Thursday, May 17, 2007

Cooking with Elizabeth...


Yep, that's my cutie girl!!!! She's sportin' a sweet apron made for her by her Aunt Amy!! Thank you, Aunt Amy!!!

Today, amongst the regular Thursday jobs around the house, Elizabeth and I decided to make Rachael Ray's Super Sloppy Joes for lunch. Remember, our big meal of the day is lunch, so that's why we were cooking this in the middle of the day.

Here's the WONDERFUL recipe! For those of y'all that still open a can of Manwich, try this!! It is super simple and VERY tasty!!!!

Super Sloppy Joes
Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, 1 turn of the pan
1 1/4 pounds ground beef sirloin
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon steak seasoning blend, such as McCormick brand Montreal Seasoning
1 medium onion, chopped
1 small red bell pepper, chopped
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 cups tomato sauce
2 tablespoons tomato paste
4 crusty rolls, split, toasted, and lightly buttered

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add oil and meat to the pan. Spread the meat around the pan and begin to break it up. Combine brown sugar and steak seasoning. Add sugar and spice mixture to the skillet and combine. When the meat has browned, add onion and red peppers to the skillet. Reduce heat to medium and cook onions, peppers, red wine vinegar and Worcestershire sauce with meat for 5 minutes. Add tomato sauce and paste to pan. Stir to combine. Reduce heat to simmer and cook Sloppy Joe mixture 5 minutes longer. Using a large spoon or ice cream scoop, pile sloppy meat onto toasted, buttered bun bottoms and cover with bun tops.


We also decided to make oven potatoes to go with this. It's a super simple dish, too! The hardest part is chopping the pototoes!!

Oven Potatoes
5 medium sized red potatoes
1 large onion (I used Vidalia today... I wonder why...)
4 garlic cloves (or more if you LOVE garlic like we do!!!)
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Wash potatoes and leave the skin on. Chop into bite sized pieces and put on a cookie sheet. Chop onion into bite sized pieces and place that on the cookie sheet, too. Rough chop garlic and toss those pieces on top of the potatoes and onions. Drizzle with about 2 T of olive oil, sprinkle to taste with salt and pepper and lightly toss it all together with your fingers. Place in a preheated 400 degree oven and bake for about 45 minutes. Half way through, take them out and toss them around to make sure they are cooking evenly on all sides. Enjoy!!!

So... what are you serving your family today?

12 comments:

Wendi said...

Elizabeth is so cute and the apron is adorable! What a great aunt she has.

Today we had Shake'n Bake pork chops, green beans and mashed potatos. Megan really likes mashed potatos.

Those potatos sound delish, I will have to try those soon.

Naomi's Mom said...

I've recently come across your blog and find myself returning often. We brought our Naomi home from China in February. Thanks for posting the pic of Elizabeth - she is precious.

Chrissy said...

Yum-o!

HsKubes said...

Oh, Elizabeth looks so precious in her apron. She looks like such a big helper.
I've never used Manwich for sloppy joes. Growing up, my mama always used ketchup and mustard (with a little pepper and sometimes onion). We've always liked them that way. I hope yours turned out yummy. We have sloppy joes on our menu for next week. Mmmm...

Enjoy the rest of your week

~ Christina

Julieann said...

Mrs.U---Elizabeth looks absolutely precious in her apron!!!!

No manwich in this house either;)

Julieann:)

Lean Not said...

She is so adorable!! I just love her, even though I only know her from your blog. What I wouldn't give to have a little daughter like that. All in God's time! You seem like you are really having a lot of fun with her.

I made spaghetti, fried onions (in butter), green beans, and we finished up some leftover salmon. It was all delicious!

I would like to try your onion pie sometime.

theups said...

OOOH!! I haven't had Shake'n Bake in ages!!! I forgot that my mom used to make pork chops with this all the time!! I wonder if it still tastes as good as it did when I was small? :)

Hi Naomi's Mom!! It's always wonderful to "meet" a fellow mom-of-a-Chinese-sweetheart!! (by the way, myheartisalwayshome is one, too!!!).

Chrissy, have you been watching Rachael Ray?? tee hee!!

Hi Christina! Your mother's recipes does sound MUCH easier! Maybe I need to try it her way next time!! :)

Julieann, you are such a wonderful cook. I'm sure your family has the BEST food all the time!!

Lean Not, how do you make your fried onions? Are they just sauteed? Or do they have some sort of coating on them? I LOVE onions!! :)

His,
Mrs. U

Kelli said...

Elizabeth is SO cute and I love her little apron!!

I haven't had sloppy joes in forever, I can't wait to try these. And the potatoes...YUM!

Kelli

Amanda said...

I think my mom made those Rachel Ray sloppy joes not too long ago! They were yummy.

I really must remind myself to do that tag one of these days! :-)

Doug and Terrye said...

It is such a delight when you post pictures of Elizabeth, thank you for the treat.
I am making up my menu for next week, and the sloppy-joe recipe is now on the list. Gotta love Rachel!

Lean Not said...

Mrs. U.,
I saute them in butter. I usually start out with a little water in the pan too so that they soften, and then when the water cooks down, they are just in the butter. I usually put salt and just a little sugar to bring out their flavor.

Once in a while, I sprinkle a little flour batter in; but usually I like it with just the butter. :)

I keep a ziploc bag filled with chopped onion in the freezer. Once in a while, I just take out some of that and make some onions for a snack. That probably sounds strange, but it sure is good!

Darcy said...

What a sweet little girl!

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