Carmelized Onion and Mushroom Swiss Panini with Au Jus

Paninis have become a staple in our house lately.  It all started because we realized we couldn't keep up our Zupas habit and still send our children to college.  We discovered a great copycat recipe for their basil pesto chicken sandwich, but have loved coming up with new creations. 
This one is a new favorite for me.  I love a good steak, but I don't always like to have meat for every meal.  This one is delicious, filling and still tastes nice and meaty!  It is so easy to make and it is incredible with the Au Jus!

Carmelized Onion and Mushroom Swiss Panini

• 2 Small Onions or 1 Large Onion, thinly sliced
• 8 oz sliced mushrooms
• Swiss Cheese
• Olive Oil
• Mayonaise
• Ciabatta Bread

Au Jus Sauce

•  2 C Water
• 1 tsp Beef Bouillon
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
• 1/4 tsp Garlic Powder
• 1/4 tsp Onion Powder
• Pepper to taste  

 Instructions:
    Heat 1-2 tablespoons olive oil in a skillet.  Add the onion and mushrooms. 

Assemble the sandwiches.  Spread a layer of mayonaise on each slice of bread.  Add a slice of swiss cheese.  Top with carmelized onion and mushroom and the other slice of bread.  Place in panini press for approximately 5 minutes.
    For the au jus put all of the ingredients in a small pot.  I like to use the Better than Bouillon from Costco.  It's seriously the best.

Bring to a boil for 2-3 minutes.  Let cool and serve with the paninis.  Enjoy!!!

If you don't love Au Jus like I do, I suggest adding some Garlic Aioli with the mayonaise.  I love adding this to many of our paninis.  Here's what we use.  Try it both ways!!

Amazing Baked Onion Rings!

Okay, so I made these a couple weeks ago and I haven't been able to stop thinking about them since!  They are A..MAZ..ING.  No joke.  You seriously have to try them.  And they're easy to make!!  I tried them two weeks ago and since then I have made them 5 times.  That's how much I love them.  And I don't feel guilty about eating them because they are healthy!  (Until I dip them in fry sauce with Siracha.)  There aren't many things that I think taste better than their fattening counterparts, but  I actually like these better than the greasy Onion Blossoms you get from restaurants!

I posted a picture of them right out of my oven (and it's a good think too, because they didn't last long!) and posted it on my personal Facebook page.  I got so many requests for the recipe I thought I'd share here too in case you haven't stumbled upon it on Pinterest.  The recipe is from the incredible Tiffany from "Creme de la Crumb."  Check out  her website for the recipe here.

Most of my food posts on here are mostly recipes that I've adapted from other recipes I've found.  Not this one.  Nope.  It didn't need to be changed.  At all.  I make it almost exactly as written.  The only thing I do differently is that I put the rings of onion in a large freezer bag, put the water in there, drain it, and then pour the flour mixture into the bag.  Zip it up and shake to coat.  It saves me a lot of time and I don't think it affects the flavor at all.

Spicy Parmesan Pasta

Most of the recipes I post are adapted from recipes I find on Pinterest.  This one is no different. 
The recipe I used is from the Boss Sanders website.  I needed to make it a little more budget friendly.  The Boss Sanders recipe is for a Romano Chicken.  Since I work really hard to keep our family on a food budget, I needed to make a few changes. 

Much of the recipe is the same as the original, so I'll refer you to her website for the bulk of the recipe.  The main problem is that I didn't want to spend $4 on a small block of Romano Cheese and $4 on a small jar of Sundried Tomatoes.  Also, her recipe is too spicy for our family.  I even cut the cayenne pepper in half and it was still too spicy. 

So here are the changes.

For the Sauce:

• No Romano cheese.  Instead add an additional 1/4 cup Parmesan.  I was able to get a small bag of Parmesan at Winco for $2.33, and I only used half the bag.  We use Parmesan a lot so the rest won't be wasted!
• 1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper instead of 2 tsp.
• Leave out the black pepper and add it in the end if you need more kick.

 For the rest:

• I added about 2 T of Red Cooking wine while cooking the mushrooms.  Yummmmm.
• I left out the sundried tomatoes
• I also left out the chicken to make a meatless meal.  

As always...Let me know if you have any questions!!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudgy Cake in a Crockpot

It's a mouthful for a title, but it's a mouthful of deliciousness peanut buttery, chocolatey,  heaven.
I absolutely LOVE this cake!!  I've tried a crockpot lava cake before, and though others liked it, I wasn't a fan.  What I really wanted, was a little something with chocolate and peanut butter.  So I found a recipe I thought I'd like and improvised a little.  I found the base recipe here.  I cut the recipe in half  and added a few things.  Check out her full recipe and compare :)

Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudgy Cake in a Crockpot.

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 T. cocoa powder
3/4 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
1/4 cup milk
1 T. butter, melted
1/2 t. vanilla
3/4 t. almond extract
1/2 cup peanut butter (microwaved for 30 seconds)
1/4 cup chocolate chips
1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk.
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 T cocoa powder
1 cup boiling water

It looks like a lot of ingredients, but it's really quite simple. (Believe me, I consider things with more that 6-7 ingredients a lot of work!)

In a medium mixing bowl add all ingredients in order except the last three (1/2 C. brown sugar, 2 T. cocoa powder and boiling water).   Mix until smooth.  The batter will seem pretty thick.  Spread across the bottom of a 2 qt. crockpot (this cake will rise).  Add the 1/2 C. brown sugar and 2 T cocoa powder to the top.  Poor 1 cup boiling water over the top and DO NOT STIR.  Cover the crockpot and let sit about 90 minutes on high.  Serve with ice cream and indulge yourself!!

Kale Salad with Honey-Lemon Dressing

I've been making this salad a lot lately.  I'm not exactly sure where it originally came from.  I got the recipe from my mom a while back, so if anyone knows who originally made it, please let me know.  I'd love to give credit to whoever created this amazingly delicious and healthy salad!  Let me not forget to mention that it's super quick to throw together!

Doesn't that look delicious?!

Now, I'm not exactly a kale type of person.  The thought of  boiled kale makes me want to gag.  But you don't have to boil it and you don't have to put it in a smoothie to hide the taste!! 

First, wash and chop or shred your kale.  Make sure you remove the large stems as they tend to be a little bitter.  Put your chopped kale in your salad bowl and drizzle with olive oil.  I'm no chef (my toddler will attest to that) but from what I understand this also helps with the bitterness.  I could be completely off on that, so don't quote me on it.  Rub the olive oil into the kale for a minute or so.  It should glisten take on a nice green color instead of it's normal chalky appearance.  It'll look something like this...

Now you'll add the fixings!  This is where you can get a little creative.  I usually add a couple different types of fruits and then some candied nuts.  In the photo above I chopped apples and Bosc pears and then *candied some slivered almonds, but I've also used blueberries, raspberries, mango, strawberries, candied pecans and candied walnuts.  (I love the sweetness of the candied nuts, so for me those are a must!) 

For the dressing all you need is honey and lemon juice.  I use real lemons when I have them on hand, but I have to be honest, that isn't often.  My husband and I both think it tastes fine with the lemon juice in a bottle.  Mix together equal parts of lemon juice and honey.  You may have to adjust for your tastes.  My husband likes it a little sweeter, so I end up using less lemon juice.

And the great thing about this salad is that it stores really well, even with the dressing on!  Let me know what you think and if you come up with any other great combinations!!  Enjoy!