I recently had a friend mention that I only had 4 recipe posts on the blog, so, Tom, this one’s for you! 🙂
We have been having more people over for Sunday lunch after the morning service, so I’ve been working at expanding my Sunday lunch repertoire. Normally, if it’s just us, we keep it simple–cheese, meat, crackers, veggies. But when we have guests, we try to have something a bit more filling that will also be ready shortly after our return home from church. Yesterday’s lunch fit the bill, and it was really good!
I made crockpot Italian beef. I prepped all the spices, onion, etc. the night before, so on Sunday morning all I had to do was cut the meat in chunks and throw it and the rest of the ingredients in the crockpot. I bought sliced banana peppers instead of whole pepperoncini. I used half the jar in the crockpot, and I served the rest for topping the sandwiches. It was perfectly tender
when I got home after cooking on high for about 5 hours.
I decided to make Italian roasted peppers as well as marinated red onions the night before. These were absolutely delicious additions to the sandwiches! Definitely worth the little bit of extra effort. I had sliced provolone and mozzarella cheese available for the sandwiches. We used petite hoagie rolls from Sam’s Club. I offered for people to microwave their sandwich to melt the cheese, but no one did. The next day, I put my sandwich under the broiler to melt the cheese, and it was very good–melted cheese and toasty bun!
For the sides, I had a garden salad (with carrot sticks available instead for the little kids). I also made instant pot mac and cheese. This was a great filler, and the kids especially were a fan. Plus, it was quick and easy to make while I shredded the beef. I had the spices and cheese all ready to throw in when I got home. No mac and cheese is as good as my mom’s baked mac and cheese (recipe to come later!), but this was a good quick, non-box version.
Let me know if you try this meal! I will definitely be making it again.
Enjoy!