Sausage & Onion Pizza

Awhile back I blogged about my husband's battle buddy's birthday cake. I had purchased two 8-inch round pans for that and I figured, hey why not achieve that circular pizza I was complaining about not having in my Pesto pizza post. So, I figured that by making at least 1/2 the amount of pizza I normally do would cut down the amount we eat and thus, have full but not too full tummies. I was successful, except that my husband's pizza remains in the microwave where I placed it two hours ago. Apparently he has to show off his basketball skills at the gym. Honestly, I've never seen my husband play basketball, or any other sport for that matter, but he just doesn't seem like he'd have hoopin' skills, ya know? I mean, all I'm saying is that if I had to bet money... I'd probably not bet in his favor. I can't feel awful for saying that because... well he'll never read this anyways, so what's the harm? As long as I support him in all of the rest of his endeavours, I think that's all that counts. Plus, I got him addicted to Jersey Shore and that was enough to take away his lack of basketball skills in my eyes. Now, if I could only teach him how to cook. That's a blog of it's own people.

Ingredients:
2 hot italian sausages
1 pkg. Betty Crocker pizza crust
1/3 jar pizza sauce
1/2 small onion
1 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
butter (to grease pan)

Directions:
I normally use Jiffy pizza crust but couldn't find it at the commissary, so I went with this. Follow the directions on the back of the package. Boil sausage until cooked through, slice. Set aside. Slice onion, set aside. Shred cheese, set aside. Once your dough is ready, place into your pan and spread as thin as you'd like. Sauce, light layer of cheese, sausage, onions, and heavy layer of cheese. Again, bake according to crust instructions. Mine was 375F for about 12 minutes.

Patty Melts

For all you rye bread lovers, this is for you... er, maybe not. I hate rye bread, to say the least. I don't make my patty melts on rye bread, and since it's my kitchen, I'll do as I please. Now, I don't know, and actually could care less if my husband likes rye bread because he's only known my patty melts to be served upon white bread and any complaints he may have can be taken up with my manager. I guess the perk in this situation is that I don't have one! Craving a grilled cheese sandwich? How about a burger? Why not combine the two, throw in some sauteed onions and an extra slice of cheese and call it a miracle? Yeah, miracle sounds like a good word choice there.

Before I made my way out into the scary off post world around here to purchase our grill, I made the burgers stove-top, which just doesn't have the same affect. For those of you who wish not to turn on the grill and would rather create a bit more heat in your homes this summer, be my guest, crank on those stove tops!

Since my first encounter with experimenting with horseradish, I can't help but to love to add a tablespoon or so of it into my ground chuck before I patty it up into burgers. It gives it an awesome flavor but, I understand if you are afraid of it, then simply omit it from the ingredients I list below. I can't for the life of me remember what I served with these.. so sorry in advance!

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground chuck
4 slices bread
2 slices american cheese
2 slices swiss cheese
1 onion
1 tbl. horseradish sauce (creamy)
butter (for toasting bread and cooking onions)
garlic salt
pepper
cayenne pepper (few shakes)

Directions:
Mix ground chuck, horseradish, and spices. form 3-4 burgers depending on how big you prefer. Slice your onion and begin cooking it in a small pan with 1 tbl. butter over medium heat. While onions are cooking, grill your burgers to your preferred doneness. I melt one type of cheese on the burgers while they're still on the grill. Your onions and burgers should finish cooking about the same time. Bread one side of each slice of bread, over medium heat place two slices butter-side down and place remaining two slices of cheese upon them. Add onions, burger and top bread. Allow to cook until golden brown and then flip and repeat for the other side.

Steak Kabobs

You know, I thought there was some sort of rain curse on my kabob night, but the clouds shifted, the sun shined upon us, and finally, kabobs were made. I think all the build up ruined this meal. I was way too excited to make these and then I was left disappointed. Don't get me wrong, I thought the onions and steak was very good. I didn't want the meal to feel like 'steak & potatoes' so I decided to omit the potatoes and as a side, served Couscous. My husband thought it was 'tasteless' but if you're not familiar with it, I can understand not being able to appreciate it. When I was younger I remember my dad making it. I've always thought it was good, it's something different, which is nice sometimes, ya know?

I marinated the steak in a BBQ mixture. That was really great I thought. I also wrapped some of the steak pieces in bacon, because who doesn't like a little bacon once in awhile? I mean, there's got to be something good about the dang stuff or Beggin' Strips wouldn't be such a huge market right? Oh, well I suppose dogs will eat just about anything, right? Either way, I'm sure whether you're human, dog, or meat-eating dinosaur, you can appreciate a little bacon.

BBQ Marinade:
3/4 c. BBQ sauce (your favorite)
1/3 c. oil
1 tbl. minced garlic
1/8 tsp. ground red pepper
salt & pepper

I should also warn you, I stabbed myself pretty good with one of the skewers. (insert sad chef face here)

Onion Petals & Fried Garlic

This is by far the longest blog break I've taken thus far, but I feel as though the last couple of days have been a bit busier than usual. Whenever it seems as though I've got an abundance of onions, what better to do with them aside from making onion petals? Well, there is one thing that is better than onions, and that my friends, is garlic. I hear people say that garlic just isn't their thing, and I have to wonder if they've recently been released from the crazy house. I know, I know, to each their own. But garlic? Really? There are a few down falls to garlic. One, peeling garlic makes your hands really sticky, and they smell of garlic for days. Two, it makes your breath smell... awful. I believe tooth brushes were invented because of garlic, and well, we all know that garlic was invented in the prevention of vampires. So there we have it, fried onions and garlic. Also known as a heart attack on a plate. Delicious.

I use an onion petal breading that I find at Wal-Mart, however, I know there are some simple mixtures you can come up with consisting mainly of flour and spices. That's the route I would have taken if I would not have randomly come across this box of mix. All you do is add water. Anyways, I added a 1/2 cup of Panko for some extra texture and crunch for this last batch, but honestly, I couldn't tell the difference.

Steak & Potatoes

If you've signed on to read my blog day after day, I commend you. My husband has finally figured out he's in fact, the butt of each of my jokes. I mean, it's all in good nature, right? One of my followers, or, biters as I call them, suggested that I make Meat Loaf for dinner last night. Then, of course, my husband had his little heart set on meat loaf, but I shot him down. I mean, I do make a really good meat loaf and my husband does in fact love it, but, I really had my heart set on kabobs. Well, you know that the one time I really want something, I wouldn't have the skewers for it. Come on, who doesn't keep their house stocked with over-sized tooth picks.. of sorts. Well, apparently this gal doesn't.

I was even willing to drive to the commissary to pick a few up. Wouldn't you know the commissary on post is closed on Mondays? Well, with the steak already thawing in the sink I figured I better put it to good use. This resulted in steak and potatoes for dinner. Not just potatoes though. Oh no, they were grilled to tender perfection with whole cloves of fresh garlic, large slices of white onion, and carrots! Now, I normally make these for only potatoes and onions, but I've got some fresh garlic and carrots that are in need of being used before they go bad. Who doesn't like carrots anyway?

I've had these foil pouched potatoes since I was younger. I remember my brother coming up with the idea when we had a tiny little charcoal grill in my mom's driveway. I also remember my brothers potatoes always being very crispy and a lot of it burning and sticking to the foil when it was all said and done. Well, not to brag or anything, but I've basically perfected the foil potatoes. Hey, if that sounds like boasting, take it for what it's worth people, take it for what it's worth. I did give him credit for the idea after all, right?

My trick? I take a mixing spatula and spread a thin layer of butter across the foil before placing the potatoes on it. Wha-la, and that my friends, was how the perfectly cooked foiled potatoes were created.

I seasoned the streaks with ground black pepper, garlic salt, and (steak & chops) seasoning grinder that my dad got for me before I moved down here. Mmm.

Ingredients:
2 steaks (your choice on cut)
2 potatoes
1 onion
6 cloves of garlic
3 carrot sticks
butter
ground black pepper
garlic salt

You'll also need foil... and a grill, just in case you haven't quite caught on yet.

Directions:
I'm not going to explain how to season and grill the steaks because, I'm hoping you already know that part. As far as the potatoes go, scrub clean and slice into 1/4 in. slices. Place on buttered surface of square of foil. Make sure your foil is large enough to place your food on and wrap up with no food being exposed. I double wrapped mine to prevent burning, which worked quite well, but it was a pain to check the tenderness of the potatoes.





Place 1 sliced potato, one sliced onion (slice into larger pieces so they don't burn) , cut up carrots, and 3 garlic cloves, peeled and left whole onto the foil. Top with 2 tbl. of butter, ground black pepper, and garlic salt. Wrap up, place on the grill over medium heat for about 15-20 minutes total, turning every couple of minutes. The foil was just sitting over an open flame people, so, for the love of blog, please be careful.