I have been making Ginger's French Dips for years, and they are always a big hit. I have also made the beef ahead, frozen it in it's au jus and reheated when ready to serve. Worked very well.

CROCKPOT FRENCH DIP SANDWICHES
2 cups water
1/2 cup soy sauce
4 whole peppercorns
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried thyme
1 bay leaf
1 tsp garlic powder (had none so used 1 minced garlic clove)
3 lb boneless beef chuck roast, trimmed
8 French or sourdough rolls, split
Combine water, soy sauce, peppercorns, rosemary, thyme & garlic in a slow cooker, stirring until well blended. Place roast in cooker & cover.
Cook on high for 5-6 hours or until beef is tender. Remove meat from broth & shred with a fork. Serve beef on rolls. Pour broth in small bowls for dipping.

~~ Good topped with Swiss cheese or sauteed onions, peppers or both. I like mustard on the rolls, too.~~
Posted by Ginger St. Thomas

Linda

PEPPERONCINI BEEF

3-4 lb roast (anything on sale)
several cloves of garlic (to your liking) I usually use 5-8 cloves
1 jar Pepperoncini (usually found in the Pickle aisle at the grocery store)
Provalone cheese

Slice garlic cloves into thirds lengthwise, make slits in the roast and insert garlic all over roast (depending on how much garlic you like) put roast into crockpot and pour pepperoncinis and liquid over roast, cook on low 6-8 hrs or until falling apart.
Serve on hoagie rolls with provolone or mozzerella cheese, and your choice of condiments. When making the sandwiches, place meat in rolls, cover with cheese, and zap in a microwave for a few seconds. Don't forget to use the pepperoncini in the sandwiches. Enjoy! We do!!!!

I don't have a recipe for italian sausage sub...fry up sausage, add variety of pepper and onions and sautee those up, add a little pasta sauce, when hot, plop in the roll and melt some cheese on top.

The guys in my family love hot turkey or chicken, stuffing/dressing, whole-berry cranberry sauce on homemade oatmeal bread with a bit of mayo.

/tricia

All the above suggestions sound delicious! For dessert - what about Snickerdoodles, brownies, sugar cookies or homemade PayDays (Marilyns recipe)?

Salted Peanut Bars

1½ cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ + ¼ cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 egg yolks
3 cups miniature marshmallows
2/3 cup corn syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 (10-oz.) pkg. ReeceÂs peanut butter chips
1 (16-oz.) can salted, dry roasted peanuts

Heat oven to 350°. In large bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, baking soda, ½ cup softened butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and egg yolks until crumbly. Press firmly in bottom of ungreased 9X13X2-inch baking pan. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle with marshmallows. Return to oven and bake an additional 1 or 2 minutes until marshmallows just begin to puff. Cool while preparing topping.

In a large saucepan, combine corn syrup, ¼ cup butter, vanilla and peanut butter chips. Over low heat melt just until chips are melted and mixture is smooth, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in peanuts. Immediately spoon warm topping evenly over marshmallows; dipping your fingers in water to prevent stickiness, spread to cover. Refrigerate until firm; 1 hour and cut into bars dipping the knife into hot water occasionally.

How about Kentucky Hot Brown???

1/2 cup butter
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 cups milk
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1 egg, beaten
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon butter
2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
1 tomato, thinly sliced
1 pound thinly sliced cooked turkey
8 slices bread, toasted
8 slices bacon, cooked

DIRECTIONS
In a large skillet, melt 1/2 cup butter over medium heat. Stir in enough flour to absorb all of the butter. Slowly whisk in the milk, and 6 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese. Stir in the egg to thicken the sauce, but do not allow to boil. Remove from heat, and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Heat remaining tablespoon of butter in a small skillet. Saute mushrooms in the butter until soft. Set aside.
Preheat your oven's broiler. For each Hot Brown, place two slices of toast onto a heatproof plate or dish. Cover the toast with about 1/4 cup sauteed mushrooms and a couple of tomato slices. Place a liberal amount of turkey onto each Hot Brown, and pour an even more liberal amount of sauce over. Smother that baby. Sprinkle remaining Parmesan cheese over the top. Repeat with remaining ingredients.
Place the entire dish under the broiler until the sauce is speckled brown and bubbly. Remove from broiler, criss-cross two slices of bacon on top, and serve!

I'm trying a new sandwich tonight..I'll let you know how it goes.

teresa, how sweet of you. :-)

First, I think you should have lemonade too. And what about a great thick brownie with some chocolate chunks? (secret: I use Betty Crocker Chocolate Chunk mix and double up - use two boxes in a 9 x 13 pan and cook a bit longer at a slightly lower temp...everyone loves em...)

Or even cookies. Something easy to pick up and eat.

The best sausage sandwiches I know are with the sausage grilled...don't know if you're able to do that. But the toppings can definitely be made ahead and heated! Onions and peppers. I wonder if you could grill the sausages the night before and heat up in a crockpot with the onions and peppers?

There are AMAZING flavors for mustards out now too - a couple of those might make some variety for the sandwiches.

It sounds great - I'm sure will be greatly appreciated!

Stacy

Thanks for the suggestions! I had forgotten both the French Dip and Pepperoncini Beef. Either of those would be less work than the meatball subs or the sausage/peppers/onions.

I think I will do either brownies or Scotcheroos (love those!) for dessert.

There is an ulterior motive to my taking lunch to the guys at the station: they are giving me a break on my new brakes and come to my aid if I need a tow, so I want them to remember me. It will be cinnamon buns again near the holidays!

Okay here's the recipe I've got on the stove. I think it would do great in a crock pot on high for a few hours. Don't know that it would do as well on low all day though.

It tastes really good to me..let's see what the guys think about it when they get home!

Here is a link that might be useful: steak pizza sandwich

Here is a new recipe I got off of Taste of Home website, it's received rave reviews.

Slow Cooker Barbecue Beef
SERVINGS: 8-10
METHOD: Slow Cooker
TIME: Prep: 15 min. Cook: 8 hours
Ingredients:
1 boneless beef sirloin tip roast (about 3 pounds), cut into large chunks
3 celery ribs, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 medium green pepper, chopped
1 cup ketchup
1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup cider vinegar
3 tablespoon chili powder
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons molasses
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon ground mustard
8 to 10 sandwich rolls, split
Directions:
Place beef in a 5-qt. slow cooker. Add the celery, onion and green pepper. In a bowl, combine the ketchup, tomato paste, brown sugar, vinegar, chili powder, lemon juice, molasses, salt, Worcestershire sauce and mustard. Pour over beef mixture. Cover and cook on low for 8-9 hours or until meat is tender.
Skim fat from cooking juices if necessary. Shred beef. Toast rolls if desired. Use a slotted spoon to serve beef on rolls. Yield: 8-10 servings.

It was a toss-up as to which thread to post this to, but...

Thanks Marigene for pointing me here,
thanks Doucanoe for posting the French Dip recipe, and
thanks Ginger, whoever you are, for the recipe.

We were really happy with it. Tonight, the second night, I basically made a garlic bread with mozzarella, put it under the broiler for a bit, then loaded it up with meat. A killer combination which I will definitely repeat when I defrost the leftover-leftovers.

Thanks all!

foodonastump,
Not a surprise that you liked the French Dips!

Ginger is a regular poster on the Recipe Exchange. She has contributed loads of recipes and every one I have tried has been a winner!

Linda

Thank you for sharing. This sounds very interesting and something different that I can make for football Sunday's.

You may try Pioneer Woman's sandwich called "Marlboro Man's Favorite Sandwich," apparently it's quite a man pleaser. It certainly can't be bad with as much butter as is used!

Here is a link that might be useful: PW

That Marlboro Man's sandwich looks like a Philly cheese steak without the cheese to me.
Linda C

I'm not a fan of the sausage/onion/pepper combo but I can see how it would be popular. I just don't like cooked bell peppers. I'll eat them fine but nothing I'd do for myself. Anyways...

I do make an italian sausage sandwich that I really like. Hot italian sausages cooked then split in half. A half section stays in the bread better and is plenty of meat. I really like to split bolillos which are a boiled then baked roll... long so they make nice buns. Chewy-er then a hot dog bun and tougher for a stronger sandwich. I put cheese on mine but onions and peppers would probably slide right in there fine. Glue it all together with cheese maybe?... dunno.

Loose meat is really fast and reheats well! Some kind of sauce to stick it together. I usually do bbq but you mention meatball. I don't see why spagetti sauce would not make a good binder. A sprinkle of mozerella on top for looks and cheezy goodness. I often eat in my truck so I'm sensitive to stuff that drops out of my sandwich... thus all the sticking and glueing concerns.

When I take sandwiches to work I wrap them in wax paper before putting them in baggies. They reheat so well (work microwave) in the wax paper and it makes a "plate" for eating off. Take them out of the baggie so they don't get soggy.

: )
lyra

This recipe of Deborah's makes delicious Italian Sausage Sandwiches.

Italian Sausage And Pepper Sandwich

(Deborah's)

6 Italian Hot sausage (use sweet for less spicy or half of each)
2 large brown onions (I don't know from brown so I use spanish ) cut into 1" slices
3 large garlic cloves, minced
1 red bell pepper cut into 1" slices
1 green bell pepper cut into 1" slices
2-3 roma tomatoes quartered (I remove some of the seeds- also think roasted tomatoes would be excellent)
1/4-1/2 lb. mozzarella sliced thin or shredded (or use provolone)
1 1/2 Cup good red wine
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1=loaf French bread or 4-6 small individual rolls

In a large lightly oiled skillet, on medium heat, fry the sausages until browned on all sides. Remove, cover with foil to keep warm.

Drizzle 1 or 2 tbsp. olive oil into the skillet. On medium high heat fry up the onions, garlic, bell peppers until they become slightly browned on the edges. Add the wine, salt and pepper and cook uncovered for about 15 minutes.

Cut the sausages in half (lengthwise) and add to the skillet along with
the tomatoes, cooking about 5 minutes more.

While peppers and sausage are cooking, cut the french loaf in half. Remove some of the interior bread to make room for the filling. Place bread on a baking sheet and spoon pepper mixture and some juices onto the bread, arranging the sausage halves on the top. Lay mozzarella slices on top and bake in a preheated 425* oven for about 12-15 minutes.

Remove from oven and let rest for a few minutes. Cut into 2-3 inch slices and serve immediately.