Grilled Cheese Sloppy Joes

I love this concept of combining two of the most all American sandwiches together.  This is truly an awesome sandwich.  I like it... a lot... maybe too much.  Another bonus to this sandwich besides tasting amazing, is it is super easy to make a big batch of them.  Here's the skinny...
Ingredients
Sloppy Joe meat [click for recipe]
sandwich bread
butter, softened
sliced American cheese
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Butter one side of all the pieces of bread.

 Place slice of bread buttered side down on cookie sheet.  Lay down a piece of cheese.

Dollop on some Sloppy Joe meat, and then another piece of cheese.  Place another piece of bread on top with buttered side facing up.

Place another cookie sheet of the same size as the bottom sheet on top of the sandwiches.

Place sandwiches in the oven for about 4 minutes, or until bread is toasted and cheese is melted.  Let them sit for a few minutes before serving.  Slice them up and enjoy!

My Favorite Chicken Salad

As summer very slowly slips away here (we've had 40 days of no rain and 80 degree days, very unusual for a Montana September) I've become acutely aware that making quick and cool summer recipes will come to a halt.  So I thought in honor of summer I would do one more summer type recipe to close it all out and usher in soup and meat season; otherwise known as "fall".  Here it is, my chicken salad.  I actually eat this all year long, but it becomes much more of a standard in the hot months.  It's so easy to make, it's fresh and flavorful,  it's healthy, and you can make a big batch of it and have it all week long.  To make it really easy on myself sometimes I'll use a whole rotisserie chicken, so good and quick.  (Then you can make stock from the carcass and freeze it for fall time soups.)  Here's the DL...
Ingredients
3 cups chopped cooked chicken
2-3 celery stalks, sliced
3/4 cup  (sliced lengthwise) red grapes
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup mayo
1/4 cup sour cream
pinch of garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
Directions
In medium bowl mix all ingredients except chicken until well incorporated.  And chicken and stir to coat.  If needed add more mayo.  Refrigerate for 1 hour.  Spoon onto sliced croissants, sandwich bread, or flour tortillas.  Enjoy!  {makes 6-8 servings}

Pulled Pork Sliders

This is one of the easiest & yummiest ways to feed a crowd.  This makes a great Superbowl party dish.  You simply whip up a batch of BBQ sauce & throw a pork roast in a crock pot.  This dish uses my all time favorite BBQ sauce that is so easy to make & tastes amazing.  (You could also use store bought sauce, but I recommend trying to make this one.  It is so good!)  This dish will make your house will smell great, bellies will be full, & you won't have to spend too much dinero.  Here's the skinny...
Ingredients
1 pork roast
4 Tablespoons of butter
1 cup water
Dinner rolls or slider buns
BBQ Sauce (you will probably need two batches of this for an average size pork roast)
    1 onion diced
    3 Tablespoons butter
    2 cups ketchup
    1/3 cup molasses
   1 teaspoon mustard
    2 tsp brown sugar
   1 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
   1/8 cup whiskey
Melt butter in  medium saucepan.  Add diced onion & cook until tender, about 8-10 minutes.  Add remaining ingredients & allow to simmer stirring often for 20 minutes.  Taste it & add more salt or sugar as desired.  If you like things a little spicy add some chili powder.  So good you could eat it by the spoonful, but I suggest using it as a topping.  Makes about 2 1/4 cups.
Directions
In crock-pot or slow cooker pour in water.  Set in your pork roast.  Slice the butter into 1/4 pieces & place on top of roast.  Cook on medium for 5-6 hours or until pork easily pulls apart by using two forks (& I mean easily!  Should be like butter.)  Pull the pork by using two forks & shredding it.  Pour on plenty of BBQ sauce & coat the pork.  Put a couple tablespoons on a dinner roll or slider bun & eat it up.
*Cooking time will very depending on the size of your roast.  As long as there is enough moisture you can't really over cook it.  Just test it by using two forks & trying to pull it apart.  If there is resistance then the meat is not done.
*Make sure to have plenty of BBQ sauce.  You will have to probably make 2 batches of the recipe above, maybe more.  If you make too much just freeze the extra for another meal.
*This is a great meal to make for a kid event because the sandwiches are small & manageable... & yummy.

Lunch Hour

A while back (when we still lived in town) my husband came home for lunch.  I had planned to make him a sandwich but was too busy feeding kids & getting them down for a nap when he arrived.  He couldn't wait any longer so he decided to make his own sandwich.  And this is what he did...

No, your're seeing it right folks!  Turkey, Little Smokies & American cheese sandwiched between two bagel thins.

 I'm not squeamish, but when he ate it I gaged a little.  Then I thought, maybe I should be packing him a lunch on a daily basis.  If this is the result of him fending for himself maybe I really should intervene.  There's not even any mayo or mustard on that thing, much less veggies.  And Little Smokies, come on!

So what do you do?  Do you pack your husband a homemade lunch everyday?  Or does he walk out the door with a few bucks that he'll spend at Taco Bell for his rations?  How about your kids, what do they do?  No spouse or kids- what's your lunch time routine?  I'm curious what ya'll do for lunch so let me know in the comments section below.

Happy lunch hour!