Hello Hockey Cheesesteaks

Depite bitter cold temperatures Winnipeg seems to be breathing a sigh of relief now that hockey is back. This means our beloved Jets are back in action at the phone booth and the fans are louder than ever. We are not fortunate enough to have tickets to any of the games but we did watch the game this afternoon on the TV. What does any game day require? Some grub!

This is another idea I found via Pinterest (the biggest time suck EVER)! We are making an effort to eat less gluten. That's right. You heard me. You'll notice I didn't say I that we were cutting it out altogether. I just can't do that. It is too restrictive. I don't like feeling guilty every time I slip and have a little bit of bread or a gluten containing item. We are a sandwich loving house. The Boy isn't concerned about gluten, just Hubby and I are. The Boy hasn't changed a thing.

Today's snack/lunch was a Philly style cheesesteak stuffed pepper. All the Philly cheesesteak goodness, none of the bread. I found some sliced brisket in the freezer, dug out an onion, some mushrooms, and the provolone cheese. In a pinch you could use deli roast beef, or any sliced steak/roast beef you have on hand.

These were some pretty darn tasty treats to munch on while watching the First Jets game of the season, even if they did lose.

Here's how it all went down:

Gather up the following:

3 peppers
12 slices provolone cheese
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
10 or 12 mushrooms
Sliced cooked steak or roast beef (about a pound, or 454 grams)
1 tbsp oil for pan

Wash, stem, and clean out 6 peppers and cut then in half. Line each pepper with a slice of cheese.

Slice onion, mushrooms, and garlic. Sauté these until golden.

Add the beef to the pan and stir up until heated through. Divide the beefy mushroom goodness up between the 6 pepper halves. Cover each pile o' goodness with another slice of cheese.

Bake in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes until the cheese is melty and the pepper have softened slightly.

Enjoy!

Now these little gems got rave reviews and the ok to make them again! (I love it when that happens!) Today I only baked these babies for 20 minutes but I think they could have stayed in a little longer. The peppers were a little too crunchy for the taste and feel I was wanting.

Until next time, stay warm and eat well.

Rain, Rain Go Away...

It has been raining ALL WEEK!!!! We really don't need any more water here.  The flooding situation is still pretty tense here on the prairies. So tense in fact the Government is considering an intentional dike breach in order to save a town....say what? CBC explains here.  For some amazing aerial photos of the water situation on the prairies, click here.  My best thoughts and wishes go out to everyone affected by the flooding as well as the farmers and property owners whose land will be flooded my this measure...I would not want to be the one making this type of decision, that's for sure.

I have been planned and working on a cake for this weekend.  So that post will come later this weekend.  What? I can't unveil the cake before the party!

In the meantime cake scraps and leftover icing makes for a tasty snack!

Until next time, stay warm and eat well.

Welcome Back Baseball Pretzel Bites

Today is an exciting day in the Little Kitchen! It is the first day ball fans get to watch their beloved New York Mets play a game...of course we are in the comfort of our own living room and the Mets are in sunny Port St. Lucie but thank you to modern technology, we get to watch!!

We all know what this means!!  Pretzel season has officially opened!  I have been waiting so patiently for this.  I do love pretzels! So much that I make pretzel rolls, pretzels, and now pretzel bites and stuffed pretzel sandwiches!!  Have I gone off the deep end??

Perhaps, but that is another post.

Not too long ago, Kate over at Diethood posted her recipe for her pretzel bites.  If you have never clicked your way to her blog, you really should.....I drooled while I read the pretzel bite post, saved it and today was the day to make them!  Pretzels go so well with baseball. They were made for each other

Once I had the dough made and it had its chance to rise, I started rolling out ropes of dough and cutting them into 1 inch (about 2 cm) pieces.  An idea came to me....we all know how much I like to make fold over type of sandwiches so I grabbed the corned beef, cheese, mustard, and sauerkraut from the fridge and made a couple of stuffed pretzel sammies!!

I saved a couple smallish balls of dough and rolled them out.

Cut up some corned beef into smaller pieces and cheese into cubes.

Layer these with mustard or sauerkraut.

If I had some Swiss cheese and thousand island dressing, the sammie on the left would have been a Reuben!

Seal up the dough by pinching it all around the dough.  Make sure the dough is completely sealed.

Simmer in the hot water/baking soda bath, brush with egg wash, sprinkle with salt, and bake until golden brown....that would be about 15 minutes.

Pretzel Bites

Printable recipe here

·         2 cups warm water

·         2 tbsp light brown sugar

·         1 pkg active dry yeast (2 ¼ tsp)

·         ½ cup butter, melted

·         5 cups all purpose flour

·         3 tsp salt

Hot water bath

·         6 cups water

·         ¼ cup baking soda

Egg wash

·         1 egg

·         1 tsp water

Combine the warm water, yeast, and brown sugar.  Set aside for about 5 minutes and let it get all foamy.

Add the melted butter, the flour, and the salt.

With the dough hook, mix everything.  The dough will come together.  If the dough is sticky, add a bit more flour.

Knead the dough for about 5 minutes.

Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a tea towel and set it in a warm spot to rise until double in size, about an hour.

Put a large pot of water on the stove to boil.  Once it is boiling, reduce the heat slightly to a high simmer and slowly add ¼ cup of baking soda...it will bubble up so add it slowly!

Roll out ropes of dough and cut each rope into sections that are about 1 inch long.

Simmer in the hot baking soda water bath for about 1 minute.  Transfer to a baking sheet, brush with an egg wash, sprinkle with salt.

Bake at 425F for about 15 minutes until golden brown.

 Serve with mustard and cheese sauce for dipping!!!

Until next time, stay warm and eat well!