a make your man happy meal

Can I just go ahead and admit that I love anything meaty and cheesy? Especially with great bread that is crusty on the outside and soft on the inside, and a good amount of sauce. I don't really like meatball subs from restaurants, because I am extremely picky about red sauce. EX-TREMELY picky about red sauce. I only buy one brand of sauce and I soup it up to my exact specifications (more on this later.)

Anyway, my husband loves meatball subs, so I make them from time to time. Now, I don't always make my meatballs from scratch, because I find that the packaged ones are just fine. If you don't agree with eating pre-packaged meatballs, then by all means, go ahead and spend the time making your own, then follow these instructions. I promise you, your meat-eating husband will love you and take you into the bedroom, well, once his dinner has digested.

The ingredients:

• 6 inch sub rolls of your choice
• an onion, chopped
• white mushrooms, sliced
• mozarella cheese (or any Italian cheese blend)
• frozen meatballs
• Classico Cabernet Marinara Sauce...to me it has the best taste

1. Let's start in the saute pan. Chop those onions and slice the mushrooms, then get them into the pan with some olive oil over medium high heat. I let the mushrooms get a little brown before I salt and pepper them.

2. Frozen meatballs. Ahhhh. Place the number you want on a paper towel on a microwave safe plate and cook according to the package directions. Usually a plateful of meatballs takes about 3 minutes. I normally cook extra to eat straight off the plate.

3. Add both the sauce and the meatballs to the pan with the onions and mushrooms. I tend to also add a couple of tablespoons sugar to my sauce as well...don't like it bitter at all. Let the sauce bubble while you prepare the bread.

4. My sub rolls were actually a foot long, so I cut them in half. Then I open them up and lay them out flat, while I get my toaster oven warmed up.

5. Lay out the meatballs on the bread and spoon on a little extra sauce. My husband likes extra sauce. He doesn't like anything dry, so I add extra to his.

6. Sprinkle on the cheese. Yum. If I have Alfredo sauce, then I sometimes drizzle a little on before the cheese. It makes the cheese a little more creamy and delicious.

7. Broil. I lay mine out on my toaster oven size stoneware pan and slide them on in. Pay no attention to all the crumbs on the bottom of the oven. Now, I know my oven, but I don't know yours, so watch your sandwich carefully and remove at the desired cheesy melty-ness.

I like it when it looks like this. Add a side of chips and enjoy! You will thank me for this recipe, and I know that you will make it again and again! The sauce/meatball combo works well over pasta or poured over pasta and then baked with cheese on top. It has lots of possibilities.

Now I am hungry, so I have to go and make something to eat. Hmmm, I wonder if I have any more meatballs?