsp of the olive oil and 3 cloves of the garlic in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Add Italian seasoning, basil, tomatoes,  salt and pepper. Cook for 30 min. Add the sugar and cook another 30 minutes.

To make the meatballs:
While the sauce is cooking, mix the remaining 2 cloves of chopped garlic, Italian sausage, ground beef, mozzarella cheese, ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, breadcrumbs, eggs, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Form into 8 (2 1/2 inch) meatballs.
Heat remaining oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 4 meatballs to the oil. Cook until they are browned on all sides. This takes about 10 minutes and you must turn the meatball to a new side about every 2 minutes. Transfer the browned meatballs to a plate. Repeat these steps with the last 4 meatballs.
When all 8 meatballs have been browned and are on the plate, transfer all the browned meatballs to the spaghetti sauce. Cover each meatball with sauce and cook for 30 minutes, until all the meatballs are cooked through. Serve meatballs and sauce over spaghetti.

Sausage Enchilada Stuffed Zucchini

Sometimes I just sit back and wonder why I do things like this to myself? What did I do you ask? Well I made these wonderful stuffed zucchini and I can't even enjoy them! *sigh*
I am sure shootin positive they don't qualify as a healthy whole food that my nutrition doctor would be excited about me eating. They are generally healthy, but since I am on a whole foods only program, with no dairy, the cheese and a few other ingredients disqualified these for me!

As the hubby was giving them the "thumbs up" at dinner, I couldn't help myself. I got a fork and tasted the smallest amount I could place on the end of the fork. Trust me it was microscopic, but it was enough for me to know that they tasted wonderful. So now I feel like I can give you a tried and true opinion. So gather up the ingredients, put on that old apron that's gathering dust and get cooking!

P.S. Don't be like me and forget to add the chopped green onion to the top after it's finished.  I found them sitting on my countertop after we had already cut into them.

Recipe adapted from: http://www.skinnytaste.com/2012/08/chicken-enchilada-stuffed-zucchini-boats.html

For  the sauce:

1 tsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 chipotle chilis, chopped (canned chipotle chili) (use only 1 tsp if you don't like spicy food)
1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
2/3 cup chicken broth
salt/pepper to taste

For the Zucchini:

4 zucchini
1 tsp canola oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup red bell pepper, chopped
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
8-12 oz pork sausage, cooked(I used pork green chili sausage from Sprouts market)
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp chili powder
3 Tbsp chicken broth
1 Tbsp tomato paste
salt/pepper to taste

For  topping:

1 cup cheddar cheese, grated (you can substitute your favorite...mozzarella, jack, pepper jack etc)
 1 (3.8 oz) can sliced olives, drained

For garnish:

Chopped cilantro
Green onions



In a medium saucepan, saute the garlic in the olive oil for about 2 minutes. Add the chipotle chilis, tomato sauce, chili powder, cumin, chicken broth, salt and pepper. . Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 5- 10 minutes. Adjust the salt and pepper to suit your taste. Set the sauce aside until later.

Preheat oven to 400 °. Cut zucchini in half lengthwise and use a spoon or melon baller to scoop out the flesh, leaving about a 1/4 inch thickness to the zucchini boat. Chop the scooped out flesh of the zucchini into small pieces and set aside.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Drop the zucchini boats into the boiling water and cook for 1 minute, then immediately remove from the water to stop the cooking process. Set aside.

In a large skillet, heat the canola oil and add the onion, garlic and red bell pepper. Cook on medium heat for about 3 minutes. Ad chopped zucchini and cilantro and season with salt and pepper. Cook about 4 minutes then add the cooked sausage, cumin, Italian seasoning, chili powder, chicken broth, and tomato paste. Cook for 3 more minutes. Taste and adjust salt and pepper as needed.

Place 1/4 cup enchilada sauce on the bottom of a 13x9 baking dish that has been sprayed with Pam. Place zucchini halves in the dish, cut side up. Fill each zucchini boat with 1/3 cup sausage mixture. If there is extra, just scoop it on in to any that look like they could use some extra. Push the mixture down into the zucchini with the back of your spoon. 

Pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the zucchini boats. Top with 1 cup grated cheese and sliced olives. Cover with foil and bake at 400 ° for 35 minutes. Top with chopped cilantro and sliced green onions.

Turkey and Italian Sausage Meatballs

♫ When the moon hits the sky like a big pizza pie that's Amore ♫
Sorry...... I just felt so Italian after making and serving these meatballs that I had to break out in song. Ok, Ok, I will stop singing. I promise!
These meatballs were great served with spaghetti sauce and a piping hot plate of pasta. I kept commenting while I was eating them, that they were ssssoooo  good and even after I was about to self combust from enjoying way too many, I was still commenting on how great they tasted.
So go make these and see for yourself how delicious they are. Then say to yourself "thats uh one uh wonderful meata balla"!!!

*Serve with your favorite spaghetti sauce. This is a home made sauce I have been making for years and if I get some extra time, I will sit back down here and type out the recipe.

**Recipe adapted from:  Mario Batali's Meatballs

2 Cup panko bread crumbs
1 lb ground turkey
4 oz prosciutto, diced
16 oz sweet Italian sausage (casings removed)
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup fresh grated Parmesan Cheese
1/8 cup Fresh grated Romano cheese
1/2 cup Italian parsley, chopped
2 dashes of nutmeg
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt/Pepper to taste
2 cups tomato sauce
1 1/2 -2 cups milk




Soak the bread crumbs in water to cover for 5 minutes. Squeeze out the excess water.In a large bowl, combine the turkey, prosciutto, sausage, bread crumbs, eggs, milk, Romano Cheese, Parmigian Cheese, Italian parsley, nutmeg, and olive oil and mix very gently with your hands. Season with salt and pepper. Form the mixture into 1-inch balls. Place the balls on a baking sheet, cover, and refrigerate for 1 hour to allow the flavors to blend. Place the meatballs in your favorite spaghetti sauce and simmer them over a low-med fire for 30 minutes or until done.

Lasagna Cups

My mom always taught me not to play with my food, but making this version of lasagna in a cup felt kind of like playing with my food. Sssshhhh don't tell my mom ;)
This wasn't necessarily as easy as making regular lasagna in a pan, but it also makes for great single servings to store in the freezer for work lunches. These would be great to make for a party, or for when a pot luck at work calls for more "single serve" style food.

*Makes 11 lasagna cups

Ingredients:
for the sauce-
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 large onion
1/4 lb lean ground beef, cooked and drained
1/4 lb hot italian sausage, cooked and crumbled
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1 small zucchini, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-6 oz. can tomato paste
1-8 oz. can tomato sauce ( plus 1/2 can water)
14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon dried basil
1/2 tablespoon dried oregano
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon sugar
salt & pepper to taste


for the cheese filling-
1-10 oz. tub Philadelphia Italian Herb & Cheese Cooking Cream
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese,
3/4 pound mozzarella cheese, grated & divided
1/3 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 egg





1 box lasagna noodles ( I use whole wheat)


Parmesan cheese for the top along with the extra mozzarella

For the sauce- heat olive oil over medium heat and saute onions, pepper, zucchini and garlic for about 5 minutes. Stir in cooked ground beef and tomato paste and mix together. Stir in remaining sauce ingredients and bring to simmer. Reduce heat to low and cook 30 minutes.

For the cheese filling- stir all ingredients together excluding half of the grated mozzarella cheese. Set aside.

For the pasta- Bring large pot of salted water to boil. Cook pasta sheets 2 minutes less than package directions and drain.Rinse with cold water and place pasta on greased baking sheet until you are ready to put together the lasagna cups.

For assembly- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut out 11 large squares of parchment paper. Line 11 jumbo muffin tins with the squares. They won't stay down on their own, but don't fret, the pasta will help "weigh them down" so they will stay. Line the edges of the muffin tins with 1 lasagna noodle.  The lasagna noodle will overlap itself about 2 inches. Spoon about 1/2- 1 tablespoon of sauce into the bottom of each cup into the center of the noodle lined muffin tin holes.  Next cut the rest of the noodles into quarters and press one of these pieces of pasta into the bottom of each cup,  on top of the sauce. Top the noodle square you just placed at the bottom with a generous tablespoon of sauce. Then place a generous tablespoon of cheese filling on top of the sauce.  Repeat this pasta-sauce-cheese layering one more time being sure to press out any air bubbles. Top these lasagna cups off with a 3rd piece of pasta, more sauce and the remaining mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle parmesan cheese all over the top of the mozzarella. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Italian Kabobs

When it's 104 degrees outside, what do you do for dinner? You cook without cooking haha! I will never think it possible to dislike cooking, but I can tell you that when it's this hot, the thought of standing over a hot stove, makes my skin crawl. So tonight's dinner came from that skin crawling dislike of heating up even the stove top during this weather. You could substitute any meat's, cheeses or veges that you like, but I just decided to stick with the italian theme.
*My daughter drizzled Italian dressing over hers which made for a nice taste addition!

Wooden Skewers
Genoa Salami
Pepperoni slices
Marinated Artichoke hearts
Fresh Mozzarella cheese
Tomato chunks
Green olives

Thread your favorite meat's cheeses, olives etc onto the skewer!

Sausage, Rice and Vege Mix

Today our air conditioning went KAPOOT! It's over 100 degrees outside and it's now sweltering inside. Thank the Lord for ceiling fans. Now I just have to figure out how to install one in my kitchen, so it's not so hot while I'm cooking. I'm thinking pizza delivery just might work out fine this week! ;)
This was a very simple, no muss, no fuss kind of meal. I prepared it earlier in the day and then just quickly heated it up tonight when we were ready to eat.

 Then I made a nice Caprese salad to go on the side. It  was amazing considering that the tomatoes and the basil were picked fresh from my backyard garden today. Now I just need to learn how to make mozzarella. ;)

For the Sausage dinner:

• 8 ounces low-fat kielbasa, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 medium onions, finely chopped
• 2 medium zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch dice
• 1 large red bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 2 cups cooked brown rice
• 1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed
• 1/2 cup water
• Hot sauce, such as Tabasco, to taste

1. Cook kielbasa in a large nonstick skillet over high heat, turning from time to time, until lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
2. Add oil to the pan. Add onions, zucchini, bell pepper, jalapenos, garlic, cumin, oregano and salt; cook, stirring, until the onions are tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in rice, beans and water; cook, stirring, until heated through, about 4 minutes. Add the reserved kielbasa and season with hot sauce. Serve hot.

For Caprese Salad:

Slice fresh tomatoes and place a slice of fresh mozzarella on the top of each tomato slice. Top with fresh basil. Drizzle olive oil over it and season with salt and pepper.

Pork Ribs with Tomatillo Sauce

I love being able to walk across the street and have my friend teach me how to cook authentic Mexican food. This is one her recipes and it's ssssoooo good!  It's a little spicy, but that's how I like my food. You will need to have the butcher at the local grocery store, cut the ribs into shorter pieces for you. Then when you get it home, you can cut it in between the bones to make a lot of pieces.

2 lbs pork spare ribs, cut into small sections
1 1/2 cups oil (canola or vege)
salt to taste
5-7 dry chili arbol (small dried red chilies)
2 cloves garlic, whole
1 section of an onion, not cut (approx. 1/4 of a small- med onion)
2 lbs tomatillos, peeled and rinsed
3/4 cup water

Put ribs into a very large skillet or stock pot. Cover with water. Add  the oil and lots of salt. Boil uncovered on high for 1 1/2 - 2 hours on med-high. Stir occasionally. ( Don't add more water. )        Let water boil down and the meat should turn brown.
While the ribs are cooking, make your salsa by  roasting (in a dry skillet with no water or oil) the chili arbol, garlic and onion. Set aside. In the same skillet, (with no water or oil) roast the tomatillos on high for 2 minutes then cover them and turn to medium to roast the tomatillos for 15 more minutes. When they are finished roasting, pour the 3/4 cup water on top of them. Place the tomatillos with the water, and the chili arbol mixture into the blender. Blend until thoroughly mixed.
Remove the meat from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside. Now take a ladle and remove as much of the oil from the top of the water, that the meat cooked in, as you can. Discard the oil. Put the meat back into the pan after the oil is removed. Add the blended salsa to the meat and stir. Taste for salt and add more if needed. Cook over medium heat for 15 minutes.

Grilled French Ham and Cheese

My creative cooking juices were just not flowing today. That's very unusual, but it does happen. I have to admit that I don't like ham at all. I took a couple bites of this sandwich and passed it happily along to John. That's not to say it didn't taste good though. If you like ham, I'm sure you would like this sandwich. It's really easy to make and hardly takes any time at all.

French Bread
Ham Slices
Gruyere Cheese Slices
Butter
2 Eggs
1 Tbsp water
Salt
Pepper

Butter 2 slices of french bread on one side. On the non buttered side of one slice, place ham and slices of cheese. You can use as much or as little as you like. Place the other buttered piece of bread (buttered size out) on the top of the sandwich. In a medium bowl, mix two eggs with water, salt and pepper. Dip the sandwich into the egg mixture and press in a panini press or cook in a skillet for 5 minutes, turning halfway through the cooking process.

Pork Chops Ole

Tonight called for a very easy dinner since I had a mind boggling head ache all day. This dinner is super easy to make and it takes very little preparation work. I found this recipe in a magazine years ago and have been making it ever since.

Pork Chops Ole Recipe

15 90 105

6 pork loin chops (1/2 inch thick)
2 tablespoons canola oil
Seasoned salt and pepper to taste
3/4 cup uncooked long grain rice
1-1/2 cups water
1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
1/2 envelope taco seasoning (2 tablespoons)
1 medium green pepper, chopped
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

In a large skillet, brown pork chops in oil. Sprinkle with seasoned salt and pepper. Meanwhile, in a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish, combine rice, water, tomato sauce and taco seasoning; mix well. Arrange chops over rice; top with green pepper. Cover and bake at 350° for 1-1/2 hours. Uncover and sprinkle with cheese; return to the oven until cheese is melted. .

Italian Panini

After a wonderful day spent with John visiting some friends, grocery shopping together, and running errands, I decided that a quick, but hearty panini was in order for dinner. John loved this one and it was so simple to make. I love that I now can go straight into my backyard and pick fresh basil for this sandwich. Now if only my tomatoes would grow faster, so I could use those also!!! Sorry this picture is so awful, John was hungry and I took this shot before I put the sandwich back on the grill.

Ciabatta Bread
Genoa Salami
Hard Salami
Pepperoni
Cappicola Ham
Tomato slices
Fresh Basil
Mozzarella cheese
Olive oil

Layer meats, cheeses, basil and tomatoes on the bread. Drizzle olive oil on your panini press. ( If you don't have a panini press, you can use a griddle or skillet, but you will need to turn the sandwich over halfway through cooking.) Place the sandwich on the hot press and grill until cheese is melted and meat is heated through.

Quinoa Stuffed Poblano Peppers

I have been wanting to try some more recipes with Quinoa for awhile now. I have used it many times, but usually in the same African soup recipe I make. Tonight I tried something really different with it and it turned out really great. Quinoa is such a healthy grain and is very versatile in recipes. You can definitely play around with the spices in the recipe and use whatever you like that you think would suit your tastes.

  

1 sweet potato diced into cubes

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

2 tbsp olive oil

6 Poblano peppers, stems removed, seeds removed and cut int half lengthwise

1 cup Quinoa, rinsed and drained

6 oz chorizo

1 onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

pepper jack cheese, grated

Heat oven to 400. Toss the sweet potato cubes with the 1 Tbsp of the oil, salt, pepper and cumin. Line a cookie sheet with foil and place the potato cubes onto the foil. Bake in 400 degree oven for approx. 15 minutes or until browned on the outside edges. Set aside.
Bring 1 1/4 cups water to a boil. Stir in the rinsed quinoa. Cover and cook on low for 15 minutes until water is all absorbed. Set aside.

Heat last Tbsp of oil in a skillet. Cook chorizo and the onion for about 8 minutes. Add garlic and cook for another minute or two. Stir in the quinoa and the sweet potato cubes.

Brush the poblano halves with oil, inside and out. Season with salt and pepper. Stuff the quinoa filling into each pepper half. Top with shredded cheese. Place the stuffed poblanos onto a cookie sheet. Bake for 30 minutes.

Slow Cooked Carnitas

What do you get when you cross a crock pot with a pork shoulder roast and some other great ingredients? You get a fabulous dinner. I forgot to lay out my roast yesterday, so this morning I tossed a completely frozen solid hunk of pork into my crock pot along with all the other ingredients, said a prayer and hoped that it would turn out good. Well...it really did!
My sister was here visiting from Oregon. My mom, daughter and grand daughter were here also. We did a few taste tests along the way, and I snuck in a few extra tastes when nobody was looking haha. I'm glad to report there was still some left to make dinner out of ;)

If you really like crock pot cooking (which I only attempt once or twice a year) this recipe is a winner!

I got this wonderful recipe from my taste of home magazine. This magazine always has great recipes in it.

1 boneless pork shoulder roast (3-4 lbs)
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 1/2 cups cilantro, chopped
1 cup salsa
1 cup chicken broth (or the recipe says you can use 1/2 chicken broth and half tequilla)
8 oz. chopped green chilies

Place the meat in the crock pot. Place all ingredients into the crock pot and cook until tender. 6-8 hours. Shred the meat and put it back in the crock pot to heat through again. Serve with flour tortillas and any extras you might want. We use avocados, tomatoes and red onion.

Baked Potato Soup

Who doesn't love home made soup on cold days like this? John is at the shooting range with friends and I am at home in the cozy, warm house making soup. I tried a new version of potato soup tonight. I used to make a family recipe, which I love the taste of, but I have never  been a fan of the thin consistency. This recipe is definitely a thick potato soup that reminds you of eating a big stuffed baked potato. I am looking forward to everyone coming home from the shooting range so we can finally eat! After the dinner is leftover chocolate peppermint ice cream cake. Yummy!

*Sorry if this picture doesn't do it much justice. John has my camera at the shooting range and I had to use my phone camera.


Ingredients:
1 pkg bacon
2/3 cup butter
7 cups milk
8 small- medium or 4 ex large potatoes (baked, peeled and cubed)
1 whole stalk green onions
2 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper


Directions:
Fry bacon till crisp. Drain, crumble and set aside.
In a large soup pot, melt the butter over med-high heat. Whisk in flour until smooth. Gradually add milk, whisking constantly while adding and whisk until smooth and a little thickened. Stir in potatoes, half the green onions. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently.
Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Mix in 3/4 of the bacon,  1 1/4 cups of the cheese, sour cream and salt and pepper. Continue to cook, stirring frequently until cheese is melted.
Serve with the extra bacon, cheese and green onions garnished on the top of the soup.

Italian Stromboli

Mi piace cucinare!! ( I love to cook), but you probably already guessed that by now. Have you ever thought that cooking Italian food required too many skills and too much time? Not Stromboli. I got this recipe from a friend at a Bible Study years ago. If you want to make an extremely easy Italian meal for dinner....try this recipe for a quick and easy Italian dinner. This requires almost no cooking skills. If you like pizza, you should love this!! If you try it, let me know what you think!

1 tube refrigerated pizza dough
2 Tbsp flour
24 slices pepperoni (the large sliced that the deli slices for you at the grocery store)
6 slices provolone (also from the deli, sliced for you)
6 slices cappicola (Italian hot ham, also sliced for you at the deli)
8 slices Genoa Salami
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp sesame seeds
2 tsp Italian seasoning blend
2 Tbsp grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp garlic powder

Preheat oven to 400. Break open the tube of pizza dough and remove it from container. Dust your hands lightly with flour. Coat work surface with a dusting of flour and place dough on work surface.. Stretch dough out, gently, spreading out the rectangle shape it has been formed into already. Cut the dough into four equal pieces by cutting the dough in half and then in half the other direction. Cover each piece of dough with 6 slices of pepperoni, 1 1/2 slices cheese, 1 1/2 slices cappicola ham, and 2 slices of Genoa Salami. Roll each piece at an angle from corner to corner, making a long roll that is thicker in the middle and thinner on each end.
In a bowl, mix together sesame seeds, Italian seasoning, Parmesan or Romano Cheese,  red pepper flakes and garlic powder.
Brush each roll lightly with olive oil. Sprinkle seed mixture onto the top of each roll. Gently push the seed mixture onto roll so it will stick. Bake until evenly golden, 12-14 minutes. Serve warm.

Polsa Kielbasa

Most of the time I am posting my fancy pictures of dinners and desserts that I make. Today's posting is definitely NOT fancy! I had a very busy day and only had time to make a quick and easy dinner. I know you are probably looking at this picture and thinking "oh my goodness that is not coke I see with meat is it?" Yes, it sure is!!

My sister Janet told me about this recipe years ago. I'm not sure if she thought it up or if someone gave it to her, but when she told me about it I thought she was crazy! She made it for me and asked me to try it. I loved it. I have since, over the years, made this many times for my family. Whenever I tell people about it they think I'm nuts, but then they try it and love it. The sweetness of the coke blends perfectly with the hint of spice in the Polsa Kielbasa. The Coca Cola caramelizes as it cooks, and coats the outside of the meat.

All you have to do is cut a piece of Polsa Kielbasa into bite size rounds. Place the cut up sausage into a skillet. Pour one 12 oz can of Coca Cola Classic (it has to be reg. coke...you cannot use diet and Coca Cola is the best for it's taste) over the cut up sausage. Turn fire onto high. Cook for approx. 25-50 min, (stirring every now and then), to fully caramelize the Coke. The liquid will evaporate off and you will see the coca cola thicken up. Stir by scraping the caramelized soda off the bottom of the skillet. Enjoy!!!