Sloppy Joes

I needed a new sloppy joe recipe, I was done with my mom's recipe, I needed something more bold and flavorful.  I found exactly what I was looking for.  These sloppy joes from The Pioneer Woman are savory, yet tangy and yummy. I'm not going to lie when I say that I might have eaten the mixture straight from the container the next day without a bun.  Yep, they were that good.

Ingredients

• 2 Tablespoons Butter
• 2-1/2 pounds Ground Beef
• 1/2 whole Large Onion, Diced
• 1 whole Large Green Bell Pepper, Diced
• 5 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 1-1/2 cup Ketchup
• 1 cup Water
• 2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
• 2 teaspoons Chili Powder (more To Taste)
• 1 teaspoon Dry Mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes (with my kids I added less than this, so it wasn't too spicy for them.)
• Worcestershire Sauce, To Taste
• 2 Tablespoons Tomato Paste (optional)
• Tabasco Sauce (optional; To Taste)
• Salt To Taste
• Freshly Ground Black Pepper, To Taste
• Kaiser Rolls
• Butter

Preparation Instructions

Add butter to a large skillet or dutch oven over medium high heat. Add ground beef and cook until brown. Drain most of the fat and discard.

Add onions, green pepper, and garlic. Cook for a few minutes, or until vegetables begin to get soft.

Add ketchup, brown sugar, chili pepper, dry mustard, and water. Stir to combine and simmer for 15 minutes, adding salt and pepper to taste. Also add tomato paste, Worcestershire, and Tabasco if desired. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.

Spread rolls with butter and brown on a griddle or skillet. Spoon meat mixture over the rolls, topping with a slice of cheese if it makes your skirt fly up. Serve hot with kettle cooked chips!

Goulash

Traditionally this is called "Hot Plate", and was made when people lived thru hard times like the depression when they didn't have much to get by on, but it is actually a pretty tasty meal, and can be made on a budget. It's another one of my mom's classic recipes that she made when I was growing up. It's pretty quick and easy to make, I hope you enjoy it.

1 lb. Hamburger
2 Potatoes Cubed
1 can red beans
1 Onion diced
1 Can vegetable Soup
Salt and Pepper to taste

Brown Hamburger and boil potatoes, then mix all ingredients together and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Serve with bread and butter.

Sloppy Joes

1 lb. hamburger meat
1 c. ketchup
1 can chicken gumbo soup
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. dry mustard
salt and pepper to taste

Brown hamburger in a large skillet. Add remaining ingredients. Simmer over low heat for one hour stirring often. Serve over toasted hamburger buns.

Porcupine Balls

This is a dish that we use to eat all of the time when I was growing up. Kids usually love it because of the meatballs, and also because of the rice. It's always a little different when I make it each time because I usually adjust the recipe a little each time i make it. It's pretty easy to make as well.


1 pound ground beef
1 medium Onion chopped finely
1 cup bread crumbs (optional)
1 teaspoon onion salt
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 Cup Worcestershire sauce.
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 egg

1 cup rice (instant works really well)
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1 cup water

Mix the first 7 ingredients together, once combined form 1 1/2 inch meatballs. Place the uncooked rice in a bowl, then roll the meatballs in rice to cover them, then place them in an 8x8 baking dish side by side. Once all meatballs are in the baking dish add the extra rice on top of the meatballs. Combine the water and the spaghetti sauce and mix together, then pour over the meatballs. Cover the pan with tinfoil and bake at 375 for 1 1/2 hours or until meat balls are cooked thru and rice is tender. Serve with french bread.

Lasagna

1 lb. ground beef
1 (32 oz.) jar spaghetti sauce
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 c. ricotta cheese
1 egg
1/2 tsp pepper
Lasagna noodles (uncooked)
1/2 lb. mozzarella cheese, grated
1/2 lb. cheddar cheese, grated

Brown ground beef; drain. Stir in spaghetti sauce. Put the 1/2 cup water in the empty spaghetti sauce jar, then add to meat and sauce.

In a bowl, combine ricotta cheese, egg and pepper. Spread onto uncooked lasagna noodles. In baking dish, spoon 1/2 cup meat sauce, then alternately layer noodles with ricotta mixture, mozzarella and cheddar cheeses, and meat sauce--forming 2 layers. Bake in 375 degree oven for 60 minutes. Top with parmesan cheese. Let sit for about 10 minutes.

Microwave Lasagna

This is my mom's recipe that has morphed out of other recipes she has used over the years. It was one of my favorite meals growing up and has found a prevalent home in our repertoire of meals lately.

Ingredients:
8 oz of lasagna noodles (My mom is particular about the kind she uses (American Beauty) - but they should at least be the traditional kind, not the oven-ready kind)
2 lb Ground Beef
26.5 oz Spaghetti Sauce (Again, my mom is specific - she uses the Hunt's Traditional flavor)
16 oz Cottage Cheese
Parmesan Cheese
16 oz Mozzarella Cheese

This is a dish that you prepare all the elements, throw them together, then let them cook.
Cook the noodles as directed. Cook the ground beef seasoning it to taste with salt, pepper, and garlic powder/cloves as desired. Add the entire can of spaghetti sauce to the beef. Open the cottage cheese container and pour Parmesan cheese into it (this will look like a big mountain peak of Parmesan cheese sitting on the cottage cheese - the measurement is not precise, but use as much as you think you can stir into the cottage cheese without making a HUGE mess) stir together. Shred all 16 oz of Mozzarella Cheese.

At this point you are ready to assemble the lasagna. Spray a 9 x 13 pan. Layer 1/2 of the noodles, followed by 1/2 of the meat, then 1/2 of the cottage/Parmesan mixture (this you want to do by dotting it around on the meat and trying to spread it, recognizing that it will not form one solid layer), top with 1/2 of the grated mozzarella cheese. Repeat the layers in the same order.

Now it is time to throw it in the microwave. Cook at regular power. My mom used to cook it 20 minutes in our old microwave, but finds that each microwave is different - we do about 17 minutes in our microwave. After that time is up, it's ready to serve! It only takes about 30 minutes from start to the table!

Sloppy Joes

1.5 lbs ground beef
1 cup water
1 cup ketchup
1 Tbsp mustard
1 onion chopped
1/2 cup diced green pepper
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
Salt & Pepper to taste

Brown hamburger with chopped onion & green pepper, drain grease/ Combine water, ketchup, sugar mustard and Worcestershire. Add to meat and simmer for 15-20 minutes until consistency is thick. Serve on hamburger buns.