I really like to make my own meatballs. Sometimes there store bought frozen ones are fine. Sometimes you intend to have a meatball sub, and end up making a meatball club. (I like my meatballs with lasagna & in wedding soup too.)
The other day we needed a quick dinner so frozen meatballs it was. Still gotta make it good though, right? I like a toasted sandwich bun…. with meatball subs, meatball clubs, pulled pork BBQ, chipped ham BBQ, sloppy Joes, & more.
Ooey Gooey Toasty Meatball Sub
I had ChatGPT help me format my recipe from my ramblings…
Cheesy Meatball Subs with Garlic-Herb Toasted Buns Servings: 2 | Prep: 10 min | Cook: 15–20 min
Ingredients:
8 frozen meatballs
2 sub rolls
2–3 tbsp butter, melted
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp onion powder
½ tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp parsley
1 cup jarred marinara sauce
1 tsp brown sugar (optional)
2 tbsp grated Parmesan or Romano cheese (plus extra for topping)
Black pepper, to taste
4–6 sliced black olives (plus extra for topping)
2 slices provolone cheese
¼ cup shredded mozzarella
Instructions:
Cook the meatballs according to package instructions.
Preheat oven to 357°F (180°C). Mix melted butter with garlic powder, onion powder, Italian seasoning, and parsley. Slice rolls and brush the butter mixture onto the cut sides. Sprinkle with Parmesan/Romano and some sliced black olives. Toast for 5 minutes.
Warm marinara in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir in brown sugar, Parmesan/Romano, Italian seasoning, and black pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Place 4 meatballs per bun. Spoon sauce over the meatballs. Add additional olives, provolone slice, and shredded mozzarella.
Return assembled subs to the oven for 5 minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly.
Let cool slightly, then serve and enjoy!
Apparently canned black olives are polarizing here according to social media. Would roasted red peppers be acceptable? What about sauteed green peppers or onions? Mushrooms?
What do you do to spice up your quick go-to meals? What do you like on your subs? Yes, I put sugar in jarred marinara sauce. Tell your Nonna to calm down with the carrots and the baking soda. I like the sweetness and the acidity cut. I also use jarred minced garlic occasionally.
Quick Edit to add, had these for lunch today with the leftovers:
• AC🗲DC • PWR🗲UP • Acrisure Stadium • Pittsburgh PA • Thursday May 8th, 2025 •
So, I have been a casual AC/DC fan for as long as I can remember getting into music. They were always there, always a mainstay, always the butt of “same sounding songs” jokes alongside fellow icons the Ramones. I believe I bought Razor’s Edge& Back in Black about the same time in Jr. High. I really dug “Big Gun” from the Last Action Hero soundtrack, and of course, loved the older stuff with Bon Scott as I got into them.
My kids heard me playing “Big Balls” when they were younger, and of course glommed onto it as the most hilarious song ever. I think I created a rock fan with my son, as he has really dug into the AC/DC catalog.
He wanted AC/DC tickets for his birthday, so we got some… then later traded up when a good friend said he wanted to come to town to catch the show with another buddy, as the speculation spread that it may be their last tour and they weren’t playing out his way.
I prepped by making a playlist of suspected tunes on Amazon Music & Spotifythanks to Setlist.fm. I also have one called 100% Certified Angus on Amazon & Spotify that we rock sometimes too! And my son has been spinning Back in Black on vinyl of all things. (I refuse to get into vinyl or guitar pedals, because I already have a guitar problem.)
Off we went for my son’s first stadium show, first time seeing Heinz Field Acrisure Stadium, & first time seeing AC/DC live! We did catch The Aquabats! at the Roxian last year and that was super badass. That was his 1st concert (if we don’t count the incredible & talented Laurie Berkner for a Christmas concert when the kids were super small) and 1st punk rock show!
🤘 For those about to rock, we salute you! 🤘
Just a mashup of clips I got that evening of my dude enjoying his night:
If you follow me on the socials, you probably saw a few signs that we were there. It’s super exciting to me to bond over music as it has been such an important thing to me over the years, as a creative outlet, a place of joy, and comfort.
I can say he said it was “the best night of his life,” so I think he had fun! Ha ha. I am glad I got to see Angus & Brian perform. Man, the band are tight, but with a nice loose groove. I knew they were powerhouse rock icons, but to see it? Absolutely amazing. The show production was crazy with the infamous bell, canons, fireworks, huge LED screens, pyrotechnics, confetti, on-the-fly graphics enhancing live video… but at the same time it all seemed very simple. I’m not sure how to convey it. The frills were not the focus. Obviously Angus and his SG’s are the focus. Even Brian knows this, and he looks like he is having the time of his life up there, knowing he has the coolest job in the world.
I think Angus may be slightly slower now that he was in the 80s or 90s, but at 70 years old… he is undeniably crushing it skipping, shimmying, and duck-walking around the stage while playing rambling angry blues licks, goading the crowd into cheering, stripping off parts of the schoolboy uniform, & taking 17 minute extended guitar solos. At one point, he even defiled the fretboard with his necktie as a slide. That is how you put on a show. Some sources online seemed to think Brian’s vocals were low in the mix. I think that was the case where we were at on the floor… but videos from elsewhere have it perfect. His voice is amazing, and again, at 77… he is running around belting out these immortal songs like it’s nothing for 2 damn hours.
The crowd was sedate, lots of people fist-bumping or throwing horns or thumbs up to my dude as we went through the crowd & got to our seats. There were obviously visible drunks, but nothing I saw got too out of hand, even the tailgating outside seemed to be chill.
It has all kinds of videos from promo stuff, to stage setup, to pyrotechnic stuff, vloggers, and nearly every song individually, from a bunch of different vantage points, and someone grabbed the whole show!
We have had a lot of craziness going on lately, so this was a fun respite and I think we needed it. Hopefully this will be a day long remembered by both of us as a highlight to this year.
So, were you there? Share your stories, pictures, & videos in the comments! I’d love more YouTube stuff to add to the playlist too. I think the only individual song I’m missing is “Rock N’ Roll Train.”
If you weren’t there, or saw them some other time, or in your city, or just want to drop some AC/DC memories or lore, do that too!
My 10 year old is very concerned that my two followers will think she is the villain in my comic book story, and says my impression is nowhere near correct. My son think’s it’s funny.
So, I have blogged about it before, but that was more just the method. This time I actually measured stuff. Usually I just eyeball a bag of fresh green beans if they look good. Still don’t have a good name for it. Ham, Green Beans, & Potatoes? Ham , Beans, n’ Taters? Grandma’s Special? Daddy’s Favorite? Is it a soup or a stew? It’s delicious is what it is. I generally make enough to have a stunningly large amount of leftovers. I always try to get the ham bone, this time my son & I each got one. He’s a copycat.
Soup – In the spoon & soup in the bowl – and the post dinner text from my 9yo after she said there were too many beans and potatoes. 🤦♂️
Ingredients…
3 quarts water
2 Bone-In Ham Steaks, cubed. (makes about 16 cups / 4 quarts)
1 5 lb. bag of potatoes, cubed. (makes about 16 cups / 4 quarts)
2 “steam in bag” bags of green beans, snapped in ½ or ⅓ (makes about 8 cups / 2 quarts)
The “to taste” is just a few shakes usually. This recipe doesn’t really need any extra salt, so if I have a salt-free blend like Mrs. Dash or the Aldi equivalent, I use that. The bullion is according to directions, I think I measured it out right. I added too much water this time, but I think this measurement is still right. The beef & chicken bullion cubes and even the beer are completely unnecessary, but I feel like it adds a little to the broth. I use a big stock pot with a lid, and an 8-cup measuring cup for the big stuff.
Put your liquids & spices in the pot, put it on to boil, but don’t quite dime the knob.
Cube your ham, dump it in the pot.
Cube your potatoes (don’t peel them!), dump ’em in the pot.
Snap ends off your beans if you have any sus ones, snap them in to bite-size pieces if you want. Or chop them. Or don’t. Dump ’em in the pot.
Boil for 20 minutes.
Simmer for 20 minutes or even longer if you want. Let it cook down & get tasty.
Don’t taste it too early while it is hot and burn your tongue every time, because I definitely do not do that.
Serving suggestion – Serve it up with homemade bread (or store bought fresh baked) and butter.
Obviously, wash the beans & potatoes first. I think I broke down what you need & more details on the method the first time I wrote about this soup(stew?). I use fresh produce beans most often, but the bags are quick & easy to measure. This is also good with leftover ham from a holiday meal.
I like soups, I make them a lot. Well, I make them sometimes, when I have time. If you like this one, check these out:
Recently, while camping at a local Jellystone with the family (awesome for young kids, by the way!), it occurred to me just how awesome cargo shorts are. Luckily I have a fashion sense unfettered by current trends, or perhaps a complete lack thereof. Why are they so vilified?
My cargo shorts were the hero of the day for a Saturday camping adventure.
My shorts in the course of the day, at one point for quite some time, contained all of the following…
Car keys
Cabin key
Wallet
Cell phone
Wife’s cell phone
Wife’s lip balm
4 golf balls from Putt Putt that we need to return for a refund across the camp.
The contents of one “fossil” mining sluice bag.
The contents of one “gem” mining sluice bag.
Tummy medicine.
Campground map.
Multi-Tool pocket knife thing:
Plyers
Cutters/Strippers
Knife
Saw
Ruler
Phillips-Head Screwdriver
Flat-Head screw driver
Can-opener
Other Can-opener
File
Epi-Pen.
Tell me that’s not awesome. See the above FB post from my friend Dave, and the photo of backpack shorts found from the bowels of social media? Perhaps that is the only possible evolution to something more useful. Are you brave enough to try?
So, cargo shorts dad, or just cargo shorts man… you continue being you. Cargo shorts mom or cargo shorts woman? You be you too! Fashion will circle back around. Or not. Who cares? We stand the test of time.
I also wear high-top Chuck Taylor All Stars with shorts, which my wife erroneously and hilariously thinks is a faux pas. I mean, what?
I have also noticed that socks with Crocs is a thing. I got into Crocs almost like I imagine someone succumbs to an addiction. I thought they were dumb. I got some for creek shoes at camp. They were really comfortable. I got some fur-lined ones for slippers at home. I wore the regular ones into the yard to garden. I wear them to cut grass, take out the dog, take out the trash. I wore them for a quick run to Rite Aid. Wore them for a longer run to Giant Eagle. Wore them with socks while gardening or mowing the lawn to keep the dirt from getting in between my toes. Will I be wearing Crocs in socks to the kids’ school and sports activities soon?
Tell me in the comments what you store in your cargo shorts. What should I be keeping in mine? I didn’t even get into how different shades of camo PERFECTLY compliment my band T-shirts and Star Wars or Batman T-shirts.
You probably shouldn’t take fashion advice from a guy with lambchop sideburns anyway.
Little dude helped prep the starter chimney for the grill, and mix the burgers, make some patties & check the temperature.
Tried to keep it at 250° for about an hour,
went up a few times so we played with the vents to get it right.
Slathered on some BBQ sauce at the end for a little less than 10 minutes.
The buns, which I should do on the propane side of the grill next time…
Melted some butter & garlic in rhe microwave, brushed it on the buns, put them in the oven at 375° on a pan with a roasting rack for a few minutes to toast them… pulled them put and added BBQ sauce to the bottom and a slice of Gouda and some more French’s onions to the top… toasted until the cheese was starting to melt & the onions got a little more toasty.
Not a bad dinner! It tasted like a Rack of ribs on a bun and the burgers were really juicy. It almost tasted like a rack of ribs or some brisket on a bun.
🍔
So, how do you do your burgers on the smoker? I did get advise to sear, but skipped that as they seemed done & pretty together when I checked them. Any special recipes outside of the normal? We do a mushroom and swiss melt with these onions too… sometimes I make a molten cheese ball on the inside… from regular grilling to the counter-top grill. We try to make them different that what you typically get out. I have been known to do pizza or chili cheese burgers too… but we are definitely coming back to these and trying more styles in the smoker. Maybe a bacon/cheddar/jalapeño one next?
So, today I felt like cooking. We recently came back from a weekend at a cabin and a week at camp. We had a bunch of new stuff ready in the garden, and some stuff past ready.
Here are three quick recipes that I posted on Instagram. The Poblano peppers, banana peppers, straightneck squash, and snap beans were grown in our garden.
Well, that turned out well. Got some poblano from the garden this week. I mixed some bacon bits, minced garlic, shredded cheddar cheese, and steak seasoning into some cream cheese, cut the peppers in half, stuffed with the peppers with the mixture, sprinkled more cheddar on top, wrapped with bacon, & baked on a sheet pan at 375° for 40 min.
Some fresh snap beans from the garden. Steamed, then tossed in with some sautéed mushrooms, French fried onions, minced garlic, a pinch or 2 of flour & fresh cooked bacon pieces. (Used the leftovers from the peppers.)
Had some straightneck squash that grew a bit too big while we were at camp. I had it in my head to prepare it sort of like eggplant parmesean & fried zucchini. I didn’t want the stacked lasagna version, I wanted something with a bit of crunch.
I sliced then up, dredged in flour/cornstarch, egg/buttermilk. & coated in regular & panko breadcrumbs with a bit of parmesan “shake cheese” mixed in. I seasoned each step with Italian seasoning, garlic powder, & black pepper.
I baked them for about 25 or 30 min. on 400°, then topped with provolone & mozzarella slices & a bit more parmesan. They went back in for 10 min.
Served with bowtie pasta & covered in our favorite slightly doctored sauce.
Added the needed flavor to the overgrown squash and I actually preferred the consistency to eggplant.
🥒🧀🌶🥓🧄🍄🌱🍝
All in all, I was really pleased with the results, and I think the family was too.
Do you have some good recipes, tips, & tricks for these garden ingredients?
So, recently I got a smoker attachment for my Char-Griller grill as a gift for Father’s Day. I tried it out today and the results we fantastic. I hit up the Google machine and some non-BBQ-ing Facebook groups for advice, tips, & tricks. (I imagine that they are as intense as guitar groups and I am just not ready yet.) I kept getting advice on the 3-2-1 method of smoking ribs. There are many variations of that technique. I think it went well. I tracked my progress with the #AiXeLsyDBBQ hashtag. Maybe I’ll do some more next time.
The quick and dirty of this method is…
Get your coals to 225°-ish. (I used a chimney to avoid lighter fluid and it was awesome.) I added some wood chunks in the chimney, and on top once I spread on the coals. I did not soak the wood, but I may next time. Control the temp with your vents. Open a bit warms it up, closed cools it off… all because of airflow.
Put the ribs in the grill part if you have an attachment, or not on the heat for 3 hours.
Pull the ribs out, wrap in heavy duty grilling foil, add some apple cider, apple juice, vinegar, pop, or whatever. I added some Straub. Unfortunately I made 2 racks and used the whole bottle, so I drank one myself.
Put them in for 2 hours, smoking really isn’t necessary at this point if your wanna save your chunks or chips.
Pull them out and unwrap them. I should have saved the drippings for the barbecue sauce on the side, but I did not. Shame on me. Do that.
Sauce those ribs up. Liberally. Like, and obscene amount.
Put them back on for 1 hour.(3-2-1… get it? Guys! They said the thing!)
Always check with a thermometer for done-ness. They should be pretty damn done at this point, arguably overdone.
EAT.
I know fall-off-the-bone isn’t competition style. A bone did pull right out of one rack, but the meat was in tact, not falling completely apart. I know the foil wrapping bit is then steaming not smoking… but, rules are made to be broken and a healthy dose of anarchy warms my little punk rock heart.
I would definitely do the ribs like this again. I may try a homemade sauce. This was pretty basic store-brand stuff from Shop ‘n Save with some dry mustard, brown sugar, garlic powder, onion powder, and black pepper, and Straub American Amber Lager. I may try different chips, or a smoker box, or to soak the wood. I even read some people eschew charcoal in favor of all wood once the fire is going.
I also threw on some baked potatoes, turkey legs, grilled veggies, and sauce on the attached burner.
Can’t wait to try out a turkey, pork loin, brisket, and whatever else I haven’t thought of. Mac n’ cheese? Jalapeño poppers? Meatloaf? Bacon?
What do you do in the smoker? What are your go to foods? Got any tips & tricks worth sharing? Do you click the tongs twice or three times? Before, during, or after?
Any excuse to drink beer and play with fire all day is a good excuse to me. Plus, the family was awed by my hereto unknown skills with smoked meats.
What music are you playing while you’re grilling or smoking?
Mine includes beer. Grandma made it every once in a while with cabbage. I suppose you could add carrots and/or onions. Maybe garbanzi beans too? Becky the awesome cook at camp makes it with noodle-style dumplings (I did try it that way once too), and some people make it wholly and horribly incorrectly with a creamy soup base. I have no idea why you would do that to this meal.
I don’t know what to call this. We always just called it “ham, beans, and potatoes” which is somewhat cumbersome… and could be about 4,000,000,000 other soups. In fact, I don’t even know if this is a soup or a stew. Both? Neither? What is the difference, anyway?
A lot of the time this would be made with leftover ham from Christmas, Easter, or whenever. When the hankering strikes now, I go to ham steaks with the little bone in. I don’t have a strict recipe, it’s more of a method.
This time, I put some Ham broth base (which can be a pain in the rear to find in the store sometimes) made slightly weaker than the directions, one cube each of chicken & beef bullion, a bottle of Yuengling Traditional Lager(I have used Straub American Amber for this too), and water in the pot and started it to boil on high. (Perhaps obviously if I had a leftover ham, I would start by boiling the bone and make the broth from that, add bullion if/as needed.) I also popped in some minched garlic, onion powder, and season-all, salt, and black pepper.
Then I cubed up 2 ham steaks, added them to the mix,.
Then I washed n’ cut up a not quite a 5 lb. bag of russet potatoes, and added that to the mix. (I have used Yukon Gold before and they’re delicious, but they seem to break down to starch easier.)
Then, I cheated and popped open 2 bags of microwave/steam ready fresh green beans, rinsed, then snapped/chopped, and added them to the mix. When i came to a boil, I popped it down to 8 on the burner dial, and let it boil for 20 minutes.
Then, I let it simmer on 2 for another 20 minutes, then I put it on low until dinner time.
Ham n’ Bean n; Tater Stew
We served it with fresh baked buttered bread form the local grocery store. The kids seemed to actually eat dinner this evening too, and they’re rather picky lately. Sometimes I make it the night before, this is the kind of stuff that’s always better the next day. I’m not sure if it’s Irish, German, American, or all of the above.
Do you make something like this? Post your variation(s) in the comments below.
So, Google Photos made two of these video clip compilations all by itself, then it let me know in the photos app. One was for Molly, and one was for Ian.
HOW DOES IT KNOW?
Are these algorithms? Facial Recognition? Time, date, & location stamps? Did it use the videos from my phone, or the online backups?
This is so awesome, cute, and creepy.
These videos give me all the feels.
For those who noticed I didn’t blog very often for a while, all this was happening. It’s incredible to look back on it all.
I wish I could tweak some of the clips just a tiny bit to include some better little funny moments, but whatever made this did a pretty damn good job.
World (and Lunar) Domination 