What I Ate: Italian Subs

‘What I Ate’ is a series of posts for so-easy-this-doesn’t-need-a-recipe but I’m sharing with ya for the idea or inspiration.

I’ve posted a few sandwiches here but thought these Italian subs would seem special enough to be dinner. I loved having them at home, and the next day’s lunch reaped the benefit too!
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Mr. J is from Maine where they call them simply “Italians”. Growing up for pool-side parties my mum would slice a very long loaf, and fill with sandwichy things and cut it into lots of pieces. I’m now remembering that she’d toss the lettuce & tomato with Italian dressing which is a good idea for the oil/vinegar sub topping. #nexttime

Ingredients:

soft fluffy rolls, or 1 long baguette to cut into pieces
¼ pound sliced hard salami
¼ pound sliced honey ham
¼ pound sliced provolone
½ cucumber, sliced
½ green bell pepper
1 small tomato, sliced
2 cups mixed greens, or lettuce of your choosing
1 small onion, sliced
1 cup basil (optional)
mayo, mustard, or veggie oil
salt & pepper

Directions:

Cut, slice, and unwrap everything.
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Build your sandwich.

Now, this seems like a lot of ingredients, but assembling takes all of 5 minutes AND it’s all prepped for lunch the following day! Plus, leftovers of these ingredients are good things to have on hand (think panini! or bfast burrito with the peppers, ham & cheese! or skip the lettuce & cukes and use the rest to build yourself a calzone!). This would make for a good salad too, if sandwiches aren’t your thing. They’re not usually my thing if they’re going to sitting around in a packed lunch all day getting soggy. I like ‘em fresh off the press.
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I swear by the basil. That makes the sandwich for me. It is also a good use for any leftover basil you already have, before it goes bad (strawberry basil sangria would be a good use too). I threw some basil into my salad the other day and LOVED discovering the basil leaves amongst my greens at lunch. I’ve also been throwing this mustard in lots of dishes lately so these subs were no exception.

Mr. J was really jazzed about this dinner, which surprised me. It was fun to assemble our own and only have to do some slicing for dinner to be prepped. I should do this more often. And you should do it too. Lesson learned, a blast from the past or something unusual with no frills is fun.

Happy weekend! Stay tuned for next week for a pizza that was a social media frenzy!

Strawberry Basil Sangria

Life’s too short not to have sangria on hand in the summer, right? I only ever make it when I get to feed it to a million people. I just love it and figured why not make a slightly smaller amount to drink ourselves? Let’s be real. Mr. J had a glass and I had the rest…not all in one sitting.

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Welcome to #sangriasunday! It made me so happy and I need to make sangria more often.

Ingredients:

1 pint of strawberries, tops cut off
½ cup sugar
¼ cup water
3 – 5 basil leaves
1 bottle of white wine
½ cup triple sec
½ cup orange juice

Directions:

(to be made at least 8 hours before serving, trust me)
In a small saucepan, over medium-low heat, add the strawberries, sugar, and water.
Cook for 10-15 minutes, until the strawberries break down.
Reduce heat to low and add in the basil.
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Cook for 10 minutes.
Strain the berries & basil leaves out.
Mix the strawberry syrup in a pitcher with the wine, triple sec, and orange juice.
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Refrigerate for at least 8 hours, preferably overnight.
Serve with some berries or orange slices or basil. Enjoy!

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This was so good. That’s it. It was just really good. The flavors are great and not over the top. I secretly love adding the orange juice which when makes it murky and citrus-y. I like the subtle basil flavor. It keeps it from being too sweet.

Sangria is perfect with cheap fruity wine. Or adding some fun to a wine that doesn’t end up being your favorite. It makes me happy when paired with BBQ or I love it as dessert.

Thai Chicken Wraps

Thai chicken wraps came to me out of nowhere. I thought of them back day when I was meal planning for a roasty-toasty week. Thank goodness it has cooled down a bit now.

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Ingredients:

2 small chicken breasts (or 1 large)
½ cup asian salad dressing (or equal soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sesame oil)
carrot slaw
1/2 english cucumber
2 wraps
1-2 cups arugula
peanut sauce

Directions:

Marinate the chicken overnight, or for at least 3 hours. Then grill chicken to cook through.
Toss the carrot slaw with some of the same marinade (not what the chicken was in).
Slice the cucumber into thin slices or thin wedges.
Slice the chicken into pieces.
Lay the wrap down and top with carrot slaw, arugula, chicken, and cucumber.
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Drizzle some peanut sauce on top and wrap up.
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Sorry for the gloppy looking sauce. I should have made that more even/pretty.

I liked these for a change in pace. I’m not sure how I’ll use the rest of the peanut sauce, since it isn’t one of my usual ingredients. Carrot slaw is also not one of my usual items but it was pretty good and probably an easier than usual way to get myself eating carrots. #notmyfav

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These would be a good variation if you were making a few different wraps. I think the peanut sauce made me feel like I had done something really different whereas it was just assembling the wraps with pre-made sauce. Maybe some sort of peanut-sauced pizza would be good for the rest?

Grilled Bruschetta Pizza

People always tell me that pizza dough is hard to work with. I swear by my pizza stone, but I also wanted to be sure to make some pizzas with alternative crust options. I’ve made french bread pizza and Greek Pita Pizza too if pizza dough isn’t your thing.

I grabbed some ready-made crusts and think they’re a fool-proof option. I did one grilled flatbread and some naans as crust for lunch ones.
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Ingredients:

1 flatbread (or 2 naan)
1 cup tomato sauce (or my fav Kitchen Ready Pastene)
8 oz shredded mozzarella
1-2 medium tomatoes
4 oz fresh mozzarella
4 leaves fresh basil (don’t substitute)
salt & pepper

Directions:

Grill flatbread on hot grill for just a few minutes, flipping once
Top with tomato sauce, shredded mozzarella and chopped tomato.
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Gently lay slices of fresh mozzarella on top and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
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Grill for just a few minutes, until the cheese has melted.
Remove from the grill and immediately top with fresh basil.
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Let sit for about 3 minutes before cutting.
Enjoy!

This pizza is ready in just a few minutes. It seriously takes less time than pre-heating the grill (or oven). I made the flatbread on the grill and made the naan in the oven to be lunch the next day.

The flatbread was chewy and got a touch crisp from the grill. The naan was thinner and I liked the slight sweetness of the wheat dough. This bruschetta pizza requires so few ingredients I strongly urge you not to skip the fresh mozzarella and the fresh basil. These two ingredients make the pizza flavorful.
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This is such an easy way to whip up pizza. The naan was perfect for individual servings and I loved something different off the grill! Who’s excited for the Bachelorette finale? I totally called last week’s action and I’m curious what this next one will be. I can’t imagine a 2 hour finale to have her pick nobody. It can’t take 2 hours to break up with 2 guys. We’ll see what shakes out with this last rose and if they announce the next Bachelor. I don’t think it’ll be Brooks. He can’t express himself. Mr. J hears it in passing and a) wants nothing to do with it and b) thinks this guy will be the next one. All this being said, I’m reading a 700-something page book right now so that my head doesn’t turn to mush with this trash & RHONJ. #guiltypleasure

Bruschetta Pizza Cost Breakdown
This breakdown is for either the flatbread or the naan. There would be enough sauce, cheeses, and basil to make both!
crust: $3.30
tomato: $0.50
shredded mozzarella: $2.50
fresh mozzarella: $2.00
fresh basil: $1.00
total = $9, serves 2 for $4.50 each

July Recap

As July comes to a close it makes me feel like the summer is zooming by. July was #hothothot and I wouldn’t mind if that was the hottest we see this summer. It definitely got me thinking of meals not requiring a ton of cooking or the oven.

July seemed to have the right amount of social festivities and downtime to hang at home and do as I please. I got my butt in gear and upped my workouts a bit. I survived just a few bootcamp sessions and I fit in some better workouts. I’m trying to pretend that I don’t hate running.

July unfortunately ended a seizure-free record streak for our pup Windsor. He hadn’t had one since Christmas and then he had a rough couple of days.

This month also involved a sad farewell to the R family pup. Piccadilly lived to 13.5 years old and was a beloved member of the family. I cooked some bacon for him because when you’re 94 in dog years, you should have anything you want.
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My tastes have been quite varied, so hopefully you all enjoyed some different posts this month.

The easiest thing I made this month was cinnamon roll waffles:
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On anything-goes dinner night I whipped up a seemingly random combo of ingredients which ended up as a chilled Shrimp and Couscous Salad that was stellar!
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I made a bevy to beat the heat. It was a pinky Passion Fruit tea and Lemonade. It was delightful.

After sooning over the idea of a trip to Paris and we made it happen! We booked an anniversary trip to Paris & Prague so I announced that with some Bacon & Leek Crepes if you’re feeling Francais.
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The most popular post this month was a quickie Italian Grilled Cheese with 2 cheeses and breaded eggplant. It was delicious and I like to pretend that the many views mean lots of readers made it themselves.
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We’ll see what August has in store. Definitely a sangria recipe I owe you and some ice cream recipes. Maybe something red for the Bachelorette finale. Any suggestions?