Sloppy Joes and a Peachy Dessert

I've always considered sloppy joes to be kid food and since I don't have kids, I've never made it. Until now. My hubby gave me Pioneer Woman's latest cookbook for our anniversary and the sloppy joes recipe looked too good not to make right away. It was as good as I hoped it would be. My only regret is I halved the recipe since it's just the two of us and there was only a spoonful of leftovers.

I love love love dill pickles as you can see. Plus who doesn't love a good tater tot?

Sloppy Joes
by Ree Drummond

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 (more To Taste)

■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.

And on to dessert, but first a note about the movie we watched while eating all this deliciousness.... Has anyone else seen Drive with Ryan Gosling? What did you think? It definitely wasn't what I was expecting. Way too brutal for me and he didn't take his shirt off once. *sigh*

This is one of the quickest dessert when you're craving something sweet but don't want to take the time to bake. All the ingredients are from Trader Joes- vanilla ice cream, a jar of peaches that I diced and graham crackers. I swear, they make the BEST graham crackers. You must try them.

It's Friday and the start of a 3-day weekend. Do you have any fun plans?

S'more Brownie Bites

It's camping season, yay! We have a camping trip planned next month but I couldn't wait until then to have s'mores. They're one of my favorite camping treats. I like to roast my marshmallow until its completely charred on the outside and melty gooey on the inside. So as a compromise to building a fire in my backyard, possibly burning my house down or trying to use my hubby's bbq and irritating him with stickiness on his grill, I made s'more brownie bites. Yum!

S'more Brownie Bite
by Giada De Laurentiis

Ingredients


1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/4 cups mini chocolate chips

1/2 cup sugar

2 large eggs, at room temperature

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup quinoa flour (I used whole wheat flour instead)

3/4 cup mini marshmallows

1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs or 4 large graham crackers, finely crushed

Special equipment: a 24-count mini-muffin pan, 24 mini-muffin cup liners, such as Betty Crocker mini-size baking cups

Directions

Cook's Note: Quinoa flour is available at health food stores.

Place an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 24-count mini-muffin pan with paper liners.

Heat the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Remove the pan from the heat and add 3/4 cup of the mini chocolate chips. Stir until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl. Stir in the sugar, eggs and vanilla. Gradually beat in the flour until the mixture is thick and smooth. Stir in the remaining 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips.

Using a small cookie scoop, fill each paper liner with about 2 heaping tablespoons of batter. Push 3 mini marshmallows halfway down into the center of the batter. Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of the graham cracker crumbs over the marshmallows. Bake until the marshmallows are puffed and light golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool for 20 minutes and serve.

Do you like camping? Any suggestions on recipes I can make at the campsite or ahead to take with us? We'll be near the beach with our own grill. Can't wait.

Panzanella

Are you like me? A bread lover? As many benefits as I've heard for going gluten-free, I'm sorry, I just can't. Bread would be one of my desert island foods. Which leads me to my favorite salad....Panzanella. It's a bread salad, super simple, packed with yummy goodness and even makes good leftovers for lunch if you like dressing soaked bread, which I do.

Up-close and personal with my salad.

Toasted bread (I cube a sourdough baquette from Trader Joes), fresh diced tomatoes, sliced black and green olives, roasted red peppers, diced scallions, chopped cucumbers and provolone cheese. I dress the salad with a olive oil, red wine vinegar and a little salt and pepper. Or you could buy your favorite Italian dressing.

Toast the bread crumbs under the broiler and then allow to cool while you assemble the rest of the salad.

Yum- lunch the next day.

Have you had Panzanella? What do you like in yours?

It's Grilling Time!

Southern California never gets quite cold enough to actually pack away the grill but it's not as much fun using it when it's overcast and dreary. The sun has started to peek through and I'm taking full advantage of those warm moments. Especially since using the grill means less pots and pans to wash.

Do you see that little piece of steak in the middle? I spent 10 minutes searching for the perfect package of meat only to open it and find that little piece was not attached but by itself. What the heck? We'll call it the tasting bite.

We had rice and tortillas leftover from another night and since I try really hard not to throw anything out, I served it on the side. Do you eat leftovers or almost expired food in your house? Obviously if I find something in the fridge that looks ready to grow legs and walk out on its own I throw it out, but I've been know to eat yogurt or drink milk that's a day or two past expiration. Oh the horror.

My steak was a little on the rare side for me but my hubby likes his still mooing so it was a good compromise. How do you like your steak?

Franks & Beans

So I've read enough articles on the horrors of nitrates to ban them from my home. Trader Joes has definitely made this easier by selling nitrate/nitrite free hot dogs. Namely turkey dogs which are quite delicious although nothing truly compares with my favorite Hebrew National. I'm keep watching for them to release a nitrate free hotdog. Are you reading Hewbrew National?
One of my quick go-to dinners when I have no idea what to make is franks and beans over cornbread. I've started adding corn kernels to my cornbread to add a little extra nutrition. Just follow the recipe on the box and then add a half can of no-salt no-sugar added corn kernels that you've mashed up. You don't have to mash them but I do because I'm weird and don't like the liquid corn pop that I get when I bite into one.

Do you buy nitrate/nitrite free? Any good products I should try?

Blueberry Lemon Scones

Tomorrow is Mother's Day. Do you have any special plans? I'm hosting brunch and on the menu are these yummy Blueberry Lemon Scones.

The recipe is from Ina Garten. She usually makes them with dried cranberries and orange but I swapped those for dried blueberries and lemon. Delicious. I plan to serve them with lemon curd, whipped cream and sliced strawberries.

Ingredients

• 4 cups plus 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup sugar, plus additional for sprinkling
• 2 tablespoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon grated orange zest
• 3/4 pound cold unsalted butter, diced
• 4 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 cup cold heavy cream
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 1 egg beaten with 2 tablespoons water or milk, for egg wash
• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, plus 2 tablespoons
• 4 teaspoons freshly squeezed orange juice

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix 4 cups of flour, 1/4 cup sugar, the baking powder, salt and orange zest. Add the cold butter and mix at the lowest speed until the butter is the size of peas. Combine the eggs and heavy cream and, with the mixer on low speed, slowly pour into the flour and butter mixture. Mix until just blended. The dough will look lumpy! Combine the dried cranberries and 1/4 cup of flour, add to the dough, and mix on low speed until blended.
Dump the dough onto a well-floured surface and knead it into a ball. Flour your hands and a rolling pin and roll the dough 3/4-inch thick. You should see small bits of butter in the dough. Keep moving the dough on the floured board so it doesn't stick. Flour a 3-inch round plain or fluted cutter and cut circles of dough. Place the scones on a baking pan lined with parchment paper. Collect the scraps neatly, roll them out, and cut more circles.
Brush the tops of the scones with egg wash, sprinkle with sugar, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the tops are browned and the insides are fully baked. The scones will be firm to the touch. Allow the scones to cool for 15 minutes and then whisk together the confectioners' sugar and orange juice, and drizzle over the scones.

Happy Mother's Day!

Leftover Baked Potato?

I can't, well I should say, I shouldn't eat a whole baked potato. The potato itself isn't the problem, it's the butter and sour cream that I fill it with that's the problem. So many calories all packed into a delicious potatoey package. So, what to do with the other half that's leftover? I store it in the fridge and save it for breakfast. No sense wasting something so yummy. Chop it up, fry in a little oil and butter, add salt and pepper and enjoy!

This is my hubby's favorite breakfast- cheesy grits, bacon, eggs, potatoes and scallions. I like to dump hot sauce all over mine. This keeps me full until dinner, but that might be because I'm usually not out of bed and making breakfast on Saturday until noon.

What do you do with your leftovers?