We can make sandwiches....

That's an inside joke. With someone who doesn't even read this blog actually. Gosh, how rude of me. Sorry, my mind takes me where it takes me, and I can't be responsible if we get lost on the way. Let me try and get it back on the road. Last night I made Meatball Subs for dinner. I have never even had a meatball sandwich before. They have always been appealing to me, but I've never had the opportunity presented to get one. I know, I coulda just ordered one up any of the hundreds of times I've been to Subway, but I wouldn't even know how to ask for one, since I don't know what makes a good one. But I took it upon myself to introduce this sandwich into my life. We hit it off! This sub was delicious. Granted, I'd never had one before so who am I to know, but I thought it was awesome. And when the hubster got home and I made him his, he concurred. And that's coming from someone who has eaten a few of them before. I aimed to make a less messy version, for the obvious reason of being less messy. This was a truly easy thing to make, especially since it's a leftovers meal. That's right, remember those meatballs I made a few weeks ago? Well, I just popped those leftovers from freezer to fridge the night before, and fridge to the oven that evening. I served the sandwiches with a salad on the side. I just kind of threw together the few vegetables I had left in the fridge- broccoli, carrots, and onion- with spinach and spring mix.

Meatball Subs
Made by me; Serves 2
10 meatballs
1 small can Hunt's basil, garlic, and oregano tomato sauce
Red pepper flakes
Parmesan cheese
Shredded Mozzarella cheese
2 wheat hoagie/sub sandwich rolls

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place meatballs on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes.
• While meatballs are in the oven heat the tomato sauce in a small sauce pan over low heat. Flavor sauce with sprinkling of Parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes, to taste.
• Remove meatballs from oven, and place them in the sauce to coat. Allow to sit for a minute or two, while you prepare the rolls. Cut the rolls horizontally, stopping short of cutting all the way through. Pull out some of the soft innards on the top and bottom, to create a nest for your meatballs.
• Place 5 meatballs in the recess of the bottom portion of the roll. Spoon as much sauce as you'd like over the meatballs and top with Mozzarella.

My notes: When the meatballs come out of the oven, I usually pick each one up and move it to a clean spot on the parchment, to help drain off some of the fat that will have pooled around them while baking. Some people might like more Parmesan cheese, but I found that since I used it in the meatballs, flavoring the sauce with a bit carried the flavor through nicely.

And Lindsey- I'm totally gonna work on that entry for you, just wanna do some research first.

All I Care about is Love....

I'm listening to the original cast soundtrack for Chicago on vinyl. We got a turntable and a ton of awesome albums from Josh's aunt and uncle today. I'm in seventh heaven I tells ya. Finally an album I can do the Charleston to! Speaking of seventh heaven, there's nothing I like better than an easy night's dinner. And this dinner was pretty darn easy since it was comprised of leftovers topped with a few additional ingredients. And, side note, I'm also in a great mood because I've been getting comments from some bloggers that I think are fab! So thanks to everyone whose been stopping by my page lately. I sure do appreciate it! Well, let's get to the point then, so I don't scare off any of the new readers, ha. This dinner was made from the remnants of the chili I posted about last week. Obviously I didn't just leave this chili sitting in my fridge for a week, so if like me, you decide to freeze your leftover chili, just make sure to thaw in advance for this recipe.

Cheesy Hash-Brown Bake
Recipe from Everyday Food; Serves 4
4 cups reserved 30-Minute Chili
1 16 oz. fresh or frozen shredded hash-brown potatoes, thawed if frozen
4 oz. cheddar cheese, shredded (1 cup)
1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro
coarse salt and ground pepper

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees, with rack set in upper third. Divide chili among four individual baking dishes (10 to 12 oz. each). Set aside.
• Place potatoes in a double layer of potatoes; squeeze out as much liquid as possible.
• in a large bowl, combine potatoes, cheese, and cilantro; season with salt and pepper. Scatter potato mixture over chili. Place baking dishes on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until potatoes are golden brown and chili is bubbling, 20 to 25 minutes. Serve.

My notes: I don't own any small baking dishes as described above, so I just went the casserole route. Everything turned out pretty much as described, just larger. The recipe has directions for cooking as one dish, but since my chili and potatoes actually didn't thaw enough before I started I had to heat them some prior to preparing the dish, allowing me to cook for a shorter time. If you are making it with unfrozen leftovers it suggest cooking for 40 to 45 minutes. Also, I didn't have any cilantro, and didn't get a chance to stop by the store for any, so ours had none. I love cilantro though, so I can only imagine this would turn out even better with it. We both liked this, although there was still the lingering issue of too much cinnamon in the chili. That aside I will definitely repeat this recipe, once I've tweaked the chili to my liking.