Pepperocini Beef and Provolone Sandwiches

Have a busy day? Get out your slow cooker! These delicious and amazing pepperocini beef and provolone sandwiches are sure to please!


Pepperocini Beef and Provolone Sandwiches

Adapted from Our Best Bites :)

If you haven't heard of Our Best Bites yet, you need to check out their website now at ourbestbites.com. It is so amazing! They have hundreds of recipes and they are all so delicious. I love the girls that write it, Kate and Sarah, they are really funny and witty.

Anyways, I made their Pepperocini Beef Sandwiches today. I love them!

Here is what you need + some oil (I forgot to put that in the picture)

Step 1: You are going to put 2 Tablespoons of oil in a large pot or saucepan. Olive oil is preferred but I forgot to restock that so I just used regular vegetable oil and that worked great too. Turn up the heat to medium high.


Step 2: Put a 1/2 + teaspoon of Kosher Salt and a 1/2 +teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper on a plate.

Then you are going to get your 3 lbs. piece of roast and trim the fat off and then rub it on the plate on all sides getting salt and pepper all over it.

Step 3: Once the oil is hot put your meat in the pot and let it sear and brown. Let it sit a bit on each side so it creates a nice brown crust. Sear all sides and edges so the entire outside of your roast is browned. I love my Calphalon pot for making roasts. I make my mom's roast in this too. I could just put all the ingredients in here instead of my crock pot if I wanted and let it simmer all day.

 Step 4: Put your roast in your crock pot.

Step 5: Pour on 2 1/2 teaspoons of minced garlic

At least 2 of these babies. I did another 1/2 a teaspoon more since we LOVE garlic

 Step 6: Pour on your entire 16 oz. jar of sliced pepperocinis.

Step 7: Pour on your packet of Italian Seasoning (optional, but makes it even more yummy!)

Step 8: Put lid on crock pot and set to high. Cook on high until it is bubbly, Then turn to low and cook on low for several more hours until the meat shreds easily. This method makes your meat really tender. If you will be out all day and just want to set it and forget it cook it on low for 8-10 hours.

Step 9: When your meat is cooked get your crusty sandwich rolls ready. I used ciabatta. Open them up and spread some mayo on one side and put a slice of provolone on the other. put on the top rack in your oven and broil for a couple minutes until cheese is melted and the crust is starting to brown.

Use 2 pieces of provolone cut in halves and placed on your bread like so

Step 10: While your buns are cooking get your meat out of the crock pot and shred it.

Step 11: Put meat on sandwich rolls and stick back under the broiler for another minute or so until crust is toasted.

Eat up and enjoy! Makes up to 12 sandwiches.

1. *Freezer Instructions: Prepare the meat through the searing stage. Allow it to cool. Place the roast in a gallon-sized freezer bag or a large freezer safe container. Add the pepperoncinis and the garlic. Seal and freeze.
2. When ready to cook, place in a slow cooker and cook on high for 6-8 hours or on low for 8-10 hours. Serve on toasted crusty rolls with melted Provolone cheese.
3. (Since it makes so much a possiblity would be to cut the meat in half after the searing stage and only put half of the pepporicinis, garlic and seasoning in the crockpot and put the other half of the ingredients in with the meat to be frozen).

While prepping everything I listened to Wildest Dreams by Taylor Swift about a million times! I have a major crush on the guy in that video. He's Clint Eastwood's son. He's also in the movie The Longest Ride! Totally worth watching just because he's in it. From now on these sandwiches will always remind me of Taylor Swift and Scott Eastwood making out.

I have actually made this quite a few times and never used the Italian Seasoning until today. It is really yummy and flavorful without it but was also delicious with it! I don't think you can wrong.

If you have tons of leftovers like we did, we had it again a second night and then on the 3rd night I made beef tacos with the meat. It was amazing! There is also an amazing salsa recipe on there for you to enjoy.

Pepperocini Beef and Provolone Sandwiches

Ingredients:

3 lbs. roast
2 Tb. Oil (olive oil is preferred)
1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt
1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper
16 oz. jar sliced pepperocinis
2 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
Packet of dry Italian Seasong (optional)
Crusty sandwich rolls
Mayo
Provolone Cheese

Directions:

Heat 2 Tb of oil in a large pot on medium high. Rub salt and pepper on meat. When oil is hot sear meat on all sides browning all the edges creating a nice crust. Put browned and seared meat into your slow cooker and pour on pepperocinis, garlic, and Italian seasoning. Cover and cook on high until it bubbles and then on low for several more hours. Alternatively you can cook on low for 8-10 hours. Shred the meat with 2 forks on a plate. Serve on Crusty Sandwich rolls that have 2 slices of provolone cheese on them and some mayo spread on one side. Broil under the oven until cheese is melted and bread is toasted. Enjoy!

5 Little Pumpkins Activity

For my daughter's preschool class I had the opportunity today to do a read aloud with the kids. I was so excited to do this since read aloud time was my favorite time of day with my 3rd grade students and I love reading to Lily. I should be a librarian or something. Just so I can do story time :)

I debated what book to read. Since they are only 3 I decided simple was best. I wanted to read Piggie Pie by Margie Palatini to them so badly since I can do that one really well with awesome expression. Lily loves it, but I decided maybe next year I can sign up and do that story then when the kids are 4 and 5 and have longer attention spans. This year I decided to do Five Little Pumpkins by Dan Yaccarino.

Lily and I prepared for the story time together.  We had a lot of fun together doing it. This is something you can easily do with your children at home too!

You will need the book  Five Little Pumpkins by Dan Yaccarino., a permanent black marker, and 5 small pumpkins (I got mine at Walmart for like $2 for a bag of 5 pumpkins). The bag of pumpkin marshmallows was going the treat to share with her class. Lily was so excited to eat them!

First we read the book a couple times together singing the song together while we read it. We would hold up our fingers for which number of pumpkin we were talking about. Then we got the pumpkins out and put their ordinal numbers on them: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th.

Next we went through the pictures one at a time and drew a face on the pumpkin matching the picture. It shows all the pumpkins at the front but they aren't in order so you have to figure out which face is which. It might be easier to draw the faces first and then put the ordinal number on the back after. But Lily was really good at matching the face with the number. We talked about emotions (Is he worried? Scared? Excited? Happy?) and shapes (Oh this one has triangle eyes, this one has circle eyes, this one has diamond eyes, etc.) to help match the correct pumpkin with the ordinal number. I am no artist but Lily could still tell which faces matched.

Our 5 Little Pumpkins Sitting On A Gate :)

Here I am right before going in to read and sing with a bunch of 3 year olds!

Today with the preschool class I first talked to the students about how they were going to get to go to the pumpkin patch for their field trip next week and choose their very own pumpkin. I lined up all the little pumpkins on this table next to me and with Lily by my side we read the book and sang the song with some actions we made up with the kids. Then I had students come up to help hold the pumpkins and we sang it a few more times making sure all the students got at least 1 turn. Then Lily passed out her treats of the pumpkin marshmallows. We also brought the pumpkin shaped Reese's and the teachers were happy to have one of those too! It turned out really fun!

Here is a link to a video of the book with the music/song here!

My little helper :)

For more fun Halloween and Fall books to read to your kids baby to 3rd grade read this post here.

Thanks for reading!

72 Hour Food Kit

This past weekend we were able to be uplifted and taught by some great leaders in our church.  It was 2 days filled with wonderful messages, promises, and teaching of Jesus Christ.  We look forward to it twice a year.  But sometimes it's a little hard to pay attention.  Especially when their are 5 boys running around like crazy!  I tried to think of some things to keep them occupied and at least sit there for a little bit to listen to these great men and women of our church.  I printed off some great packets that had crossword puzzles, coloring pages, trivia questions, and matching pictures.  This kept them listening for awhile.  For years I have been wanting to put together our 72 hour kits.  I thought this would be the perfect opportunity.  So Saturday night, I made my list and went off to the store to get the things I needed.  I researched a lot and became VERY overwhelmed.  72 hour kits can as elaborate as you want them to be!  So instead of getting so overwhelmed to the point of giving up, I decided to start basic.  I got the stuff I needed to make our 72 FOOD kits.  Here is the list of things that are in OUR kits.

1 Can Soup
2 Packets Ramen
2 applesauce cups
1 cup fruit
1 pudding cup
3 peanut butter snack cups
1 package tuna/crackers
3 boxes raisins
3 granola bars
3 hot chocolate mixes
1 chocolate milk
1 juice box
30 pieces of hard candy (not mint)

I put everything in groups and gave the boys a big 2 gallon ziplock bag.  Then I told them how much of each item to put in their bag.  There were having so much fun putting it together.  It was a great family activity.  We explained to the kids why we were doing it and gave some examples of dissasters that had happened where these kits would have come in handy.

I know that we have WAY more to do to put together more for our kits.  For example, a Sanitary kit, clothes, money, medicine, water, sleeping bags, etc.... My next goal is to get 7 different backpacks and put our food kits and anything else we might need in those.  Then have them for easy access so if we need to leave in a rush, we can all grab our backpacks and go.

For now our food kits are sitting nicely in our pantry and next October General Conference, we get to enjoy all our snacks and rotate them for new snacks.  I had made sure that everything in our packs would stay good for at least a year.

There you have it, a simple way to get started on your 72 hour kit.

How To Prepare Your Child For A New Sibling

When I found out I was pregnant with my second child, I was thrilled! I had been able to conceive so much faster with my second than with my first so I was also a little shocked. Then I became worried. How could I do this to my little girl? She would no longer be the center of our universe! She wouldn't get my undivided attention!

As you can see, she wasn't exactly thrilled ;)

But then I remembered how wonderful it is to have brothers and sisters. I don't know what I'd do without them! Giving your child a sibling is the greatest gift you can ever give them. They have a best friend for life. Someone to rely on after you are gone.

I was still scared. How was she going to handle this? How could I prepare her? My daughter still seemed like a baby to me. How was she going to be a big sister?

So of course I started researching. I turned to the internet and read oodles of articles and blog posts like this one. I went to my library and checked out every  book they had about being a big sister or having a new baby. My favorite books are: I'm a Big Sister by Joanna Cole (They also have I'm a Big Brother), Waiting for Baby and My New Baby by Rachel Fuller, The Berenstain Bears New Baby by Stan Berenstain,  The New Baby by Mercer Mayer, The Baby is Here!(Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, Julius, and  The Baby of the World by Kevin Henkes (the girl in that is even named Lily!).

She took her research seriously.

      

We constantly talked about how there was a baby inside mommy's tummy and that Lily gets to be a big sister. We would have her kiss my tummy and give the baby hugs and gentle pats. We would say we were thankful for the new baby in mommy's tummy during prayers and ask that it would be healthy and safe and pretty soon she was saying the same thing in her prayers.

The baby's ultrasound pictures hung on our fridge and Lily would always blow kisses at them. We showed her old ultrasound pictures of her when she was in mommy's tummy too.

We watched every show there was about being a big brother or sister.Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood Season 2 is the best. My little girl still watches it all the time and sings some of the songs to herself when she is frustrated, "When a baby makes things different, find a way to make things fun!" or "There's time for you, and baby too," or my favorite "I really love our baby".

A couple months before the baby was due we bought Lily a "big girl bed" and moved her crib into the baby's room. She loved it and it helped her feel more grown up.

We showed her pictures and videos of when she was in Mommy's tummy and when she was born and just a  little, tiny baby and how soon we would have a baby just like that to love, hold, kiss and snuggle.

We constantly reassured her that we loved her so much and that we were excited for her to be a big helper and how exciting it was that she was "growing up on the inside and outside." (thanks Daniel Tiger ha ha)

We got her her own baby doll to take care of. I bought a little toy doctor's kit on Amazon along with a few other little treats and wrapped it in a present and put it in my hospital bag to take with me. When Lily visited us at the hospital we gave the gift to her and told her it was from the baby because she loved her big sister so much. Then when the nurses came into take my blood pressure she could do the same thing to her daddy with her kit.

When we got home from the hospital we tried to make sure that my husband and I each spent some one-on-one time with her every day and gave her some personal attention and extra love. I think that prevented a lot of behavior problems. Luckily my husband had a couple weeks before he had to go back to work that he could really be our older daughter's best friend and give her lots of extra attention. We let her hold the baby (with our help) as much as she wanted to. We gave her little tasks to make her feel like she was helping like "go get a diaper, or a wipe, or a burp cloth or blanket, go get her binky. throw this diaper away, go get a baby toy"  etc. Her other job still to this day is to turn on and off the little sound machine in the baby's room and the big box fan in the hall.

My daughter did have some regression. She started wanting binkies all the time when she hadn't taken them since she was 3 months old. She wanted bottles. She wanted to be a baby too. So we just got rid of all the binkies when my baby no longer wanted them at 3 months as well. Then we got rid of all the bottles when my baby turned 1. I didn't think those things were the end of the world. I'm sure I could have been more strict and gotten rid of the bottles or binkies sooner. I decided to pick my battles :).

It has been so fun and amazing to see the sweet relationship between my daughters develop. They love each other so much and as my older daughter is always saying "are best friends" and then she tries to sit back to back with Lucy. She says she is Elsa, and Lucy is Anna, and they are best sisters and best friends forever! Lily has been really patient and sweet with her even when Lucy pulls her hair.I'm so glad my girls have each other and I hope their sweet relationship continues to grow

I hope this helps! How did you guys prepare your kids for a new baby?

How to Have Your House Smelling Like Pottery Barn in 15 Minutes

It seriously only took me fifteen minutes to make this happen. 

I timed myself. And I was even taking pictures. 

The scent of a room, home, or store has a huge impact on how we feel about and remember a place.  Smells have an especially strong impact on me during pregnancy, so I have been looking for ways to help our new rental (don't they always smell especially odd...) smell better...more fresh.

I struggle with candles, waxes, air fresheners, sprays. They are too artificial, leaving a yucky aftertaste in my nose. I like diffusing essential oils, but haven't unpacked my diffuser yet. SO I spent some time on Pinterest and came across a lemon-rosemary-vanilla aroma recipe, as well as a homemade essential oil carpet powder, 

which is what I am going to share with you today!

**The quickest hack I have found to helping our apartments smell naturally fresh is to sprinkle a few drops of your favorite essential oil on your vacuum brush bristles before vacuuming.  It will freshen your house wonderfully!**

Lemon Rosemary Vanilla Aroma Remedy: 

Combine:

1 lemon, sliced

A few sprigs of fresh rosemary

A couple teaspoons of vanilla

Simmer these things in a slow cooker or stew pot filled halfway with water throughout the day. Enjoy!

Essential Oil Carpet Powder:

1.5 cups baking soda

10-15 drops (depending on how potent you want it to be) essential oil of your choice

Combine and shake over your carpet. Let it sit for about 5 minutes. Vacuum. 

Here is what I did:

I mixed up my carpet powder in a glass jar and sprinkled it generously over my living room carpet.  I chose lemon because 1. I love lemon and 2. I thought it would go well with the smell I was going to have brewing in the kitchen. 

While the powder was sitting on the carpet, I mixed up my lemon rosemary vanilla concoction. This week I happened across some fresh $3 herbs in the produce section at Wal-Mart. So I have my very own rosemary plant growing in my kitchen window. Lovely. I wished I would have bought a mint one too after I read this article about 8 indoor plants with aromatic benefits.  Next time.

My husband used the last of the fresh lemons to make lemon ice cubes...so I had to use bottled lemon juice. I'm excited to try it again with fresh lemons because they smell sooo yummy and the bottled lemon juice was not potent enough for my taste. I used Mexican vanilla, and I actually did 1 tablespoon...so it was a little strong. The strong vanilla overpowered the weak lemon juice. So next time I'll pull back on the vanilla and maybe even use two fresh lemons...

I poured my mixture into my crockpot and started it on low. After about an hour, I turned it to high and got better results.  The smell lasted for about six hours.  As soon as I get some more fresh lemons, I'm going to try again with more rosemary and lemon.  

If this smell doesn't seem like it would appeal to you, try adding your own fresh ingredients to your water.  Mint leaves or orange and grapefruit slices...get creative!

After throwing together the Pottery Barn smell, I sprinkled a few drops of lemon oil on my vacuum brush bristles before vacuuming the living room and loving the lemony good results.  I'll probably be vacuuming my carpet everyday with different essential oils to suit my mood.  

Clove or cinnamon carpet will be perfect for the holidays!

Best EVER Sugar Cookies

I don't know about you, but making sugar cookies isn't worth is unless they turn out AMAZING.  And these don't disappoint!  They were not too hard to make either.  They are soft and chewy and simply amazing.  Go out and get the ingredients and make them this weekend!  The perfect treat for your kiddos after a long week of school.

I made the dough the night before and wrapped it in saran wrap to chill overnight in the fridge.  The next morning, I took it out and let it sit for about 10 minutes before I rolled them out.  To make it easier, I cut my dough into about 4 sections and rolled it out on a floured surface.

I just used a circle cookie cutter and cut out circles.  They really did hold their shape, so next time I make these, I am going to Halloween shapes!

Line your baking sheet with parchment paper.  This makes it so they don't stick to the bottom of your cookie sheet.

Put them in the oven and bake for about 10 minutes and lay out on counter on more parchment paper and let cool completely before frosting them. (I may have eaten a few even before they were frosted because they were just that good!)

My kids have already been asking when I can make them again, like everyday!

Best EVER Sugar Cookies

1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
1 cup sour cream
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
5 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
4 teaspoons baking powder

*More flour might be needed

Combine butter and sugar together and mix well.  Add in the sour cream and blend.  Then add the eggs and vanilla.  In a separate bowl, add all the dry ingredients together and mix.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix really well.  Then add more flour.  Probably another 1 cup (a little at a time).  You don't want the dough to be too sticky.  Wrap dough in saran wrap and refrigerate for at least a few hours (or overnight)  Roll out on floured working space and cut out shapes about 1/2 inch thick.  Put on parchment lined cookie sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes.  Place on parchment paper to let cool.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 stick butter, softened
1 block cream cheese, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
1-2 tsp vanilla
milk

Mix butter and cream cheese together really well.  Add the powdered sugar and vanilla.  Then add in a little milk (I eye-ball it).  Add more milk or powdered sugar until you get the consistency you want.  Add in a little food coloring if desired.