A Simple Sprinkle

Happy Monday!  Are y'all ready for Thanksgiving?! Or are you making last minute preparations and trips to the grocery store like me?!  I'm not hosting Thanksgiving at my house, but I can tell you I'll wait 'til the 9th hour to head to the grocery store and grab everything I need for my dinner contributions and then I'll be saying all sorts of unkind words about the insanity that is the market the day before a holiday.  Whew.  

In other news, this is my current view...

The boys have the week off, my baby niece arrives in the morning, and I'm going to stuff my face FULL on Thursday.  You could say I'm JOLLY as all get out :)

The house is officially decorated and I'm not ashamed to admit it. Since we spend quite a bit of time out of town over the holidays I love to decorate early so we have lots of time to enjoy it all.  Last year at this time I was hosting Christmas Week here on the blog.  I posted some of my favorite Christmas traditions, some Elf on the Shelf Ideas, Christmas decor, and a little Gift Guide.  Since my mind is focused on my new niece (arriving tomorrow morning!!!!) and Thanksgiving festivities, I'm going to hold off on Christmas Week and wait until Monday, 11/30, to start.  Here's how we'll kick off the holiday season...

If y'all are planning on doing some shopping this week, I'll be back with a few gift guides on Wednesday.  I think this is the first year I have lots of gifts already purchased.  The women in my families are all taken care of and Mr. Spouse will tackle all the men.  We haven't started shopping for the boys yet, but that won't take long.  We like to go by this gift rule:  something you want...something you need...something to play with...something to read.  Plus a few stocking stuffers and a traditional Christmas Eve gift from mom and dad.  Our families always do so much for the kids so Santa only delivers a few things.  Nothing crazy!  

In honor of my sister who is currently in her last few hours of pregnancy, I wanted to share with you the shower I helped host for her at the beginning of the month.  The theme was "Sprinkled with Love" because we were really just giving her a "sprinkle" and not a full blown invite everyone kind of baby shower.  She already has one little man so she didn't need anything huge, but since she's having a girl this go-round we did want to sprinkle her with a few girly things she doesn't have already :)

As you can see, the decor was super simple.  Her sprinkle was a week after Halloween and I didn't have time to decorate for Christmas, so I took down all the Halloween, kept all the white pumpkins out, and then strung together the pennants for baby Olivia's banner and hung it from the mantle. 

You can't really tell from the picture, but in the middle of the mantle is a set of 4 candle holders (from the Dollar Tree) filled with sprinkles and a tea light.  Couldn't have been easier!!!

Hobby Lobby carries the wooden pennants by letter.  I think they come in black and white, too.  They're $2 per pennant, but only a dollar if you wait 'til they're marked half off.  #winning

This is the table you see when you walk in the front door and we kept that as simple as possible.  I did a little chalk art and then set out a couple more sprinkle filled candle holders with tea lights.

Speaking of "sprinkle", here's what we did for the statement decor.  I made those very sad looking tissue paper clouds and the raindrops (using a pack of assorted pink cardstock).  I hung the clouds using fishing wire and did the same for the raindrops, too.  I wish I would've gotten a picture of the table completely decked out with food and whatnot, but this is as good as it gets.

I tried to mimic the same feel in the kitchen next to the drink station using balloons (for clouds) and those same raindrops.  I just taped the balloons and strands of raindrops to the curtain rod.  I'm not ashamed to tell you that there's still a rogue strand hanging from the curtain rod 3 weeks later.  #lazy

You might be able to see a chalkboard display in the picture above.  Here's how that looked up close

I just strung a few pieces of jute around the chalkboard and then attached mini clothespins to it.  I found those little kraft envelopes at Hobby Lobby and then cut the white pieces of cardstock to fit.  I set out a little pitcher of pens and labeled all of the envelopes with baby Olivia's name.  The idea behind this display was to have each of the guests write a little love note to Olivia...maybe a favorite scripture, a piece of advice, or whatever they wanted.  Then they put their notes in the kraft envelopes and hung them on the chalkboard using the clothespins.  After everyone had a chance to write a note to Olivia, my sister chose one note off the board, read it aloud, and then that guest got to take home a door prize (a chalkboard with the verse, "every good and perfect gift is from above" and a $5 Starbuck's gift card).  I wanted all the envelopes to have matching handwriting so that it would be fair :)

Speaking of gifts, here's what we gave to our guests....

These darling little test tubes full of "sprinkles" :)  We tried to find bath confetti, but dear Lord...it was an exercise in futility.  I couldn't find any anywhere.  Even Amazon failed me.  Instead we used the chiclets gum for the sprinkles and it was a perfect fit.  And let's be real...there probably wouldn't have been many party guests who would actually put the bath confetti to good use, so I think the gum was a great substitute!

Last but not least, we decorated my little buffet with a "Ready to POP!" bar.   I found the cutest little confetti sprinkled goody bags at Hobby Lobby and set those out so that our guests could fill their bags with whatever they wanted....popcorn with sprinkles, blow pops, ring pops, and bubble gum. 

This was a hit with the kids (are you surprised?! Ha!)

The shower/sprinkle was at 1 in the afternoon, so we served a light lunch and drinks.  Here's how the menu panned out...

DRINKS

Iced Tea

Pretty in Pink Party Punch

LUNCH

Aunt Gina's chicken salad served with crackers and croissants

Ham & Cheese Sliders

Sara's Favorite Pasta Salad

Fruit Salad

Chips and Spinach Dip

DESSERT

Cupcakes with Sprinkles

Donuts with Sprinkles

Sprinkle Cookies

Hard to believe that I'll be holding that sweet little sack of sugar by this time tomorrow!!!!  My heart is full!!!

Some Like It Hot

{Tap, tap, tap...is this thing on????}

For the 5 people who still read this blog, I decided to take a little break from blogging last week.  Something I think is absolutely necessary every now and again.

We spent some serious QT with some of our favorite friends in Dallas a couple of weekends ago and had the best time crossing some things off our family fun bucket list.  Steel City Pops, post-baseball fun at The Lot, drinks at the Truck Yard, dinner at Remedy, Moscow Mules at HG Sply Co., and more.  I even snuck in a trip to Snuffer's for cheese fries and lunch with one of my favorites.  It was the perfect visit "back home".

This girl is my best friend...my soul sister...my chicken soup for the soul.  When these mugs showed up on my IG feed a few weeks ago, I knew I had to get one for her!  We enjoyed our weekend coffee from our newest pantry accessories and they are just PERFECT!!!!

We had fun spoiling our teachers during Teacher Appreciation week last week. We genuinely feel like we won the teacher lottery.  My boys' teachers are nothing short of amazing.  We really love surprising them with treats all year long...mostly in the form of Sonic drinks every week...but there's just something special about Teacher Appreciation week, y'know?!  Here was one of our little surprises...

Brown paper packages tied up with strings each one holding a few of their favorite things...magazines, candy, snacks, and drinks.  I just used a sharpie to personalize the bags.  I had the teachers fill out THIS QUESTIONNAIRE at the beginning of the year so I could treat them throughout the year.  I sent them a little email the week before teacher appreciation week to see if they wanted to make any changes to the questionnaire before the week started :)  Goodness we love them so!!!

Speaking of love, yesterday we celebrated Mother's Day.  My boys were quick to run in my bedroom and wake me up yesterday morning...they were SO excited to show me what they made for me!!!  I die!  These are my most favorite kind of gifts...their own sweet little words straight from the heart...completely unfiltered and honest.  

Let me just tell you I haven't been to the mall but maybe 4 times this entire year and I haven't taken the boys with me on any of those trips!!!!  HA!!!  Cracks me up that he would remember Forever 21 from those times I'd drag them with me.  It clearly made an impression and I can tell you it wasn't his favorite memory :)  And really, I must be doing something right because apparently I'm as fun as Chuck E. Cheese.  Actually, I take that back.  Maybe I'm doing it all wrong?!  That place is torture!!!!  HA!!!!

Seriously though...I love that they both talked about snuggles and kisses.  It's the little things that mean the most!!!

Can I also take a second to tell you about this man???

He has the biggest heart.  His gift to me this year wasn't one that came from a store.  It was so much more and then some.  I don't want to get into it because it's really not my story to tell, but I will say that his thoughtfulness brought me...and my boys...to tears.  Moments like these really put life in perspective. It's a Mother's Day I'll never forget and one that has started a new tradition.  I'm so proud to do life with this man.  

I gave all the ladies this framed bible verse.  It's been a goal of mine to learn hand lettering and how to do it on my own.  It's always a work in progress, but I love the practice.  It's so very cathartic.  

And in other news, something tells me we'll need to stock up on sidewalk chalk in the weeks to come.  This past Friday was brought to us by The Cure....

...and CSI, too.  My driveway looked like a mini crime scene.  

Now let me leave you with one of my most favorite recipes!!!  It's been around forever.  My most favorite way to eat chicken salad.  This is a great little meal to make for company or take to family gatherings.  There's never a bite left in the bowl when it's all said and done.  

HOT CHICKEN SALAD PITAS

via Paula Deen

2 cups chicken breast meat, cubed OR 1 rotisserie chicken, shredded

1 cup diced celery

1/2 tsp. Cajun seasoning (Tony Chachere's is a house favorite)

1/2 tsp. pepper

2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice

1 cup mayonnaise

1 cup shredded colby & monterrey jack cheese

Potato Chips

Pita Pockets

Preheat oven to 350 & spray an 8x8 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.  Meanwhile, cut your celery & shred/cube your chicken.  Add both to a mixing bowl.

Toss in the mayonnaise, cajun seasoning, pepper, cheese, and lemon juice.

Mix well until evenly coated.  Transfer mixture to an 8x8 baking dish.

Top with crushed potato chips.  The original recipe calls for 2/3 cup of crushed chips, but you can use more/less depending on your preference.  Pretty sure we used more!

Bake for 20 minutes, or until bubbly.  Remove from oven & serve HOT! 

Of course, you can serve this just as it is OR you can pop the mixture into a pita pocket and call it a day.  That's my personal favorite.  We love our hot chicken salad pitas around here!!!

Just try it and you'll see why!!!

Two Meals, One Leftover

If y'all read my post on Monday, you might remember me talking about the abundance of food we had on Easter Sunday.  Food for days.  I was in charge of making the world's most simple and savory pot roast. I only made one, but at the very last minute I got nervous not thinking we would have enough so I sent Mr. Spouse back to the grocery store to grab another.  Between the first roast, the ham, the pork, and the chicken and sausage, we didn't even make a dent in the last-minute-pot-roast I insisted on rushing out to get before the festivities began. 

 #sosorryMrSpouse

My husband isn't usually a leftover kind of a person.  He may be okay to eat leftovers for lunch the following day, but anything more than that probably won't happen.  I, on the other hand, could eat leftovers for days...especially when said leftovers are in the form of pasta.  We had this crockpot full of pot roast that wasn't even touched and I wasn't about to let it go to waste, so you can imagine how elated I was when Mr. Spouse said, "Don't go grocery shopping this week...let's just eat the pot roast for dinner."  WHA?!?!?!  I mean, I was definitely jumping for joy at the though of not having to run out for more groceries, but I also was thinking I might not want 5 full days of pot roast for dinner (as much as I do love leftovers). 

#overkill

I really do love pot roast.  Especially this simple & savory version.  But lawd.  Needless to say, it was of the utmost importance that we repurpose our protein so that we wouldn't tire of it.  Mr. Sposue ended up working late 2 nights this past week (spring sports are always a killer), so I only had to come up with two new-to-us meals.  I enjoyed the pot roast in all it's simple glory the nights he was working, but I was ready to change it up by the time Wednesday rolled around!!!  

If you have some leftover pot roast hanging around, maybe consider repurposing it for either of these two meals!!!  

When I lived in Dallas, I taught in Plano for the first 7 years of my teaching career.  We loved to enjoy Friday Happy Hours at the BEST little restaurant in old downtown Plano...Kelly's Eastside.  They always had the most delicious happy hour fare...for FREE!!!!! GAH!!!  I would always get the brisket quesadillas.  ALL of their food is insanely amazing, but those brisket quesadillas.  LAWD.  That was also one of our go-to post Sunday church meal spots, too.  My whole family loved it.  I miss that restaurant like crazy!

I wouldn't have thought to have brisket in my quesadilla, just like I wouldn't have imagined pot roast in quesadilla form either.  But that's just what I did.  Let's just say I was missing Kelly's and hoping I could kind of recreate that magic in my own kitchen.  I didn't come close, but these pot roast quesadillas were SO good!!!  

POT ROAST QUESADILLAS

2 flour or whole wheat tortillas

Shredded colby & monterrey jack cheese (to taste)

Pico de gallo (to taste) 

Pot Roast

Pot Roast gravy

Cooking spray

I used flour tortillas for this dish and sprayed the cooking spray on one side of each tortilla.  Place one tortilla in a lightly greased skillet and then take some of that gravy from the pot roast (we had tons leftover from the simple and savory recipe) and spread a thin layer on the bottom of the tortilla.  Top with the shredded cheese, pot roast, and then the pico de gallo.  Turn on the heat to a medim/high temperature.  Spread a thin layer of the pot roast gravy on the other tortilla and then place that on top (sandwich style).  Allow time for the bottom tortilla to brown and using two spatulas, carefully turn over to brown the other tortilla.  Heat until both sides are brown and cheese is melted.

Let me just say it again.  These were SO good!!!  I loved the addition of the pico de gallo...I could eat it with everything.  I typically get the pre-made tubs at the grocery store.  This was a definite winner and one we'll be sure to recreate when we have pot roast leftovers in the future!!!

I was considering a pot roast panini of some sort for last night's meal.  I'm sure that would've been great!  But we just had quesadillas the night before, so I wanted something a bit different that would incorporate more than just the pot roast and another helping of cheese and gravy.  I had a box of puff pastry shells I bought for something totally different, but I figured it would be fun to use them for this meal instead.  I also had a tub of mashed potatoes (you know those Country Crock refrigerated tubs?! #cheating) and wanted to use those as well.  Enter the Pot Roast Puff Pastry Bite.  

POT ROAST PUFF PASTRY BITES

Puff Pastry shells

Mashed Potatoes (homemade or refrigerated)

Pot Roast

French Fried Onions (optional)

This is too easy not to try!!!  Bake the puff pastry shells as directed on the package.  While the pastry shells are baking, heat up your pot roast and leftover or refrigerated mashed potatoes.  Remove the pastry shells from the oven and hollow out the center (just remove the tops and the doughy filling).  Place a spoonful of the mashed potatoes in the hollowed out center of the pastry shell.  We filled ours to the top, of course.  Then place a generous amount of the pot roast on top of the potatoes.  We had some leftover french fried onions from the green bean casserole we made on Sunday, so we put those to good use to and crumbled them right on top of the pot roast.  

They really were the perfect little bite!!  The pastry shells stayed intact and we were able to eat them just like we would a sandwich.  Mr. Spouse returned for 3rds and piled his high, so a fork and knife were essential for that serving :)  I absolutely LOVED the different textures of this meal and the flavor...well...OUTSTANDING.  This made the perfect dinner servings, but if you were so inclined, I could see these being served as a generous appetizer, too.  We will DEFINITELY be revisiting this meal in the future!!!  

Let's TACO 'Bout It

There's just something about a grilled cheese sandwich, isn't there?!  Or am I the only one with such strong feelings about them?!   My love for this age old classic has only grown stronger through the years.  My mom used to make the best grilled cheese sandwiches for us growing up.  She'd even add copious amounts of ham and that would sweeten the sandwich all the more.  If there's a grilled cheese sandwich on the menu when we're out to eat, you can bet that will be my choice each and every time.

I remember being in Chicago with Adam a couple of summers ago and we ate out the whole time we were there.  If I wasn't eating pizza, I was dining on grilled cheese....and the occasional hot dog (HELLO, Portillo's!!!!!!!)  Can you tell I have the taste palate of a 5-year-old?!  Some things never change, I guess :)

All that to be said, I do love a great variation on the tried and true classic.  THIS ONE is one of our favorites.  Bacon, avocado, and cheese?!  Does it really get much better than that?!?! Why yes...yes it does.  And it combines one of my favorite flavor profiles with all the gooey goodness of said cheese. 

 Enter the Taco Grilled Cheese.

TACO GRILLED CHEESE

via Closet Cooking

2 slices of either sourdough or potato bread

Butter

Fiesta Blend shredded cheese, to taste

Taco Meat

Pico de Gallo

Guacamole

Sour Cream

Salsa

Okay.  This dish deserves a little discussion.  

First up, you'll want to prep your taco meat (brown your ground beef and add in the taco seasoning...y'all know what I'm TACO'n about ;) Hahaha.  

Once your meat is good and ready to go, set it to the side and take out your bread.  Butter one side of each slice of bread (just like you would if you were making a traditional grilled cheese sandwich).  

Now...you can really prep this sandwich to your liking and pretty much any way you want it, but I'm going to share with you what I did to mine.  

I took about 2 spoonfuls of the taco meat and mixed it with just a little dollop of sour cream.  I sprinkled shredded fiesta blend cheese on one slice of bread and topped that cheese with the taco meat/sour cream mix.  I took a smidge of guacamole (pre-made) and spread a light layer over the taco meat.  I LOVE pico de gallo, so I tossed on quite a bit of that over the guac.  Then I topped that with the other slice of bread. 

As you can imagine, I had a pretty thick sandwich.  I couldn't imagine grilling it in my little skillet, so I used my panini press instead and it worked like a charm!!!!  The *perfect* sandwich!!!

My husband requested everything I had on mine with the addition of salsa.  I love salsa just as much as the next Tex-Mex lovin' person, but I didn't want my sandwich to be too saucy, so I just poured a bit on my plate and dipped my sandwich instead.  YUM!!!!!!

Of course, this is one of those meals I'd love to have on the menu every week.  Heck...I'd love to eat this every single night!  HA!!!!  However, this is one of our indulgences and as you can imagine, we definitely INDULGE!!!!  I can't begin to tell you how unbelievably delicious this sandwich really is!!!  All the happiness of a taco in between two slices of buttered, grilled bread.  Heaven.  Absolute and total heaven.  As my 7-year-old would say, "it's a party in your mouth!!!!"  Yes, my friends.  A fiesta in your mouth for sure!!!!

For The Kid In Us

No matter how old I get, I will always love grilled cheese sandwiches.  My most favorite are the grilled cheese sandwiches my mom used to make for us growing up.  They were nothing particularly special, but they were made by MOM and well, everything made by mom always tastes better.  Now that summer is upon us, I’m whippin’ up grilled cheese sandwiches left and right for these two little crazies…

In our house, we refer to grilled cheese sandwiches as “cheese tobies”.  Did y’all know that in certain parts of the midwest Grilled Cheese Sandwiches are called “Cheese Toasties”?!?  When my oldest was a couple of years old, we were visiting our midwest family and he wanted a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch.  Mr. Spouse insisted we call them “cheese toasties” but my oldest could only say “cheese toby”.  Since then, we’ve always called our grilled cheese sandwiches “Cheese Tobies”.  And I love that that little moniker stuck because not only is it precious, but it’s fun to say, too.  But I digress…

Even though I love the old tried and true grilled cheese sandwich, I’m always looking for ways to spice it up a bit.  I found this recipe from Six Sister’s Stuff and it inspired me to add some of my most favorite ingredients to our Cheese Tobies…hence, the Grown Up Grilled Cheese.  The perfect summer sandwich!

GROWN UP GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICH

adapted from Six Sister’s Stuff

2 slices sourdough bread

olive oil OR butter {for spreading}

2-4 slices of bacon, cooked

3-4 slices of avocado {more…or less…depending on your preference}

3-4 slices of deli style turkey, shaved thin

Shredded cheddar cheese {as much…or as little…as you prefer}

Let me just say that adding a few tomato slices would be amazingly tasty in this little number as well.  However, Mr. Spouse isn’t the biggest fan, so I left ‘em out.  Now, go ahead and brush one side of two pieces of Sourdough bread with olive oil or butter.  These will be the “grilled” sides.  Grease your pan with nonstick cooking spray and turn up the heat.  Lay the brushed side of the bread in the pan and start stacking the ingredients…shredded cheddar, turkey, bacon, avocado. 

Let it grill for a few minutes then add shredded cheddar to the top of the avocados and place the other slice of bread {dry side down} on top.  Turn your sandwich over and allow time for the other slice of bread to brown and grill.

Once both sides of the sandwich are evenly browned, remove from the pan and slice in half.  Then DEVOUR.  Because you will.  Every.single.bite.  While this might be a “grown up grilled cheese sandwich”, it definitely appeals to the taste buds of the kid in all of us :)

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Everybody’s On Board

It’s very rare in this household that every single person under this roof enjoys the same meal.  This is mostly because my dangerously picky 5-year-old won’t touch anything that doesn’t resemble grilled cheese, yogurt, or fruit.  He enjoys pizza just as much as he likes grilled cheese, so it just made sense to put it all together and make a little grilled pizza sandwich…aka: pizzadillas.  I have to be really careful about what I call some of our meals for fear he won’t go near his plate.  {And for those of you about to tell me how awful my parenting is, I’ll save you the key strokes….I already know.} Yes…we created his picky behaviors by catering to his taste buds in the early years and now we’re paying for it.  It was a MUCH different story with our second child.  He will eat absolutely ANYTHING we put in front of him.  One out of two isn’t so bad, I guess ;) 

Anyway, you can believe that I was shouting from the rooftops when EVERYONE in my house happily devoured these painfully simple little grilled pizza sandwiches.  Even my picky little man enjoyed several helpings.  This is one of those too-easy-to-pass-up kinda meals….easy prep, quick cook time, and simple to clean.  When I’m limited on time in the kitchen, this is one of my go-to-make-everybody-happy dishes.  I’m sure you can see why :)

 

PIZZADILLAS

Flour Tortillas

Shredded cheese {we used mozzarella, but you can use any cheese you prefer!}

Pizza sauce {we used Prego}

Pepperoni slices

Dried oregano {to taste}

Red pepper flakes {optional, to taste}

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1/2 of a medium onion, chopped

 

 

First up, chop your onion and your garlic.  Depending on your taste preference, you can add as much…or little…of these as you like.  Add a tablespoon of olive oil to a pan and heat {medium/high heat}.  Sautee the garlic and onion until soft…about 5 minutes.  Add about a cup & a half of the pizza sauce to the pan and stir to combine.  Heat on low and simmer for about 5-10 minutes.  Remove from heat and set aside. 

Now take a couple of tortillas and brush one side of each tortilla with olive oil.

Now spread on a little bit of the pizza sauce/garlic/onion mix onto one of the tortillas…as much…or as little…as you prefer.  Sprinkle on some oregano and red pepper flakes if you’re crazy like that.  I left both out when making them for the boys.  Ummmm….I left the onion and garlic out, too and just used the pizza sauce on theirs.  Keep it simple.

Now get a little generous with the mozzarella.  Or cheese of your choice.  We LOVE mozzarella.

Then add the pepperoni slices.

Now cover the pepperoni slices with another tortilla and brush olive oil on top.  Place in a well greased skillet and cook on medium/high heat until lightly brown on both sides. {About 3-5 minutes per side}

 

Gooey…tasty…DELICIOUS.  And easy as all get out.  And the best part about it?!  The WHOLE family was on board with this one!!!!

The Not So Teeny Weenie Panini

I’m all about a good sandwich.  Subway is one of my favorite “restaurants”.  My favorite sandwich at Subway is the 6 inch roast beef on wheat bread with american cheese, jalapenos, onions, green pepper, and extra pickles.  Don’t forget the oil and vinegar, too.  I can NEVER recreate the deliciousness that is Subway when I’m at home.  But I digress.  One of my favorite kind of sandwiches is the almighty panini.  We got a panini maker several months ago and I was all kinds of thrilled.  I didn’t use it for the longest time because I didn’t have any great panini recipes.  What was I thinking?!  When I found this recipe on Pinterest, I about fell out.  Roast beef, onions, and horseradish all wrapped into one?!?!? SIGN.ME.UP!!!!!  I couldn’t make this fast enough and y’all…it did NOT disappoint!!  Amazingly mouth watering good. 

ROAST BEEF PANINI WITH CARAMELIZED ONIONS AND HORSERADISH CHEESE SPREAD

adapted from The Perfect Pantry

2 medium onions, thinly sliced

2 tbsp olive oil plus a little bit more for brushing on the bread

1/4 cup shredded cheddar

2 tsp horseradish sauce {I used Heinz}

Sourdough bread, 4 slices

Roast beef, 8 slices

First on the list of dinner to-do’s…thinly slice your onions. 

Throw them in a large, nonstick skillet and toss them with 2 tablespoons of olive oil.  Cook on medium heat.

When the onions start to caramelize…they’ll be a lovely golden brown….remove them from the skillet and set aside.  You might want to sample a few.  And then a few more.  And don’t forget the mouthwash if you plan on kissing your significant other.

Now it’s time for the horseradish cheese sauce.  I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before, but I don’t follow directions very well.   I’m a skimmer.  I skimmed over the original recipe and didn’t realize I needed prepared horseradish, not horseradish sauce.  I got a little excited.  So here’s my adaptation and I gotta say…it was pretty dang good!

I took a couple of tablespoons of horseradish sauce and added it to a microwavable bowl.  I tossed in 1/4 cup of shredded cheddar and nuked it until the cheese was melted.  I added another squirt of horseradish sauce to the mixture just to give it more of a “sauce” texture.  YUMMMMMMMM.  Now set this aside.

 

I like experimenting with all different types of breads when I make paninis.  Sourdough just happens to be one of my favorites.  Especially when it’s paired with roast beef. 

Take two slices of sourdough and brush one side of each slice with olive oil.  On the opposite side of one slice, spread a generous amount of the horseradish cheese sauce on top.

Now top it with a layer of caramelized onions.  The more, the better.  Trust me.

Now top that with 4 slices of roast beef.  I just used roast beef straight from the deli.  Spread the opposite side of the other slice of bread with more horseradish cheese sauce and then place that on top of the roast beef.

Make sure your panini maker is fired up and ready to go and set the sandwich inside.  Press until it’s nicely panini-ed :) 

Slice and serve.  And prepare for the angels to sing.

Trust me when I say that you want this in your mouth immediately.  It’s the next best thing to Subway, for sure :)