Sunday and Monday Dinner ~ Two Meals in One

Roast is a go-to Sunday meal in our house.  Whenever roast is on sale at Kroger I stock up, so we have roast at least once a month.  I usually cook it in a crock pot, so it cooks low and slow while we are church. There's nothing special about the way I make roast.  I just salt and pepper the meat, and sear it in a pan before setting it in the crock pot.  Next, I put in a sliced onion, several mushrooms, dried parsley, and two cans of cream of mushroom soup.  I add a little more salt and pepper, and then I pour in a box of beef broth.  I walk away, and six hours later when the meat is falling apart dinner is ready.  I didn't always put in the cream of mushroom soup; I would just make my own gravy out of the broth, but the cream of mushroom creates a really yummy and creamy gravy in the crock pot with the roast.  I usually serve mashed potatoes (the fattening kind with heavy cream, butter, cream cheese and herbs, because after all it's the weekend) and corn casserole.  I serve some Italian bread on the side, and that's a typical Sunday dinner in my house.  Now there's nothing special about that, because I'm sure millions of Americans have a similar Sunday dinner in their house every week.  What we do different in our house is use the leftovers for a similar but different Monday night meal.

On Monday night, I take some of the leftover roast and make warm paninis by sandwiching the meat between my leftover Italian bread with a slice of provolone cheese and some of the leftover mushrooms (I think I got this idea from a Food Network show, but I’m not sure).  I set my sandwich in a pan with hot olive oil.  Then, I put another heavy pan on top of the sandwich (that's my make-shift panini press).  While the sandwiches are getting nice and toasty, I take the thick leftover mashed potatoes and make potato cakes by frying them up in some olive oil.  Lastly, I warm up the gravy and use it for a dipping sauce for the sandwich.  That's it!  As much as we love our Sunday dinner, I think we love our Monday dinner even more.  The sandwich is cheesy and crispy, and the mashed potato cakes taste so yummy, because they’ve been crisped up in the olive oil.

My cell phone pictures don’t look the greatest, but trust me it’s yummy!  Two meals in one is the way to go!  It makes for two really easy, affordable and enjoyable meals.  Do you have any “two meals in one” ideas?  Please share them with me.  I’d love to hear about the things you create in your kitchen.

Meal #1

Meal #2