Ultimate Manwich

Let me just say I did not take the above photo. I wish I took the photo, as it's absolutely gorgeous, but nope, this photo is from Pioneer Woman. I didn't get a good pic of the finished good, so I wanted you to see this photo so you could see how tasty this manwich is!

Pioneer Woman calls this Marlboro Man Sandwich, as it's her husband's (aka Marlboro Man) favorte sandwich. I'm going to call it Manwich, as I think any man in his right mind would love this sandwich. Heck, I loved this sandwich! Here's my slightly adapted recipe:

Ingredients (serving size 2):

• 3 cube steaks
• 2 tablespoons butter
• salt and pepper
• garlic
• 1/2 onion
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1/4 cup sliced mushrooms
• 1/2 bottle beer
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 4 dashes Tobasco
• 2 hamburger or deli rolls
• 2 slices provolone cheese

Slice the cube steak in horizontal strips going against the grain. Season generously with salt and pepper.Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large skillet over high heat. Once melted, brown the strips of cube steak until done. A couple minutes per side should do it.
While that's sizzling away, slice the bell pepper into rings. Slice the onion up as well; not too skinny! Now the mushrooms. Feel free to use however many you want. Danny's the only mushroom eater in this house, so I just did a small handfull for him.
Once the cube steak is done, remove and let cool on a separate plate. With the pan still hot, toss in the onion and bell pepper. Throw in some chopped garlic as well. You can never go wrong with garlic.
Cook for a few minutes until done, and then remove and sit aside.
Back to the same skillet. Add 1 tablespoon butter and throw in those sliced mushrooms. Cook them for a few minutes and then pour in 1/2 a bottle of beer. Any 'ol kind will work.

Add back in the cooked meat and onion/bell pepper to the skillet. Thrown in 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce and 4 dashes Tobasco. Stir this around for a few minutes to heat the meat and veggies back up, and for everything to have a chance to soak in that flavor.

While that's going on, toast your buns in a separate skillet.

Time to assemble! Place a big spoonful of this skillet medley on the bottom bun.

Top with cheese, and serve and enjoy! Danny went wild over this. He's starting a petition to get it added to the regular rotation. I think I'll give in :)

S'more Brownies please!

This recipe (if you can call it that), came about when my husband informed me he volunteered us to bring dessert to a get-together with the neighbors. On most occasions, I love bringing dessert! In fact, I relish in it. It gives me an excuse to make something terribly unhealthy that I normally don't do for just Danny and I. But when it's 11:00pm the night before and I have no idea what I'm going to make, or should I say what I can make without a trip to the grocery store, I'm not so much relishing in it anymore. When I inform Danny I'm not sure what to make and ask if he has any suggestions, he responds with - "we'll just pick up something at the store to take." The store?!? He's suggesting we buy a storebought item to take to a lunch? The thought alone drives me into my pantry to figure out what I can come up with. At 11pm. I found 1 lonely brownie mix sitting on the shelf, so I decided to spruce it up a bit with some other items I had on hand, and here's what I did. Smore Brownies.

Mix brownie mix according to directions on box. Pour half of it into your pan. Layer graham crackers and then Hershey milk chocolate bars. Sprinkle a handful of marshmallows on top.

Pour the remaining half of the brownie batter on top.

Bake according to directions on box mix.

Check out the insides of these babies! Ooey gooey goodness, that I'll definitely be making again.

Chicken Fried Rice

This dish is another staple in our house. I'd say we have it about once a week. It's Danny's absolute favorite dinner. I love it too, so it's a win-win. I also like to classify it as "healthy." See - there's another plus.

Ingredients:

• 1-2 chicken breast (depending on size)
• 2 cups rice
• Fried rice seasoning packet (see picture)
• 3 eggs
• 1 - 1 1/5 cups frozen vegetables (the corn /carrot /pea / green bean medley)
• Soy Sauce

First things first. Take a look at this fried rice seasoning packet, because this is what you need. My dear friend Kacie introduced me to this a couple years ago. It's sold in the grocery stores (even Walmart or Target) in the asian food section. For less than a buck. I think. I just throw a few packets in my buggy every time I'm at the store. I'm stocked up on them.

Cook your rice and then refrigerate it a while before making this. Not really sure why, I just remember Kacie telling me the rice has to be cold. Something about if the rice is hot when you go to make this, it will get soggy?? Since she's the discoverer of this great recipe, I just do as instructed. Don't ask questions. Just cook the rice in the afternoon or sometime before dinner, and let it hang out in the fridge until you're ready for it.

Heat up a drizzle of olive oil in the biggest skillet (or wok) you have. Season up your chicken (I use the same poultry seasoning as I always do) and cook until done. Use your judgement on how much chicken you want to cook. The chicken breast I happened to have were huge, so I just used one here. You can also throw in a handful of chopped onions if you wish. Cut the chicken into bite size pieces.

Once the chicken is done, add the frozen veggies.

I didn't have enough vegetable medley on hand that I like, soo....I improvised and threw in some brocoli.

Ignore the massive amounts of broccoli in the picture below. What can I say, I like alot of veggies in my fried rice. First time I used broccoli. Worked just as good, however I did go to Sam's Club the following day and buy the massive bag of frozen vegetable medley.

Once the veggies have cooked a few minutes, move everything over to one side of your skillet and crack the eggs on the other side. Scramble 'em up until they're done.

Take your chilled rice out of the fridge and add it in.

Add in the seasoning packet. I actually only use 1/2 a packet. I made this recipe many times before I started using just 1/2 the packet...I always loved it, but it seemed just a tad bit dry to me...no matter how much soy sauce or whatever else I used. One time I tried just sprinkling in about 1/2 the packet, and that fixed my problem!

Stir in the rice and seasoning well, and then add your soy sauce. I'm not quite sure how much - just add it to taste. I'd say it's probably around 1/4 cup or so. Just keep pouring it in and taste testing.

Now, just because they do this at the Hibachi restaurants, throw in a dab of butter for kicks.

Serve up and enjoy!