How’s your pandemic cooking fatigue? Yes, it’s a real thing. Chances are even if you dove into cooking projects with gusto back in March, it’s not bringing the same joy.
You know what? It’s okay. It’s okay to dial back. It’s okay to ask to share the load. It’s okay to take the easiest option.
I found myself burning out hard a little more than a month ago, so I made a conscious effort to switch up my meal planning. After I pick our meals for the week, I sit with the list and go though asking – what can I do to make this easier? In many cases, that means putting off new blog experiments for things I know will work.
These sandwiches are something I made frequently pre-kids, but they’d fallen out of our rotation. They’re just perfect to throw together on our lunch break (because we’re still working from home here…) and then are ready when we’re running back into the kitchen to get the kids dinner.
Jump to:
Ingredients
- 8 large slices Italian bread
- 1/4 lb. deli-sliced ham
- 1/8 lb. deli-sliced capicola
- 1/8 lb. deli-sliced hard salami
- 1/4 cup sliced white onions
- 1/4 cup sliced banana peppers
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/4 lb. deli-sliced provolone cheese
- Foil
- 1/3 cup water
- Olive oil, for drizzling
While the sandwiches are all wrapped together, each is built individually so it’s super easy to customize this for each family member. I love meals like this because we can omit or add, go heavy or light based on everyone’s preferences and no one can complain when dinner is served.
Directions
- Lay out 4 slices of bread. Top evenly with ham, capicola, salami, onions, banana peppers, Italian seasoning, and cheese. Top with the remaining slices of bread.
- Stack all the sandwiches together and wrap tightly with foil so they’re all completely covered.
- In the slow cooker, invert a small tin pie dish or make a coil of foil on the bottom of the slow cooker pot- you’ll want your bundle of sandwiches to be elevated slightly.
- Add water to the slow cooker, then place the foil-wrapped sandwiches in. The foil bundle should not touch the water. If it does, remove the bundle and make a foil coil to boost it up.
- Cover and cook on low for 4 hours.
- Remove bundle and serve sandwiches. Drizzle insides with olive oil before serving, if desired.
Keeping the foil wrapped sandwiches elevated is key to this working well. If the water is touching the foil, your bread will end up very soggy. You also don’t want to skip the water – it steams everything nicely. Sandwiches placed directly on the crock will over-toast the bread touching it.
More Easy Slow Cooker Meals
Slow cooker dinners are perfect for busy nights! Other slow cooker sandwiches we love include Cheesesteaks, Honey Mustard Pulled Chicken, and Drip Beef.
Pepperoni pizza soup is one of our cold-weather go-tos and Cafe Rio Chicken Tacos are a favorite no matter the season!
Recipe
Grinders in the Slow Cooker
Ingredients
- 8 large slices Italian bread
- 1/4 lb. deli-sliced ham
- 1/8 lb. deli-sliced capicola
- 1/8 lb. deli-sliced hard salami
- 1/4 cup sliced white onions
- 1/4 cup sliced banana peppers
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/4 lb. deli-sliced provolone cheese
- Foil
- 1/3 cup water
- Olive oil, for drizzling
Instructions
- Lay out 4 slices of bread. Top evenly with ham, capicola, salami, onions, banana peppers, Italian seasoning, and cheese. Top with the remaining slices of bread.
- Stack all the sandwiches together and wrap tightly with foil so they're all completely covered.
- In the slow cooker, invert a small tin pie dish or make a coil of foil on the bottom of the slow cooker pot- you'll want your bundle of sandwiches to be elevated slightly.
- Add water to the slow cooker, then place the foil-wrapped sandwiches in. The foil bundle should not touch the water. If it does, remove the bundle and make a foil coil to boost it up.
- Cover and cook on low for 4 hours.
- Remove bundle and serve sandwiches. Drizzle insides with olive oil before serving, if desired.
