Sloppy Joe Filling

My husband is a big fan of sloppy joes. I, on the other hand, am not. It's not that they taste bad, per se, but they just don't taste good to me. I used to keep a can of Manwich sauce in the cupboard for an easy dinner that made the husband happy, but one day I decided to just look up a recipe and try it from scratch. 

What do you know--it's really simple and actually tastes better than what you get in the can. Still not something I would choose to cook just for me, but I'm counting it as a win. 

There are lots of recipes out there. I have tried a few, and am finally committing this one to the blog because I keep losing the papers I print the recipes out on. I realize there are apps that will keep track of recipes, but I don't want to go and start a whole new thing. I've got pretty much all the recipes I want right here on this blog.

So here you go. Basic sloppy Joe recipe. Enjoy.

Sloppy Joe Filling

Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1 cup ketchup
• 1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon yellow mustard
• 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic chili paste (optional)
• 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Instructions:

In a large pan set over medium high heat, brown the ground beef.

Add the onion and bell pepper and cook until veggies are soft.

Add ketchup, mustard, garlic chili paste, garlic powder, and black pepper. Stir to combine.

Reduce heat to low and simmer for another 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add a little more ketchup or water if it seems to be getting too dry.

Serve on sliced buns.

Store leftover filling in an airtight container in the refrigerator and consume or freeze within 3 days.

Makes about 8-10 servings

Cilantro Lime Chicken

Cilantro Lime Chicken served with rice and asparagus

I got this recipe off Sally's Baking Addiction ages ago, and it's truly one of my favorites--even if I haven't made it in a while. It's a little creamy, a little spicy, perfectly savory, and so good served with rice and asparagus. And it tastes great the next day as well. 

It's surprising how quickly this dish comes together, so it's a delicious and satisfying weeknight meal that I need to remember to put into my rotation. 

The only reason I'm putting it here on the blog now is because 1. I am tired of having other search it up I my Pinterest account each time I make it and 2. I'm afraid it will go missing on the internet and then I'd have to make the recipe up myself.

At any rate, it's a great meal. You should try it.

Cilantro Lime Chicken 

     Adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction 

Ingredients:

• 2 large chicken breasts
• 1/4 teaspoon salt 
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 cups chicken broth
• juice of 1 lime
• 3/4 cup red onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1/2-3/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 5 tablespoons butter
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• more cilantro for garnish, if desired

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Cut the chicken into about 1/2-inch filets. I cut a filet off the thicker end of the breast, and then I cut the larger bottom piece in two. The original recipe called for pounding the chicken, so that is also an option.

Sprinkle both sides of the cut chicken with a bit of salt and pepper.

Heat an oven-proof frying/sauté pan over medium high heat. Add the olive oil and tilt the pan to evenly coat the bottom with oil.

Add the chicken and sauté until the bottom is nice and golden brown. Turn and brown the other sides. Once both sides are browned, remove chicken to a dish/plate and cover with foil until the sauce is ready.

Add the chicken broth, lime juice, onion, cilantro, & red pepper flakes to the hot pan. Allow liquid to simmer until it's reduced by about half or a little more. Turn off the heat.

Add the butter, and. heavy cream and stir until butter is melted completely. Then add back the chicken, turning to coat.

Place the pan into the oven and cook for about 10-15 minutes uncovered at 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Remove from oven and serve with rice and vegetable of your choice.

Roast Beef Hash

Salty, beefy, and crisp roast beef hash

My mom is a great cook. Not a healthy cook, but a GREAT cook. One of the things she fed my brother and me when we were young was Libby's Corned Beef Hash from a can. She would refrigerate the can, open both ends, push the contents out one end, and slice off disks of hash. Then she would fry them in a pan until they were brown and crispy. Mmm. Such a fabulous food memory. 
Well, as an adult, I've looked at the nutrition information on that can, and holy smokes! I have NO business eating that stuff any more. I pretty much have no business eating what I'm telling you about now either, but I did it. I won't do it every day or anything, but in case you want to make it too, the recipe is below.
Now, this is not an exact recipe. It's what I did today with what I had leftover from dinner the night before, although I did bake up the potatoes to cube and add to the mix, since I didn't want the beef to get lost in the mashed potatoes. 
I got the idea because this is actually made from leftover leftovers. I reheated the roast in a pan, and all of the moisture evaporated, and some of the roast beef got crisp on the bottom of the pan. Of course I had to taste it as I was putting it away, and oh my goodness! It took me back to the 70s when my mom fed us the Libby's corned beef hash! So salty, crispy and beefy. (Cue the drooling.)
So, today after church, this is what I mixed up for our lunch, and wow! It turned out even better than I'd imagined. Even sent a pic to my brother to make him drool. I imagine the next time they have roast at their house, he'll be making some of this the next day.
There you go. Roast beef hash--now one of my favorite ways to enjoy leftover chuck roast.

Roast Beef Hash

Ingredients:

• 2 medium baked potatoes, cooled, peeled, and cubed
• 3/4 cup mashed potatoes
• 3 tablespoons minced onion
• 1 1/2 to 2 cups cooked chuck roast, preferably leftover and well seasoned
• 3 tablespoons butter, divided
• canola oil (or other vegetable oil)
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

• Chop the roast into smaller bits.
• Place the cubed potatoes, roast, mashed potatoes, onion, one tablespoon of butter, one tablespoon canola oil and salt and pepper in a large mixing bowl.
• Mix thoroughly to incorporate.
• Preheat a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. 
• Add a tablespoon of butter and a tablespoon or two of canola oil. Tilt pan to coat it with butter & oil.
• Scoop out about a 1/2-cup portion of hash mixture and form into a ball, and then flatten into a disk about 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch thick.
• Carefully place disk into the pan. 
• Repeat making disks until the pan is full, leaving about 1 inch between disks. 
• Fry until crisp and browned on one side (about 3-5 minutes), and then carefully flip. Some pieces may break off, but just smoosh it back together. This is hash, after all, and it's not going to be terribly neat. If the pan looks dry, add a little more oil before (or as) you fry on the second side.
• Continue to fry until both sides are browned and crisp.
• When the first batch is done, remove hash to a serving plate.
• Scrape the pan and remove leftover bits. 
• Add another tablespoon of butter and more canola oil and continue to fry up the hash until it's all cooked.
• Sprinkle with chopped or dried parsley, if desired.

Serves about 4 (although I ate way more than my share) 

Fettuccine Alfredo

I didn't have quite enough fettuccine noodles, so I used some rotini as well.

This delicious and super simple recipe comes from my 10th grade son's Foods and Nutrition class. It's become a somewhat regular treat for the two of us, as we are the only two in the family who will eat such things.

Truly, this dish is so easy to make. I think it doesn't take much more effort that opening a blue box of Kraft Mac & Cheese--which IS a treat in itself, if I'm honest. This has way more fat in it than the blue box, but I tell ya, it's much creamier and more satisfying in my opinion.

Since I'm reducing my gluten these days, I use the Barilla gluten free fettuccine noodles, and the only difference I notice between them and the wheat-based noodles is that these are slightly more fragile. Still have a great texture and taste, though.

If you've never made your own fettuccine Alfredo, but you like to eat it, give this one a try.

Fettuccine Alfredo
    Adapted from Mrs. Smith's Foods & Nutrition class recipe binder

Ingredients:

• 16 oz. fettuccine pasta (I used Barilla gluten free fettuccine noodles)
• 1 stick butter (salted)
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups shredded Italian blend cheese
• pinch of chopped or dried parsley for garnish, if desired

Instructions:

1. Boil a large pot of salted water and cook the pasta according to package directions.
2. In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and garlic until butter is melted.
3. Add cream to the saucepan, burn heat up to slightly over medium, and stir. 
4. Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until mixture has thickened a bit (4-7 minutes).
5. Stir in nutmeg, pepper, and salt; and then add the cheese. Stir until smooth and thick.
6. Add the cooked and drained noodles.
7. Toss the noodles in the creamy sauce. 
8. Plate the fettuccine Alfredo and sprinkle with a little parsley, if desired.

Makes about 4-6 servings, depending on how hungry you are

• Note: Add some cooked chicken and broccoli and make it a whole meal.
• Also, I usually halve this recipe for my son and myself. Leftover fettuccine Alfredo isn't as appetizing as fresh.

Barilla makes some good gluten-free pasta.

Any Italian blend cheese will do.

The sauce, right before adding the noodles

Meat Cubes (Meatballs Don't Have to Be Spherical)

Meatballs need not be rounded.

Why should meat balls be balls at all? I mean, they're time consuming to roll into the ball shape, and if you're frying them, they are hard to brown on all sides--because they have no sides. 
Meat cubes, on the other hand, make so much more sense to me. They consist of the same ingredients, they have the same amount of meat, they taste exactly the same, and they're so much less labor intensive. Plus they won't ever roll off the plate. These are also perfect for my homemade open faced meatball sandwiches (which, come to think of it, I've never blogged about).
To me, this is a happy medium between my crazy enthusiasm for homemade foods and my modern-day need for a little more convenience. I may never again roll meat into the shape of a ball, and I'm good with that.
Come join me in this rebellion against traditional arbitrary food shapes. Let's make our lives just a little bit easier while retaining all of the goodness and deliciousness of homemade cooking.
Note: When I made these the first time, I made only the half recipe, and they turned out rather thin. The second time I did a full batch, and got the chunkier cubes you see in most of the pics. They look more fun this way, and get more meat per cube.

Meat Cubes (half recipe at the end of this post)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup breadcrumbs (I use gluten free breadcrumbs from gf French rolls)
• 1 cup milk
• 5 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 4 small onions, finely diced
• 10 cloves garlic, minced
• 5 eggs
• 5 tablespoons dried parsley
• 5 teaspoons salt
• 2 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 5 pounds ground ground (90/10) 
• more vegetable oil 

Instructions:

• Line a 9 x 13 inch baking pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
  In a large bowl, place the breadcrumbs and pour the milk over them. Allow to sit while you prepare the onions & garlic. 
• Heat the 5 tablespoons vegetable oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Saute onions until translucent. Add garlic, stir, and cook one minute more. Remove from heat and allow to cool for at least 10 minutes. 
• To the breadcrumbs and milk, add the eggs, parsley, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and Parmesan cheese. Stir to incorporate all ingredients. Mix in the onions and garlic a little at a time (so you don't cook the eggs). Add the ground beef. With your hands (I use plastic gloves for this), gently incorporate the beef into the other ingredients until the mixture is uniform. 
• Place 3/4 of the meat mixture in prepared 9 x 13 inch pan and spread out to evenly in the pan. Cover and freeze 60  to 90 minutes. Form the rest into balls and flatten, and you'll be cooking those for dinner tonight. You could put the other fourth into a smaller pan and freeze and cut those too. (I'm only really telling you what I did--only 3/4 of the mixture should be put into the 9x13 pan.)
• When meat is mostly frozen, lift out of the pan by grabbing the edges of the parchment paper and lifting. Place on a cutting surface, and using a large sharp knife, cut into about 48 cubes (6 x 8), or 1.5 inch squares.
• Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add about 1 tablespoon vegetable oil and tilt pan to distribute oil evenly. Place as many meat cubes in the pan that fit comfortably with a little space between. Cook until well browned on the first side, and then turn using a metal spatula. Cook until well browned on the second side and so on until most of the sides have browned. Remove cooked meat cubes to a clean baking sheet and continue frying meat cubes in batches until complete, adding more oil to the pan as needed. If you want the cubes cooked well all the way through, you can place the pan in a 325 degree oven for an additional 20 minutes.
• Use as many cubes as you want for now. Allow the rest to cool completely, place on a freezer paper lined baking sheet and freeze until solid. Move frozen cooked meat cubes to a large zip top bag and place in the freezer. Use within about 2 months.

Makes about 4 dozen meat cubes
I would allow about 4 cubes per serving.

Once the sauce is added, you don't even care about the shape.

Meat Cubes Half Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs (I use gluten free breadcrumbs from gf French rolls)
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 small onions, finely diced
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 eggs
• 2 1/2 tablespoons dried parsley
• 2 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/4 teaspoons ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 1/2 pounds ground ground (90/10) 
• canola oil 

Simple Chuck Roast (in Tacos)

 

Simply delicious roast beef

Roast beef is, I think, a perfect meat. It's great the first night, and you can do so many things with leftovers. For instance, you can eat roast beef with mashed potatoes and gravy one night, and the next you can have roast beef tacos or taquitos--or you can douse the leftovers in teriyaki sauce and serve it with fresh steamed white rice. Ah, so good. 
Since my sister-in-law turned up with a soy allergy, and my nephew has a severe wheat allergy, I had to come up with an easy, controllable alternative to the Lipton Onion Soup mix that I was accustomed to using on my pot roasts.
This turns out to be a perfect seasoning. Most people have the ingredients in their cupboard, and one batch of seasoning is good for about three or four roasts. The flavor is just a nice, savory taste that can morph with the addition of various spices and seasonings.
Tonight we enjoyed this roast inside tacos. The remainder will be put into taquitos that will be frozen for a quick lunch option while most of us are home for the summer.
So here you go, an easy and tasty way to season your roast.

Simple Chuck Roast (in Tacos)

Ingredients:

• 3 pound chuck roast
• 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons seasoning mix (recipe below)
• 1 dozen corn tortillas
• canola oil for frying
• taco toppings

Seasoning Mix:

• 2 tablespoons onion powder (NOT onion salt)
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1 scant tablespoon chili powder

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
Combine all of the seasoning mix ingredients in a bowl or sealed storage container.
Place roast in a roasting pan and coat with 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons of seasoning (use less for a smaller roast, and more for a larger roast). Cover roasting pan with foil to keep moisture in.
Place pan in oven and roast for about 3 1/2 to 4 hours, or until meat is very tender and shreds easily with a fork.

While meat roasts for the last half hour to an hour, heat up about one inch of canola oil in a high-rimmed frying pan. When a little bit of corn tortilla placed in the oil sizzles immediately, the oil is ready.
Using a pair of metal tongs, carefully slide one corn tortilla into the hot oil. Immediately fold the tortilla in half using the tongs. Fry on each side for about 1-2 minutes, or until the edges are crisp. Don't let them get too crisp, though, because they'll break when you try to fill them with the meat.
Repeat with remaining tortillas, and you can fry 2 or 3 at once, depending on the size of your pan. Drain fried taco shells on a plate or cooling rack lined with paper towels.

Place about 1/4 cup of shredded roast beef in a taco shell, top as desired, and enjoy.

Makes 12 tacos, perhaps with some meat leftover for tomorrow.

Plank Potatoes

Crisp and tender baked potato planks.

All you really need to know about these is that they are delicious--crispy and salty on the outside, tender and fluffy on the inside. Plus, they're super easy.
I think I started making these as a bun substitute for my gluten-limited son's sloppy joes. He'd pile on the sloppy joe meat and eat it like an open-faced sandwich. The whole family enjoys them so much though, that they've made it onto our regular side rotation for all kinds of dinners. 
I bake mine on a sheet of parchment on my ever-present baking stone, but they would be fine on a baking sheet too. They're better than oven fries because they bake more evenly, I think. My oven fries tend to dry out and burn in some places, but are raw in others. 
At any rate, these are a nice side, AND you can adjust the level of oil (fat) according to your health needs.
Enjoy!

Plank Potatoes

Ingredients:

• 2 to 4 medium russet potatoes, washed and dried
• 2 to 6 tablespoons vegetable oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
Slice the potatoes lengthwise into 1/4 inch planks and press cut sides onto a clean paper towel to absorb excess water. Place cut and dried potato planks in a large bowl.
Add oil, salt, and pepper to the bowl. (Generally, use 1 tablespoon of oil per medium size potato. Add a little more oil if you want to make sure they get crisp.) Toss with hands or a silicone spatula to coat both sides of each potato plank.
Line a rimless baking sheet, or the bottom of a baking sheet (if using a baking stone) with parchment paper. (If you don't have a baking stone, just line a baking sheet with parchment.)
Place potato planks in a single layer onto the parchment. If using the baking stone, slide the parchment with the potatoes onto the baking stone. If no baking stone, place pan in oven. Bake potatoes at 450 degrees for 20-30 minutes, turning one time after the tops begin to brown. 
Remove from oven when they are baked to desired doneness.
Serve immediately.
Makes 2 to 5 servings

This one got cut a little thin and is just this side of burned. Still super tasty though.

I enjoyed this one by slathering it with chili and cheese. So good.

Tacos al Pastor

Tacos al Pastor

My brother introduced me to tacos al pastor, and to this recipe, last Thanksgiving. I'm not sure if this is a traditional recipe or not--googling "tacos al pastor" got me all different forms of pork. Shredded, cubed, sliced. 
If you've never had them before, just know that tacos al pastor are made from pork marinated in a pineapple juice based marinade. It's almost like a Mexican teriyaki--sweet and salty deliciously tender pork. So good.
One thing I really enjoyed about how my brother prepared these tacos is that he cooked the corn tortillas in a little bit of oil rather than just heating them up. A little fat makes almost everything better, right? The cooking in a little oil makes the tortillas chewy and helps them hold up better to the fillings.
These tacos are not spicy at all, but if spicy is what you're into, I'm sure you could add some minced jalapeño to the marinade. 
I was concerned that I wouldn't have enough time for the meat to marinate since I got back from work around 5:15, but a 20-minute soak was plenty, and I had dinner on the table by 6:15, which, if you know me, is pretty good. I'm sure you could prepare the meat in the marinade in the morning and let it sit in the fridge all day and then cook it up quickly. It's really an easy meal. I strongly recommend you try it. Soon. And that's all I have to say. Enjoy.

Tacos al Pastor

Marinade Ingredients:

• 2 cans (6 oz. each) pineapple orange juice
• juice of 1 small lime
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup finely diced onion
• 3 tablespoons minced garlic
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro
• 2 tablespoons red chile powder
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 2 pounds pork loin/tenderloin, cubed or thinly sliced 1-inch pieces

Other Taco Ingredients:

• 12 corn tortillas
• canola oil
• 1/2 cup finely diced onion
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro
• 1 squeeze lime juice

Instructions:

• In a medium sized glass bowl, whisk all of the marinade ingredients except the meat. Add the meat and allow to marinate in the refrigerator 30 minutes to 2 hours or so.
• Mix the half cup of diced onion with the 2 tablespoons cilantro and squeeze of lime juice. Cover and refrigerate until ready to eat.
• When you're ready to prepare the tacos, prepare a sheet of aluminum foil folded in half to contain the heated tortillas. Then preheat a cast iron skillet over medium heat. When skillet is hot, drizzle about 1/2 teaspoon oil over the center, and place a tortilla. Cook tortilla for approximately 1 minute, or until bottom is starting to brown; flip and cook another minute. Remove hot browned tortilla to the foil, placing it between the layers of foil to keep it warm. Repeat with remaining tortillas.
• When done heating tortillas turn heat up to just above medium. Pour a little oil in the bottom of the pan (about a tablespoon). Remove meat from marinade with a slotted spoon and spread out in the bottom of the pan, taking care not to crowd the pieces of meat. You'll cook about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of meat at a time.
• Stir meat to cook and caramelize evenly. When meat is cooked through and caramelized on the outside, place cooked meat in a heat-proof container and cover. Continue cooking meat, wiping pan with a clean paper towel between batches. Adjust heat and add oil as needed.
• When meat is done, place two tortillas on your plate (yes, two--the double layer adds stability), top with about 1/2 cup cooked meat and a tablespoon or so of the cilantro/onion mixture. 

Makes about 6 tacos.

The meat is marinating

Heating a tortilla

Not the most attractive pic, but you can see how much meat to cook at a time

Such good tacos

This is the recipe my brother sent. He's not an exact cook, but he's a good one.

Swiss Steak

Swiss Steak and Mashed Potatoes

Inexpensive steak + onions + time in the oven = one tasty meal. My mom used to make Swiss steak every so often, and even though I was a picky no-onion eater at the time, I still loved it. She really only used salt, pepper, and onions, but today I adapted Alton Brown's recipe from FoodNetwork.com. 
My husband enjoyed this meal so much he told me about three times what a great meal it was. He's usually complimentary, but not this complimentary. 
Besides tender beefiness, one of the beautiful things about this recipe is that it creates its own gravy as it cooks in the oven. The gravy is thick and beefy with lots of flavorful onions and celery cooked down to melt-in-your mouth excellence. I may have added a little too much salt to mine, but when it was paired with the mashed potatoes, the beef and gravy tasted perfectly seasoned. 
This may not be a super quick meal, but it is easy, delicious, and satisfying.

Swiss Steak
    --adapted from FoodNetwork.com

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds beef bottom round steak (or 2 pounds lean stew meat works too)
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 (approx) teaspoon ground pepper
• 1/3 cup flour (I used Better Batter Gluten Free AP Flour)
• 3-5 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 large onion or 2 small onions, thinly sliced
• 2 celery stalks, thinly sliced
• 2 medium garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 1/2 cups beef broth (I used 1 1/2 teaspoons beef base in 1 1/2 cups warm water)

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
Prepare the onions, celery and garlic. Set aside. 
Cut the steak into smaller steaks about 5-6 inches across. Place steak pieces on a cutting mat or surface you use for raw meat. Salt and pepper both sides and then using a meat tenderizing mallet pound each piece to about 1/2 an inch thickness. Be sure to pound on both sides of each piece of steak. Dredge each piece of steak on both sides in the flour.
Heat about 3 tablespoons of oil in a Dutch oven over medium high heat. When oil is hot, carefully place steak into the pan taking care not to crowd. You will probably need to brown the steak in two batches, adding oil between batches. When each steak is browned on each side, move to a plate to wait. 
When all meat has been browned, add the onions, celery and garlic to the pan (Dutch oven). Stir veggies and cook just long enough until they start to wilt. Add paprika and oregano and stir. Pour in the beef broth and stir. Add the meat back into the Dutch oven, making sure you cover the meat with the veggies and liquid.
Place cover on Dutch oven and place in the oven. Bake at 325 degrees for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until meat is very tender. 
Serve with mashed potatoes.
Makes about 5-6 servings