Texas and Philly Cheesesteaks

This time last week, I would have been winding down with family after toobing down the Comal River near San Antonio, Texas. We were there visiting family....When the opportunity arose that we could visit again this year after an amazing trip last year, Mike and I jumped at the chance. We love Texas, what can I say? Most importantly, we love our family in Texas!

Seriously, if we had the chance to move there, I would love it. Mike? Well, he loves it but he is not so sure. If it wasn't for him, I would have had us living in Pennsylvania and Texas by now. He grounds me :)

While we were there, we were introduced to the shows Swamp People and Finding Bigfoot. Yeah, we don't have cable in our home because we thought we could save money not having a monthly cable bill. But it doesn't...well I should say...didn't matter that we didn't have cable before our trip because we rarely watch TV.

Now I want cable, if only to watch Swamp People and Finding Bigfoot! Needless say, we were hooked.

Mike perfected his Swamp People accent to a T. And we were treated with "Squatch" calls by a family member who shall remain nameless as we floated down the Comal. Any time I had a rough few moments at work this week, I would think about the "Squatch" calls and it would make me laugh!

All in all, it was the perfect trip.

In keeping with Mike's idea to post about making a meal together, he and I offered to make dinner one night during our trip. Mike decided on Philly cheesesteaks, which was appropriate because my cousin's family is from the Philadelphia/New Jersey area. So we took a trip to the local HEB, and Mike, after perusing the seafood and meat cases for quite some time, purchased a ribeye and another cut of meat that I can't remember off the top of my head. (Mike?? What is it called??)

We also bought some french bread loaves, green bell peppers and vidalia onions. Adding to that we grabbed some Heluva french onion dip (a Smith family favorite) and some kettle chips. Oh and some provolone and some pepper jack cheese.

I ended up cutting the onions and green peppers up into slices with only a little help from my mom. :)



Please ignore my pulled back hair and sunglasses/headband. I am in dire need of a haircut. And it was so hot down there, that having my hair down was such a nuisance.

While I cut up the onions and peppers, Mikes started to cut up the meat, seasoning it to perfection.



Meanwhile, my cute cousin Jenn started to make an Asian inspired coleslaw to go along with the meal. Yum!



Mike tossed the onions, peppers and meat into the skillet and cooked it until the meat was browned all the way through.



We also put the bread in the oven for a few minutes to crisp up. I also sliced the cheese into manageable slices. And yes, that did cause a few "cutting the cheese" jokes. :)

We had everyone make their own sandwiches to their own liking. Here's a pic of the finished product!



The best part? No one got food poisoning, which is always a fear I have whenever I make meals for people. Which doesn't happen very often. But I still worry about it anyway.

Mike and I didn't cook a meal this week...well, we made pasta last night but I didn't think to take any pictures of it. It was pretty unremarkable. We are dealing with the usual post-vacation stress at work, and a couple of other things that maybe someday I will write about!

Have a good week!