Sloppy Mias

I love making Sloppy Joes, but I'm not a huge fan of the canned sauce to make them. I always end up adding to it to make it taste better. Now I just use my own recipe! It's realllllly good.

1 package Morning Star Farm OR Boca crumbled soy (or use real meat)

1/4 cup chopped onion

1/4 teaspoon of garlic salt or 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder

1 teaspoon of yellow mustard

3/4 cup ketchup

3 teaspoons of brown sugar

salt and pepper to taste (I found that using the garlic salt, there was no need for additional salt)

Onion powder to taste



Directions:

Brown the "meat"

If using real meat, drain the fat

Add other ingredients and cook on low heat for about 20-30 minutes


Super easy and oh so good!

Twice Baked Butternut Squash

YUM-O! I made this as a side dish for our anniversary. I actually made DH a steak! This was so good and I plan on making it again.

1 butternut squash cut lengh wise

2 TBS. sour cream

1 TBS. butter

Salt

Pepper

Breadcrumbs

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Scoop seeds out of squash (I used my melon baller). Sprinkle squash with some salt and pepper and put a dollup of butter on each slice.

Cook in oven for about 45 minutes. Let squash cool for 15 minutes and reduce heat on oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, mix sour cream, butter, salt, and pepper. Scoop inside of squash out into bowl, reserving the skins, and mix (I used my hand mixer to get it whipped). Scoop mixture back into skins, sprinkle top with breadcrumbs, and cook in oven an additional 20 minutes.

Enjoy!

Spinach and Pasta Bake

I got this idea from another blog. You can find it here:

sotastysoyummy.blogspot.com

Anyway, I made some changes to it to meet my dietary requirements.

It was really good, but I think missing something (besides the meat). I added a small amount of milk to my bowl and it helped make it creamier. I think I'll add some to the entire batch next time I make this.

16 oz cooked pasta (I used rotini)

10 oz chopped frozen spinach, thawed and drained

14.5 oz diced tomatoes

8 oz onion and chive cream cheese

1 tsp basil

1 tsp Italian seasonings

1 tsp crushed red pepper

salt/pepper

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese divided

2 or 3 cloves crushed garlic


After pasta is cooked and drained, mix with all ingredients (only use 1 cup of the cheese). When it is mixed well, top with remainding cheese. If you like, you can sprinkle a small amount of bread crumbs to the top.

As for pan size, you can use one large pan or two smaller pans and freeze one of them. Bake, covered, at 375 degrees. Uncover and cook a little bit longer (until cheese is melted and dish is a little bubbly).

YUM!

Butter Bean Burgers

I'm trying my best to make more food from scratch. When I saw this recipe, I didn't think it would be that great, but I thought it was worth a shot. What I like most about it is you can add whatever you want. I have posted the original recipe (from allrecipes.com) and noted the changes that I made.

1 (15 ounce) can butter beans, drained

1 small onion, chopped

1 tablespoon finely chopped jalapeno pepper (I didn't have this, so I add red pepper flakes instead)

6 saltine crackers, crushed (I added bread crumbs instead)

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder (I didn't measure this out, just added it until I thought it was good enough)

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup vegetable oil (I used olive oil instead)

I also added a couple cloves of garlic. I have a garlic obsession!



1.In a medium bowl, mash butter beans. Mix in onion, jalapeno pepper, crushed crackers, egg, cheese, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Divide into 4 equal parts, and shape into patties.

2.Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat; use more or less oil to reach 1/4 inch in depth. Fry patties until golden, about 5 minutes on each side.



When I made these, it helped if I added a little more bread crumbs to each side of the patty. So I put the patties in the pan, sprinkled them with more bread crumbs. When I flipped them over, I added more crumbs to the other side.

When they are done, top them with whatever you would top a regular burger. Even my husband enjoyed these!

Broccoli Casserole

This recipe really looks odd, but trust me, it was good! I got it from all recipes.com

I did change some things, but I'll post the regular recipe and note my changes

1 cup uncooked white rice

5 tablespoons margarine (didn't measure this out)

1 cup chopped onions

1 cup chopped celery

1 (10 ounce) package chopped frozen broccoli, thawed and drained (I zapped mine in the microwave for a while to speed up the thawing process and to make sure the broccoli would be cooked through)

1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup (I used cream of celery because I hate mushrooms)

1 (8 ounce) jar processed cheese spread with jalapeno (my can was 9 ounces)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In a saucepan bring 2 cups water to a boil. Add rice and stir. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

Melt margarine in a medium skillet over medium heat. Saute onions and celery until tender.

In a 2 quart casserole dish combine onions, celery, cooked rice, broccoli, mushroom soup and processed cheese spread; mix well.

Bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes (I cooked it less than this because my broccoli was already warm)

Enjoy~

Taco Soup

1 lb. ground beef (again, use 1 package of Morning Star Farms recipe crumbles for a vegetarian meal)

1/2 cup chopped onion

28-oz can whole tomatoes with juice

14-oz can kidney beans with juice

17-oz canned corn with juice

8-oz can tomato sauce

1 pkg. dry taco seasoning

1 to 2 cups of water

salt and pepper to taste

cheddar cheese

hard taco shells or corn chips

Disclaimer: I, of course, make this vegetarian. I also bought all low sodium items.

Brown beef and onions in skillet. Drain (when you use the vegetarian meat, there is no draining).

Combine all ingredients (except cheese and chips) in a slow cooker (although I made mine in a large stockpot).

Cover-cook on low for 4-6 hours (cooking it in a pot took about 20 minutes-I had the heat on high).

Ladle into bowls. Top with cheese and chips.

Nacho Bake

I saw this on the back of a Velveeta Shells and Cheese box. It turned out to be really yummy!!

1 package Velveeta Shells and Cheese Dinner

1 lb. ground beef (as always, I substitute this with soy crumles)

1 package Taco Seasoning Mix

3/4 cup Water

3/4 cup Sour Cream

3/4 cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese

3/4 cup Salsa

Tortilla chips

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare the Velveeta Shells and Cheese as you usually would. When this is done and you are adding the cheese mix also add ALL of the sour cream.

Brown meat (or soy) and drain fat if needed. Add water and taco seasoning mix. Simmer for 5 minutes.

In an 8 inch square baking dish, add half of the Velveeta mixture. Top with meat, half of the shredded cheese, and the rest of the Velveeta mixture.

Cover and bake for about 15 minutes. When it is done, top with salsa and the remain shredded cheese (I actually added the other half on top of the mixture before baking it).

In your own bowl (or plate) top with some crushed tortilla chips.

The actual recipe says to add it to the dish, but if you have leftovers (and we did because it is only the two of us!) the chips will get soggy.

Enjoy!

Impossibly Easy Cheesburger Pie

My husband and I make this often. The good thing about this pie is that you can make it vegetarain. That is how we make it, so we can BOTH enjoy it. This picture and recipe is from the Betty Crocker website!

1 lb Morning Star Farms or Boca soy crumbles (the kind for chili, not the sausage crumbles) or you can us a 1 lb of lean (at least 80%) ground beef

1 large onion, chopped (1 cup)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

1/2 cup Original Bisquick® mix

1 cup milk

2 eggs

DIRECTIONS
Heat oven to 400°F. Spray 9-inch glass pie plate with cooking spray.

In 10-inch skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until beef is brown; drain. Stir in salt. Spread in pie plate. Sprinkle with cheese.

In small bowl, stir remaining ingredients with fork or wire whisk until blended. Pour into pie plate.

Bake about 25 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.

High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): Bake 30 to 35 minutes.