Turkey Meatball Subs

Nope, this isn't a toasted sub from a chain sandwich place. It's homemade and much better than I've gotten at any chain restaurant if you ask me. My husband always orders a meatball sub anytime we do happen to eat at a sandwich place, so I decided a while back I would start making them at home occasionally since he likes them so much. I didn't have any ground beef in the freezer but I did have some lean ground turkey. I decided to use that for my meatballs tonight along with some whole wheat sub rolls I had in the freezer. They were so delicious and somewhat healthier than regular meatball subs! Healthier if you don't count all the cheese I put on mine.
; ) Subway's got nothing on me!

Turkey Meatball Subs

1 lb lean ground turkey
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
1 tsp italian seasoning
1 clove minced garlic
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 tsp each salt and pepper
1-2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

*1 jar marinara sauce
*sub rolls
*provolone or mozzarella cheese-2 slices per sub


Mix all ingredients in a bowl until just combined. Heat a skillet over medium heat with about 1-2 Tbsp olive oil. Form the turkey mixture into balls and place in the skillet. Turn the meatballs every couple minutes to brown on all sides. Add marinara sauce to the pan, cover and let simmer over low heat about 15 minutes to ensure the meatballs are completely cooked. Place 4 meatballs on each sub roll that has been sliced lengthwise and spoon the marinara sauce over the meatballs. Top with cheese (I used provolone) and place under the broiler for a couple minutes to toast the bread and melt the cheese.

A vegetable-less dinner

This never happens but tonight we had dinner without vegetables. I always try to make a balanced meal for dinner; protein, carbs, and at least one non-starchy vegetable, but tonight I was just not feeling the veggies. So I didn't make any. But what we did have was very good... barbecue pork sandwiches, made in the crock pot and homemade mac 'n cheese. So I guess I don't feel so bad about the veggies. Eh, I'll do better tomorrow.


Crock Pot Pulled Barbecue Pork

2 lb pork loin roast
1 jar barbebue sauce (I use a honey bbq sauce for a sweeter flavor)
2 Tbsp yellow mustard
2 tsp worcestershire sauce
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 1/2 cups broth or water

Place roast in the crock pot. Add 1/2 bottle sauce, mustard, worcestershire sauce, and garlic on top of the roast. Pour broth or water in the bottom of the crock pot. This helps to keep the roast from burning or drying out. Cook on low for 6-8 hrs. Before serving, take two forks and shred the pork in the crock pot. Turn the crock pot on keep warm and allow the pork to warm in the juices in the bottom of the crock pot for 15 min or so. Remove pork from the crock pot and place in a bowl. Add the other 1/2 bottle of sauce and toss to coat. Serve on buns or rolls.



I'm especially proud of how the macaroni turned out. It was the first time I have made this dish that it turned out well. You would think any proper southern girl would be born knowing how to make a killer mac 'n cheese, but I have never had any luck with it until tonight. This will be my go to mac 'n cheese recipe from now on! I basically just took ideas from several different recipes and came up with this.


Creamy Baked Mac 'n Cheese

8 oz elbow macaroni
6 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup plain bread crumbs
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Preheat oven to 375. Begin my boiling the macaroni in salted water until done. Drain. Heat the milk for about 1 min in the microwave just to get it warm. In a skillet, melt the butter. Add flour and stir in with a whisk. Cook over medium heat for about 2-3 min. Slowly add warm milk to the pan and whisk until smooth. Remove from heat. Add 1 cup cheddar, 1/2 cup mozzarella, salt and pepper. Stir in macaroni. Pour into a greased baking dish. Top with additional cheddar, mozzarella and bread crumbs. Bake for about 25-30 min or until bubbly and golden brown.

Bustin' Out the George Foreman

I can probably count on one hand the number of times I've used our George Foreman grill. Someone gave it to my husband before we got married almost 3 yrs ago. Since we moved in our house it's been shoved in the back of a bottom cabinet in my kitchen collecting dust along with all the other random small appliances I have and don't use like our milkshake maker. Well I finally found a use for the old Foreman grill tonight. I had some leftover grilled chicken from a couple nights ago when I attempted, unsuccessfully, to make chicken alfredo. The alfredo part turned out just awful but the grilled chicken was actually very good so I managed to salvage part of that dinner. Anyway, I also had half a loaf of Italian bread leftover as well. I decided grilled chicken paninis might be a good way to use up those two things. Since I don't have a panini press, I thought the George Foreman might do a good job. It worked quite well actually. The bread toasted very nicely and the cheese got all melty and gooey. It turned out to be a really good dinner. I made some oven fries to go along with our paninis too.

Here's how I made the paninis.


Grilled Chicken Paninis with Smoked Ham, Provolone, and Honey Mustard

1 chicken breast, grilled and cut into slices (I had seasoned it with salt, pepper, and garlic powder when I grilled them)
2 slices smoked ham
4 pieces provolone cheese (swiss would be great on this too)
4 pieces day old Italian bread, about 1/2" thick
2 Tbsp honey mustard (recipe follows)
a couple pats of butter

Honey Mustard

1/3 cup yellow mustard
1/4 cup honey
6 dashes worcestershire sauce

Whisk to combine.

Begin by spreading a little of the honey mustard on one piece of the Italian bread. Layer one piece of cheese, 1/2 of the grilled chicken, one piece of ham, and another piece of cheese on the bread. Spread more honey mustard on a second piece of bread and place on top of the layers of meat and cheese. Butter both pieces of bread on the outside and place in the grill, panini press, or on your stove top griddle. When both sides are toasted and the cheese is melted, remove from the grill. Repeat to make another sandwich. Cut on a diagonal and serve warm.