Easy Hearty Sloppy Joe's

In my house, we try to get creative for weeknight dinners to try and keep it interesting. When we know we're making something yummy, we're less inclined to crave easy takeout. Once again, this is a great recipe to hide veggies in for those picky vegetable eaters I know a lot of us have in our home. While Ive tried some finely diced red and green bell pepper and a couple of other veggies, I've been wanting to add in some fresh corn! Now before I make myself any more hungry right before we're ready for dinner, I'm going to get this typed up for you and your families.

 

Hearty Weeknight Sloppy Joe's

Makes 4 filled sandwiches

 

1 tbsp Vegetable Oil

1 small Onion, chopped

1 lbs. Ground Beef

1/2 lbs. Ground Turkey (optional)

3 tbsp Tomato Paste

1/2 cup BBQ Sauce

1/4 cup Ketchup

2 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce

2 tbsp Soy Sauce

Any Add in Veggies

Salt & Pepper

Sandwich Rolls

 

1. Heat Oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and cook, stirring till they turn translucent. Add beef and  ground turkey to skillet, stirring and breaking up till crumbled. Once cooked, drain excess liquid.

 

2. Stir in tomato paste, BBQ sauce, ketchup, Worcestershire, soy sauce, pepper and salt to the skillet and mix well with meat and onion mixture. Let cook until sauce is slightly thickened.

 

3. Top your sandwich bun with your desired amount meat and top with extra goodies till your heart's content!

 

 

 

Dinner Challenge #1

It's finally Monday! Never thought I would say that but it's been baby shower mania in my house for the past week and I have one more shower to go. I will be the first to tell you that I LOVE hosting parties! My husband, Kevin, and I bought the house we did because, #1 we fell in love with it and, #2 it's a great party house! The downside to my love of throwing a party is that I love decorating and making food to go with the theme and it all MUST to be perfect! I usually drive myself crazy the day before and especially the day of the party (and I'm pretty sure I drive Kevin crazy too) but this is why I will always have some form of alcohol at my events; to celebrate of coarse!

I'll post pictures of the most recent shower later this week but for now I'll stick to the subject of this post, the first dinner challenge. With a laundry list of projects to do around the house, I have started to  look for ways to cut corners on some things, for example doing my own dry cleaning and ironing istead of sending it off. A big part of this change is eating at home more often. To give you a little bit more history on this challenge, I grew up never eating out and always at home where as my husband grew up eating out the majority of the time. While he is trying to bring his lunch to work more often, a goal of atleast twice a week (baby steps), I am trying to eat at home completely except for work lunches and our date night out! Yes, we feel it's important to either do a dinner out with friends or a date night once a week and it gives us something to look forward to at the end of a long week.

This week's new dinner was Mexican Beef & Pasta! Sounds a little strange but I knew that for my food particular husband having a marriage between his two favorite types of food would be a win, and it was!

Mexican Beef & Pasta

Serving size: 4

2 cups Spiral Pasta (I used whole wheat) or any shape pasta will work
1/2 lbs ground beef
1 small onion or half a large onion (I used red onion)
2 cans (14 oz) no-salt- added diced tomatoes (undrained)
1 can black beans (drained)
1 ear fresh corn or 1 cup frozen corn (thawed)
1 cup salsa (chunky prefered)
1 can chopped green chilis or jalepenos
fajita seasoning or taco seasoning
                                                                                    sour cream (optional)
                                                                                    tortilla chips (optional)

1. Cook pasta according to package and drain. While pasta is cooking, brown ground beef and onions until meat is fully cooked and drain excess liquid.
2. Stir in the next 5 ingredients.
3. Sprinkle top of food with desired amount of seasoning to taste, stir together and bring to a boil.
4. Let simmer, uncovered, for 8-10 minutes.
5. Serve with sour cream and tortilla chips if desired.

Recipe adapted from Taste of Home

There's no place like home...

Family dinners were a big thing when I was younger. Almost every night we sat down as a family, ate and talked about our day. This would also be the time that my parents would lecture my brother and I on whatever topic was relevant at the time. Now that I am older, I understand the importance of sitting down and having some family time. Both of my parents cook. I love my mom's cooking but when ever my dad cooks it's something I really look forward to because it didn't happen but maybe a few times a month. Now
that I live in a different city it's even more rare. He doesn't cook from books or written recipes but more from memory and how he feels that day. One of the things I've pick up from him is cooking how you feel. Nothing I cook is ever made the same as before. I have a base recipe that I use and add spices and vegetables that might not have been used before. One of my favorite examples of this kind of cooking I do is my dad's stuffed peppers that my brother and I have dubbed Big Jim's Stuffed Peppers (Big Jim is what my brothers friends call my dad). The recipe sounds more complicated than it really is because everything is happening all at one time. It is really a quick preparation and yummy dinner.  So, without further ado…

Big Jim's Stuffed Peppers