Sloppy Joes

This recipe is courtesy of my Aunt Sally-- and in my opinion there are no better sloppy joes (but i may be a little bias)

Ingredients:
- 2 lbs ground beef (or i've used ground turkey too)
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 cups tomato sauce
- 2 tbls vinegar
- 2 tbls brown sugar
- 1/2 cup catsup
- 3 tbls Worcestershire Sauce.

Brown beef or turkey in a large skillet with chopped onions. Drain grease and add tomato sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, catsup and Worcestershire sauce. Simmer over medium heat for 10-15 mins. I sometimes add a little more brown sugar if i want it sweeter :)

Southwestern Steak Sandwiches

There is probably nothing my husband loves more than steak sandwiches. And there is nothing I love to add to my sandwiches more than avocado... Luckily this calls for both! This is another Paula Deen recipe from her "Best Dishes" magazine.

Ingredients:
- 1 ripe avocado- mashed
- 1 tbls sour cream
- 1 tbls mayonaisse
- 1/4 tsp garlic salt
- 1 lb flank steak, sliced into thin pieces
- 1 tbls chili powder
- 1 tsp salt
- olive oil
- bell peppers, sliced into thin strips
- onion, sliced into thin strips
- black pepper
- hoagie rolls
- Monterey Jack Cheese

Preheat Broiler to 500 degrees (or the high setting) with the rack on the 2nd to top shelf.

In a small bowl combine avocado, sour cream, mayo and garlic salt. Set aside.

Sprinkle flank steak evenly with 1/2 tsp salt and chili powder. In a large skillet heat 2 tbls olive oil over medium high heat. Add peppers, onion, 1/2 tsp salt and pepper. Cook for 7-8 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Remove vegetables from skillet and keep warm. Reduce heat to medium and add 2 tbls olive oil and steak. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until cooked through. Add cooked vegetables and toss together.

Spread inside of hoagie roll with avocado mixture, steak mixture and top with cheese. place on a baking sheet and broil just until the cheese melts (doesn't take long at all so dont go away).

Southwestern Meatball Subs

You can always count on Paula Dean to come up with Yummy food... that is probably not all that healthy. But these were really good. They aren't your traditional meatballs so be expecting a surprise in your mouth when you eat it. I got this from my "Best Dishes 2009- Paula Deen" magazine

Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 lbs ground beef
- 1 cup panko bread crumbs
- 1/2 onion minced
- 1/2 red bell pepper minced
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 15 oz tomato sauce
- 14.5 oz diced tomatoes w/ green chilies
- 2 tbls tomato paste
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- sub rolls
- Toppings: shredded cheese, sour cream, lettuce, guacamole....

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and place a cooling rack over the pan, spray with non stick spray.

In a medium bowl, combine the beef, panko, onion, bell pepper and eggs. divide and roll into 32 balls and place on prepared rack. Bake for 20 minutes.

Ina  large skillet combine all tomato ingredients, cumin, salt and pepper. cook over medium heat for 10 minute. add meatballs and simmer for 15 minutes. Spoon meatballs onto subs and add your toppings!

A Better Burger...

One of my favorite things to eat is Burgers. When we go out for a burger I am definitely a Red Robin or 5 Guys fan. But when I make them at home I only ever make them one way..... This is a McCormick Recipe.

Ingredients:
- 1 lb of ground beef
- 1 tsp Season-All Seasoned Salt
- 1 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
- 1/4 tsp  Garlic Powder
- 1/4 tsp Onion Powder
- Pepper

The most important step is to make sure your beef is not so cold that it wont cook through evenly. Let is set out for a couple mins to come closer to room temperature.

Mix all ingredients together and form into 4 patties. Cook on a grill, stove top, oven, however you want and eat like a burger! they are so easy!

Korean Bulgogi

My brother served his mission in Korea and since he got back and introduced me to Korean food that has always been my favorite. I found it at this website and it is amazing!

Ingredients:
- 2 lbs flank steak (sliced into thin strips)
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 tbls sugar
- 1 tsp sesame seed oil
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 tsp sesame seeds

Cut steak with sharp knife into paper thin strips. Add sugar and mix well by hand. Mix soy sauce and water and add garlic to this. Pour sauce mixture into meat and mix again by hand. Add sesame seed oil and sesame seeds and mix again by hand. This is better if it marinates for at least 12-24 hours and will keep in the refrigerator for three days.

After marinaded cook in a medium saucepan until cooked through and serve over rice.

Meatloaf

 

This is my favorite meatloaf ever! and it is super easy to make, i found it in one of my favorite cookbooks, Cooking with Flavor from McCormick

Ingredients:
- 1 tbls butter
- 1/2 onion, finely chopped
- 1 can (8oz) tomato sauce
- 1 1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning (divided)
- 2 lbs ground beef
- 2 slices white bread, decrusted and crumbled
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 2 tsp seasoned salt
- 3/4 tsp ground black pepper

Melt butter in a small skillet. Add onion; cook and stir for 5 minutes or until soft. Cool slightly.

Mix tomato sauce and 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning, set aside.

Mix ground beef, crumbled bread, onion, milk, eggs, seasoned salt and remaining 1 tsp italian seasoning and black pepper in a large bowl. Shape into a loaf and place in a foil-lined 13x9 inch baking dish.

Bake in preheated oven at 375 degrees for 45 minutes. Then spoon tomato sauce over meatloaf and cook for another 15 minutes or until cooked through. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Amazing Chili

When I think of Chili I think of Cincinnati Chili, the stuff you put on noodles with lots of cheese. Not beans... and not chunky. But I had an FHE with some friends and they wanted me to bring what everyone else in the world considers normal so I found this recipe on the Food Network, and tweaked it to what i had and what I wanted to buy. It turned out SOOO Good! I think I may eat "Normal" Chili now.

Ingredients
- 6 thick-cut slices of Hardwood Smoked Bacon
- 5 cloves of Garlic, minced
- 2 medium onions, minced
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
- 5 tbls Chili Powder
- 1 1/4 tbls ground Cumin
- 2 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tbls Paprika
- salt and pepper
- 2-3 tbls Cajun Seasoning
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 lb ground pork
- 1 cup beef broth
- 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (24 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
- 1 (24 ounce) can diced tomatoes, with juice

In large pot, cook the bacon over medium heat until lightly crisp, stirring occasionally. Once the bacon is browned, add the garlic, onions, bell peppers, chili powder, cumin, oregano, and paprika and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Cook until the vegetables are tender and seasonings are aromatic.

Add the beef and break it up with a wooden spoon. Once beef is broken up and beginning to brown, add the pork. Break up with wooden spoon like the beef, and brown, until no longer pink, roughly 4 minutes. Stir in the beef broth and beans. Toss together, then add the crushed and diced tomatoes. Then add Cajun seasoning and sugar, stir together.

Turn the heat down to low or medium and simmer for 1 1/2 hours (or until desired consistency). Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper, if necessary. I think it taste best over baked potato with sour cream and cheese.

Taco Rice

 

This comes from my mother in law-- we pretty much love it and it makes amazing leftover!

Ingredients:

- 1 lb ground beef

- 1 medium onion finely chopped
- 1 chopped bell pepper (green, red or mix)
- 1/2 cup rice
- 1 pkg Taco Seasoning
- 1 can tomato sauce (6-8 ounces)
- 1 cup water
- Tortilla chips
- Sour cream
- Shredded cheddar cheese
- Shredded lettuce
- Salsa 

Cook the ground beef in large skillet until browned and drain grease. Add chopped onion and bell peppers and cook.

Add water, tomato sauce, taco seasoning and rice to skillet with beef. Cover and cook until rice is done (you may need to add a little more water if gets dry)

Serve taco rice over tortilla chips and top with your favorite taco toppers: Sour Cream, Cheese, Lettuce, Salsa, etc.

Taco Cups

So after seeing the movie Julie & Julia I thought it would be so much fun to blog about the food i create as i work on my cookbook (which will hopefully be coming out this Christmas '10 (or maybe '11)

So here is my first post... Taco Cups! I love the emails i get from Kraft Food almost every day but most of the time I dont cook anything on those emails, i just enjoy seeing other people's ideas. But last week i got an email for some type of barbeque bites. I thought they were really cute, but i'm not all that into barbeque... So then i was like... TACOS!!! so this is what i created!

Ingredient List:
- refrigerated biscuit dough
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 chopped bell pepper
- 1/2 mined onion
- 1 package taco seasoning
- shredded cheese

Preheat Oven as directed on biscuits. Prep Muffin tins by spraying with cooking oil.

Saute peppers and onion in pan until tender. Add ground beef and cook thoroughly. Drain grease and add Taco Seasoning, cooking as directed.

With rolling pin flatten biscuit dough into thin circle and then placing in muffin tins. Fill with cooked taco meat and place in oven until biscuits done (you will see the edges turn brown).

Top with shredded cheese and place in oven for 2 mins until cheese melts, then ENJOY! you could add salsa, sour cream or lettuce on top!