Childhood Favorite 2

SLOPPY JOES! SLOPPY JOES! SLOPPY JOES! 

Sloppy Joes are one of my favorite dinners.  I could eat them everyday.  The smell of them makes me feel like I'm 8 years old again.  This recipe kind of a "wing it" recipe.  I don't have exact measurements, so this is a rough guideline. 

1 - 1 1/2 lbs ground beef(sirloin, chuck, whatever)

1 small onion, chopped

1 bell pepper(any color), chopped

2 ribs celery, chopped

1 cup ketchup 

1/4 cup mustard

2 tablespoons tomato paste

3 tablespoons brown sugar

3 tablespoons vinegar or pickle juice(i prefer a mixture of both)

2 tablespoons pickle relish 

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

Salt and pepper

Some (a tablespoon?) chili powder

Begin to saute the vegetables in a large skillet

Add the(if using) chili powder to the vegetables

Add the meat

Using your spoon, break up and brown the meat

Add the remaining ingredients 

Cook until the sauce thickens and reaches desired sloppy joe consistency

As we all know sloppy joes are best on a soft white bun with chips and a pickle. 

Mmmmm

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes

I'm just going to be honest.  I actually hate making cupcakes.  Well I guess I don't hate the cupcake part, but I don't like frosting.  I don't like decorating.  So I let a 3 year old frost these with a little help, forgive me. 

2 sticks softened, unsalted butter

1/2 cup shortening

3 cups granulated sugar

5 eggs

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/5 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup whole milk

1/2 c buttermilk

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 cup pink lemonade mix

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees

In a mixing bowl begin creaming the butter and shortening 

Add in the sugar and mix until fluffy

Add in the eggs one at a time

Mix in the vanilla and lemonade mix

WARNING: 

This step you add the milk and buttermilk, I'm warning you because the milks will curdle when you pour them in. This is fine.

Add the remaining dry ingredients

Fold in the dry ingredients 

If you wish, you could add some food coloring to make these more pink.  I did.

Scoop into paper lined cupcake pan, should be 24 if filled 3/4 of the way up

Bake 18-22 minutes

Since I am not a fan of frosting I don't really give a lot of thought to it so I just made some vanilla frosting.  This recipe is not mine, it is from The Pioneer Woman, but I must say it's pretty good. 

1 cup whole milk

5 tablespoons flour

2 sticks, softened butter

1 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Whisk the milk and flour together over low heat until it's thickened, about 5 minutes

Let this mixture cool completely, like 20-25 minutes. Stir in the vanilla

In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy

Once it's fluffy, pour in the cooled flour/milk/vanilla mixture until it becomes fluffy, shiny, delicious

Put into a piping bag or use an offset spatula, frost your cupcakes

Here's The Story Of A Lovely Bailey

Bailey is a friend of mine who is a 21 year old college student, working in a restaurant, and keeping up with her boyfriend who is in the Navy.  She mentioned to me that I should blog about a quick, cheap meal based around her busy schedule.  Challenge accepted.  For her, I decided to make a "tex-mex" lettuce wrap. 

To start, I made some shredded chicken in the Crock-Pot since she can leave it alone all day and come home to it cooked and ready to eat

I put 1.5 lbs of boneless, skinless, chicken breasts in the Crock-Pot

Note: if you wanted to be really cheap you could buy one of those packets of taco seasoning, but I keep all the spices that make up taco seasoning on hand.  

If you choose to make your own seasoning here's my "recipe"- this is a pretty loose recipe so feel free to adjust

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1/2 tablespoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon turmeric

1 tablespoon hot Mexican chili powder

2 tablespoons chili powder

2 teaspoons cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

2 teaspoons dried cilantro 

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

Pinch thyme

Pinch cinnamon

Pour this over the chicken along with some liquid(beer, water, stock, etc...)

Pour enough liquid to come to about 3/4 the way up the chicken

(I used beer. Ha!)

Let this cook for 8 hrs, remove and shred

Topwith whatever taco toppings you like and nest in a crisp Boston Bibb lettuce leaf

I used raw corn off the cob

Red onion

And I made some guacamole too and the recipe is as follows:

1 avocado cubed

1 jalapeño

Handful fresh cilantro

Juice of 1 lime

Blend

Assemble your lettuce wraps(or tacos if using tortillas), add some cheese if you wish

Salúd