Afternoon!  Wow, what a lazy morning I had.  I slept for 10 hours last night.  I wish I could give my gift of sleep to Tony just for one night so he could know what it feels like to sleep that long. 

We were both really hungry and I had to pick up my contacts before the eye doctor closed so we headed out to breakfast.  My phone died and I didn’t have my camera with me (I know, shocker!) so all I have for you is my coffee cup – I love diner coffee.

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I may or may not have gotten corned beef hash and eggs. Open-mouthed smile

Yesterday I had a spinach egg white, ham and cheese egg sammie with some strawberries. I love the Thomas English Muffin high fiber muffins – 8 grams of fiber per muffin!

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Luckily my weather held out yesterday and I was able to grill out.  It was about 50 degrees and overcast, but the rain stayed away.  I made chili hot dogs, cole slaw and Fritos – super simple but so tasty.

Now the chili I make for hot dogs is different from any other chili I make,  It’s thinner and doesn’t have any beans.

Chili Dog Sauce

  • 1.5 pounds ground sirloin**
  • 1 1/2 cups water
  • 8 oz. can of tomato sauce
  • 1/2 cup ketchup
  • 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

** If you use any other kind of meat other than sirloin, cook the beef first and drain any fat off.  If using lean beef just cook with the other ingredients.

This can’t be easier – throw everything in a pot and mix together, using a wooden spoon to break up the beef.  Cook for 20 minutes.  Done.

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I bought Oscar Meyer Angus beef hot dogs and they were really good – only $3.99 for 8 hotdogs.  And the coleslaw couldn’t have been easier too – have you ever tried this before?

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I just chopped up a small cabbage, used 1/2 a bag of broccoli slaw and just tossed this dressing over the top – delish!

Here’s a shocker – we didn’t have party pizza Friday!  I know, I am just as bummed as you are!  But I had some ground beef I had to use up that I had leftover from the chili sauce.  I ended up making patty melts.  Here are a couple secrets to a great patty melt. 

First, thin burger just with salt and pepper.  Heat your skillet to medium high and don’t put your burger on until the pan is really hot.  Then don’t move the burger for 3-4 minutes.  You want to get a nice crust on the burger.

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Once the burgers are almost done – about 3-4 minutes per side, build your patty – 2 slices of buttered bread, American cheese, and for me, hot giardiniera.  Once you put the patty melts back in the pan, put a lid over it and bring the heat down to low – you want to melt the cheese before the bread gets overcooked.  I use my wok top.

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The only flack that Tony gave me?  That patty melts have to be made on rye bread.  I disagree, and feel a patty melt is a burger made on bread – any kind of bread.  He then proceeded to show me the first 500 pictures on google images, and sure as shit, each of them was made on rye bread.  Who knew?! Open-mouthed smile

So since tomorrow is Momma’s Day, I decided to have a sleep over at my Mom’s house tonight.  She has pretty much everything she needs and/or wants, so I decided my gift to her this year would be the gift of time.  She needs her patio furniture put out and has a couple other household things she needs done.  We’ll have dinner out tonight and go to church tomorrow.  Hannah got tomorrow off so she will be joining us too – a three generation sleep over!

Tony will be fine.  Turns out we have Banquet fried chicken in the house and I am sure he’ll find a boxing or MMA fight on t.v. Open-mouthed smile

I hope all the Momma’s out there have a wonderful day tomorrow – have a great weekend!  I am off to try making my first loaf of sourdough bread, if it turns out, I’ll post it on Monday.