Sloppy Joe Pizza

This recipe is really easy to make and takes hardly any time at all. It doesn't really taste like a sloppy joe but its just as messy as one!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef
  
• 1 1/4 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce (I like sweet baby ray's)
• 1 1/4 cup of frozen corn
• Shredded cheddar cheese
• Boboli Pizza Crust

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 350
• Brown meat and drain
  
• Return meat to skillet and turn burner on med/low, add in the BBQ sauce and corn
• Mix and warm through
• Put the meat mixture on top of the pizza crust
• Sprinkle the top with cheese (as much or as little as you like, I prefer a nice thick coating)
• Place the pizza in the oven for 10-15 minutes until the crust is a little crispy and the cheese is melted and bubbly - ENJOY!
  

Beef n Noodles

This was a staple dinner in my family growing up and still one of my favorite comfort meals. This makes enough for 2 big dinner portions and left overs for the next day!!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lbs tip steak cut into bite sized pieces - or - 1 1/2 lbs of stewing beef (this can be a little chewy if over cooked)
• 1 can of Cream of Mushroom Soup + the empty can filled with milk
• A few shakes of parsley
  
• Salt and pepper
• 1 envelope of Onion Soup Mix
• 1 Tbsp of Olive Oil (for cooking beef)
• 1 bag of Egg Noodles, whatever kind you like.
  

Directions:

• Salt and Pepper the meat in a bowl and add the olive oil to the pan. Brown meat in a large, deep skillet until cooked through. Drain off any water or fat that is left in the pan.
• Reduce the heat to Low/Medium and add in the mushroom soup, can of milk, parsley and onion soup mix and stir until combined. (You can add a little more pepper if you like it, but I wouldn't add more salt)
  
• Bring to boil a large pot of water and add in noodles, cook according to package.
• The beef mixture will reduce and thicken some, you can let it get really thick if you want, but I like it in between.
• Spoon over noodles and enjoy!
  

Pepper Steak

Prep: 10-15 mins, plus doing stuff while meat is simmering. Cook time: 50 mins to an hour, maybe a little more if you're slow like me.

Pan size: Large. I make it in my almost wok-sized frying pan, and it practically overflows.

Ingredients:
- 1 package of round steak (best) or 1 package of stew meat (inexpensive)
- A lot of paprika
- 1 medium onion
- Not too much of your favorite cooking oil (ex: I prefer olive oil, but plain old canola will also work)
- Soy sauce
- Corn starch
- Tomatoes (I used 5-6 roma tomatoes for four adults, 3-4 big ones will probably be ok.  How much do you like tomatoes?)
- Bell peppers (2-3 for four adults)

Directions:

Cut steak in strips (about 1x2 inches, maybe thinner) or stew meat into bite-sized pieces. COVER in paprika. Use a lot of it. You don't have to flip it over and do the other side, but the top should be invisible beneath paprika and then some. Roughly chop onion.

Put a little oil in your pan, enough to cover the bottom. Put onion and meat into pan, cook until meat is just browned and onion is getting tender. Once meat is brown, cover with an inch or so (depending on how much you like sauce) of water. Bring to a boil, turn down heat. Cover. Simmer for 45 mins.

Start rice at whatever point it will be done about the same time as the dinner.

Meanwhile, cut tomato and bell pepper into bite-sized pieces and. After meat has simmered 45 mins, stir in about 1/4 cup soy sauce. Note: the soy sauce is absolutely essential to this meal. It and the paprika are the key to the savory flavor. Taste after you add the 1/4 cup, because you can add more if you want. In a measuring cup, mix two HEAPING spoonfuls of corn starch with COLD water (1/4 cup-1/2 cup) until the lumps are gone. Slowly stir cornstarch/water mixture into pan. The mixture should thicken into a sauce (about as thick as you'd expect a sweet and sour or another Asian sauce). Give it 3-5 minute to thicken. If it does not, make cornstarch (focusing more on the cornstarch) and water mix and repeat until desired consistency is reached.

Place tomatoes and peppers on top of the stuff in the pan, cover, and cook for 5-10 more minutes. Do not stir them in. My mom does five, so they're just heated through, but I like them to actually cook a little, so I do 10-15.

Serve over rice and enjoy!

There you go Diane!  It's pretty simple, but good!

French Dip Sandwiches

Alright, this one is delicious and super easy!!!

ATTENTION: This meal takes at least 5 hours of Crock pot cooking (unattended), so MUST BE STARTED AT LEAST 5 HOURS BEFORE YOU PLAN ON EATING.



Ingredients:
-1 Roast
-32 0z Beef Stock (or the same amount of water with 2 or 3 beef Bullion cubes)
-1 Medium (2 small) Onions (rough Chopped)
-2 TBS Butter
-2-4 Cloves of Garlic, whole (depends on how much you like Garlic)
-1 Bay leaf
-Salt and Pepper to taste (start with a tsp and go from there)


French Baguette and cheese of choice


Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a crock pot, put on high, and let it go all day. The longer the better. IF the liquid starts looking a little low (should cover about 1/2 the roast) add more water. Literally, if you start in the morning and leave it alone it will be ready by dinner. You know it's ready when you put a fork in it and it falls apart.

When the roast is done, pull it out of the crock pot and shred the entire thing. Then place the meat onto a slice of the french baguette with your favorite cheese. I love white cheddar for this, but provolone is good too, or Swiss. Or no cheese at all. Be sure to serve each sandwich with a portion of the Liquid from the crock pot to dip it in. Trust me, this one is DELICIOUS!!!

NOTE: If you don't have the 15 minutes it takes to make this in the morning, you can substitute everything but the roast for a packet of dry french onion soup mix and water. It will not taste the same, but will create the same yummy sandwich and take about 2 minutes.

Upside Down Pizza

1 1/2 # ground beef
1 cup green peppers, chopped
big handful of pepperoni, chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 envelope of spaghetti sauce mix
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1 Tbsp. oil, I use Canola
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400. In a large skillet cook ground beef. I drain & rinse the meat. Add green pepper, pepperoni, (any of your other favorite pizza toppings), garlic, dry spaghetti sauce mix, and oregano to the meat. Stir in tomato sauce & a little bit of water to thin out the mixture to desired thickness. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover & simmer approx. 10 min. In a medium bowl beat milk, eggs & oil. Add flour & salt. Beat until well mixed. Transfer hot beef mixture into an ungreased 9x13 pan. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Pour egg mixture of the top. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake uncovered for 25-30 min or until puffed & golden.

My dough bubbles up with air but it still tastes yummy!

Pot Stickers/Dumplings

These are extremely variable. I'll list what I use, but you can do pretty much whatever you want. Traditional pot stickers/dumplings are made with pork, but I don't like pork, so I use chicken or beef.

Ingredients (Beef Filling)

1 lb ground beef
1 medium green pepper, chopped
1/4 cup chopped onion
3/4 cup shredded cabbage

(to taste)
fresh garlic/garlic powder
ginger
soy sauce (less is more)
Worcestershire sauce

Put all ingredients together in large frying pan and cook until hamburger is browned and all vegetables are tender. Drain grease as best you can.

Chicken Filling

1 lb ground chicken OR shredded cooked chicken breast (about 2 breasts)
1/3 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped baby spinach wilted over heat

(to taste)
poultry seasoning (parsley/sage/rosemary/thyme)
garlic/garlic powder
ginger
soy sauce

Cook chicken with whatever spices you prefer, then shred. If using ground chicken, cook. I usually don't cook the celery, but put it in with the chicken if you want to. Put aside. In same pan, wilt spinach over heat until you have a cup or so (it takes a lot). Mix celery and spinach in with chicken.

OTHER OPTIONS FOR BOTH FILLINGS:
1/4 cup water chestnuts
1/4 cup chopped peanuts or cashews
whatever else you can think of

Or you can do a bunch of vegetables and no meat for a vegetarian option. I'd suggest cabbage for the main ingredient.

Shells or skins or whatever they're called
Buy 2 packages wonton skins from the grocery store.

If you feel like it, you can make them. It will most likely push you over the hour time limit, but here's the recipe. Warning: these are A LOT of work, but it's what's pictured, so I thought I should include it.

2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
4 tablespoons vegetable or olive oil
boiling water (a cup or so, you probably won't use all of it)

Mix salt and flour, make a well in the center and add the oil and 5 tablespoons boiling water. Mix with a wooden spoon until smooth. You may have to add more water. Be careful not to add too much. Knead until elastic, 3-5 minutes.
Pull off a bouncy-ball sized piece of dough and roll out on wax paper until as thin as you can get it. Should be about 5-6 inches in diameter and almost so thin it's almost transparent. Set aside (still on wax paper, or it'll be hard to pick up) and roll out the rest of the dough this way. You'll probably get between 12 and 20 circles of dough, depending on how big/thick they are.


Cooking Directions

Use a small table spoon (a real one, not the measuring spoon) to scoop filling onto shells. Brush water along half of the outside edge and fold dough over. Use fingers or a fork to crimp and seal open side (like a pie crust). Repeat until all dough is gone. There may be extra filling.
Cover the bottom of a large frying pan with oil and heat until a drop of water skitters off the surface. Put in as many dumplings as will fit. Fry for 2 minutes. VERY CAREFULLY add 1/2 cup water and cover IMMEDIATELY. Let steam for 7 minutes. Put on plate w/ paper towels to drain. Repeat until all pot stickers are cooked, or freeze the rest and cook them later.


FOR DUMPLINGS:

Drop them in already boiling water until the dough is cooked and transparent, probably about 7-10 minutes. I can't remember for sure, I never make them that way.


Dipping Sauce

1/4 c soy sauce
1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
ginger

(Sorry there's no picture. I ate it all. It looks like soy sauce.)

Beef Pot Stickers

Cheeseburger Paradise Soup

*My mom gave me this recipe from Taste of Home magazine - I cut it in half because its just me and Andrew and the normal size makes 14 servings, you can always double it if you want. I added some variations as well. There was enough for us to both take it to work for lunch the next day and have two helpings at dinner.

Ingredients
3-4 medium potatoes peeled and cubed (if you use red ones you might need more)
1 small carrot chopped
1 small onion chopped (I used a vadalia so it was 1/2 of an onion bc it was huge!)
1/2 cup chopped green or red pepper
1-2 tablespoons, chopped and seeded jalapeno pepper (add less than that if you don't like heat or use some hot sauce, like the green tabasco or Franks)
2 cups of water
2 beef bullion cubes
1-2 garlic cloves minced
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 lb ground beef (you could use turkey)
1/4 lb sliced fresh mushrooms (I left this out bc I hate mushrooms)
1 tablespoon butter
2 1/2 cups of milk, divided
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/2 package (8oz) Velveeta cheese cubed
Crumbled cooked bacon to garnish or shredded cheese

Cooking Directions

In a soup kettle, combine the first 9 ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15-20 mins or until potatoes are tender.

Meanwhile, in a large skilleet cook beef, mushrooms (if you added those) and butter over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Add to soup. Stir in 2 cups of milk; heat through.

In a small bowl, combine flour and remaining milk (1/2 cup) until smooth; gradually stir into soup. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Reduce heat; stir in cubed velveeta until melted. Yield about 7 servings.

East Coast Baked Ziti

Disclaimer: I originally found this recipe on some other cooking site but I've made some changes to the cook times and things.

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
1 16 oz box ziti pasta (penne also works)
1 or 2 28 oz cans of crushed tomatoes
1 lb sharp cheddar cheese (1 bag)
Parmesan cheese
Seasonings (I like to use oregano, garlic, salt, and pepper)
Olive oil

Serving size: 6

Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Cook pasta, just a little under the called for time (pasta will cook more when it bakes; don't forget to put some olive oil and salt in the water prior to adding the pasta)
- While pasta is cooking, cook the beef. Add in whatever seasonings you like.
- Drain the beef grease.
- Add in crushed tomatoes (I usually use 1 - 1.5 cans but it really depends on how thick of a sauce you like)
- Add in about 2/3 the bag of cheese. Let the mixture to simmer on medium low to help melt the cheese
- Drain the pasta and rinse in cold water
- Add 1/2 pasta to a greased 13x9 pan. Coat it with 1/2 the sauce. Repeat.
- Cook for 30 minutes, then immediately add remaining cheddar cheese to the top of the casserole and sprinkle with parmesan to taste.
- Put (uncovered) back in the oven for another 10-20 minutes until the top has bubbled and browned.