Ok, so I know you all know how to make a sandwich. But do you have a good sauce to put on your sandwich? I do. I do love a good sandwich…..I love a good tuna melt, or a good pastrami too. Then there is a BLTA. Oh, and what about a good meatball sandwich? I even enjoy a really good liverwurst sandwich. Yep, I know you’re probably saying EWWWWWWW  to the liverwurst. Hahahahah, but it’s so good!

I think it’s really fun to build a sandwich. I make a great sandwich sauce that goes well with a lot of different sandwiches. It’s even a great sauce for potato salad or pasta salad. It’s been my secret sauce, but I decided to share it with ya’ll. You’ll want to make a big batch of it!

Oh, and it makes a great dipping sauce too, for French fries or wedge fries. Let me know if you make it!

The sandwich pictured here, is a smoked turkey and Havarti cheese melt. I just put the turkey and cheese on a roll and put it in the oven. Then I put all the fixins……lettuce, tomato, onion. Then I drizzled on my no longer secret sandwich sauce. So good…..so messy. So, make your favorite sandwich and try this sauce!

Secret Sandwich Sauce

1  cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup mustard
2 tsp red wine vinegar **
2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp soy sauce
1/4 – 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, crushed red pepper flakes or hot sauce

Put all ingredients into a jar and give it a good shake. Store in refrigerator.

** if you don’t have red wine vinegar, you can use pickle juice or marinated jalapeno juice.

Haven’t you looked in your fridge and wondered what to do with leftovers? I usually end up making soup. But it was too hot to make soup. I had some leftover rice  and some leftover tri tip roast from the night before. So, I decided to make beef fried rice. I had some kale and cabbage so I used that too.

Leftover beef and chicken make great fried rice. I remember my mom using leftover meat a lot, to make fried rice. She always made her fried rice the way they do in Japan……with a little ketchup. Yup, that’s right! A little bit of it…..you don’t really taste the ketchup, but it definitely adds a lot of flavor. I can really tell the difference if I don’t add it. Don’t get me wrong, I do love fried rice without it….but I like that little bit of sweet zippy somethin.

My favorite fried rice is super simple…rice, onion and beef. That’s the way I prefer it. But sometimes I do like to add different things……even kimchee.

So, look through your fridge and take out the leftovers. If you don’t have leftover fried rice, make some, but let it chill. If you try to make fried rice with freshly made rice, it will be mushy and too soft.

Here are pictures without ketchup and with………

Leftover Beef Fried Rice
serves 2

approximate amounts……

3 cups cold rice
leftover beef, sliced thin
2 eggs, scrambled
1/4 cup minced onion
2 Tblsp soy sauce
2 Tblsp ketchup
suggested veggies: cabbage, kale, spinach, bean sprouts, fresh ginger

To a large skillet on medium heat, add  a wee bit of  vegetable oil. Add the beef, onion and any veggie you’re going to use. Once the onions a bit soft, add the rice, soy sauce and ketchup. Stir quickly so you don’t mush up your rice. Mix in the scrambled egg last.

YUM!

Awhile back, a friend of mine introduced me to agua fresca. It’s a refreshing Mexican fruit drink. The first one I ever had was pineapple. Oh my, I was hooked. I wanted one every day. I started making them at home…..pineapple, strawberry, cantaloupe and watermelon. Oh yes, watermelon…..my all time favorite. I bought a small wedge of watermelon and made agua fresca. OMG, I drank it all in one evening! Love, love. So yesterday, I bought a whole watermelon. Hahahahah and I juiced it all. I had 3 glasses today. I can’t stop drinking it. I want to hand everyone I know, a glass of this and say “here! you have to drink this!” It’s so refreshing……and healthy. I mean, I think it’s healthy since it’s just fruit and water. Since watermelon is pretty much water, does this count towards the 64 ounces of water we’re supposed to drink every day? I would certainly think so!  I hate water. But I sure don’t mind drinking it this way!

If your fruit is naturally sweet, you don’t have to add any sweetener. Just fruit and water. But I will admit I did add a wee bit of Splenda in this batch.

Go get a big ol watermelon, chop it up and make your agua fresca. You will be hooked!

Oh, I’ve included a picture of the pineapple peach agua fresca I made awhile back. It’s made the same way as the watermelon.

Watermelon Agua Fresca

4 cups of fresh watermelon, cut in chunks (5 cups pureed)
1  1/2 – 2 cups good cold water
sweetener (optional)

Place the fruit in a blender and blend until fruit is all liquefied. I like mine almost liquefied….with some texture. That’s totally up to you. Pour into a large pitcher with the cold water and chill.

Pour over ice and enjoy!

Fruit suggestions:
pineapple (good with coconut water)
peach
strawberries
cantaloupe
honeydew

Any combination of these fruits would be great.

Are you a chewy person or a crispy person, when it comes to cookies? I usually prefer chewy, but sometimes I want crispy. Lately, all I want  is crispy. Sometimes you just wanna grab a light and crispy cookie and this is that cookie. OMG! These are too good. Buttery, crispy, easy to eat. Way too easy to eat. I highly recommend that you make a double batch.

I’ve made these using just orange zest and I loved them. But when I tried them using lemon, orange and lime……ohhhhhh yes please!  I must warn you though. They are addicting! You won’t be able to eat just one or two.

Orange, Lemon, Lime Crispy Cookies

1 stick of butter (1/2 cup) softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp. orange zest
1/2 tsp. lemon zest
1/2 tsp. lime zest
1  1/2 tsp lemon or orange juice
1/2 tsp vanilla
1  1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder (I use just under 1/4 tsp)

1/4 cup sugar for rolling

Heat oven to 350. Beat the butter and sugar together until very fluffy. Add everything but the dry ingredients and mix until well combined. Add the dry ingredients and mix at low speed just until combined.

Form into little balls…..approx. 1 Tablespoon of dough. Roll the balls in the sugar and place them onto ungreased or parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges are light brown. Allow to cool completely. They may still appear soft in the middle, but don’t worry. They will crisp up once cooled.

The perfect little crispy cookie. Happy Crunching

Gooey rolls, oozing with cheese, buttery, soft…….and fun to eat. This is an OMG bread. What makes it fun to eat, is that you roll out the dough and roll it up like you would with cinnamon rolls. But instead of cinnamon and sugar on the inside, you have garlic and cheese…….and butter. Are you drooling yet? They look really incredible…a little something different, ya know?

If you like making yeasty doughs, then by all means do it. I love to make yeast breads and rolls. But if you’re not into it, you can get a frozen dough……I like Bridgeford brand. Or you can buy a pizza dough. I just used a basic yeast roll recipe this time. But some times I get a ball of pizza dough from my local grocer. You can also use the French bread dough in those cans that you slam against your counter. You know the ones. You stand back, slam it, it pops and you jump. Yeah, those! That dough is actually great for these rolls. Darn, those things scare the you know what outta me, every time!

These are actually fun to make. You just roll out the dough, spread it with butter and garlic. Sprinkle it with cheese and roll it up. Then it’s sliced and baked. Then, the smell of the garlic fills your house and you will be very happy.

I only had some sliced provolone on hand this time, but it worked beautimously. 🙂 I do recommend using a shredded cheese though.

Think of all the things you could stuff it with. I should call this Stuff It rolls……you stuff the dough, you stuff your face and then your tummy is stuffed. Oh, I crack myself up. Ok, dumb.

Cheesy Garlic Roll-Up Rolls

Dough (Basic homemade yeast roll recipe, or thawed store bought frozen yeast dough, pizza dough, or French bread dough in the pop open container)

1 stick of butter, softened
2 cloves of garlic, minced
approx. 1  1/2 cups shredded cheese (mozzarella, provolone, fontina, parmesan…or a mixture of all)

On a floured surface, roll out your dough into a rectangle. Carefully spread with very soft butter. Sprinkle garlic all over the butter. Or you can just mix the butter and garlic together and then spread.

Cover the surface with the shredded cheese. On the long side of the dough, carefully roll it up like a cinnamon roll log. The seam should be down, on the bottom.

Using a sharp knife, make slices every 2 inches. Carefully lift the slices onto a baking sheet or cake pan. I leave a little space between each roll, but it’s ok if they are touching. Cover with a dish towel and let it sit in a warm place for about 30-45 minutes. Depending on what kind of dough you use, they should rise.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove the towel and bake for 15 – 20 minutes, or until lightly browned. At this point, you can drizzle melted butter all over the rolls, or spread some softened butter all over.

I even split a roll in half the next day and made a little meatball sandwich.