Sloppy Joes

Late October in Chicago is not only bringing cooler weather here, but also blustery winds and lots of cold rain! This gloomy weather has me craving homemade warm cooked meals. I am really loving the CL "fast" recipes in their November 2011 (no I am not getting paid by CL magazine). The picture of the fast 20 minute Sloppy Joe recipe looked so delicious, I decided I would give it a try. I have never really been much of a fan of sloppy joes, they always look weird to me but this recipe has changed my entire outlook on Sloppy Joes, I find that they make a quick and tasty meal!

Ingredients

1 large carrot
10 oz lean ground beef
3/4 cup prechopped onion
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup ketchup
1 TBSP Dijon mustard
1 TBSP worcesterhire sauce
1 TBSP tomato paste
1 TSBP red wine vinegar
1 (8oz) can no-salt added tomato sauce
hamburger buns

I grated the carrot and onion beforehand. The recipe tells you to heat the skillet while you are grating a carrot..but hey I am clumsy enough I don't need any other excuses to try to burn another pan or start a fire.
Add carrot, beef, onion to pan, cook 6 minutes or until beef is browned and vegetables are tender.Add garlic powder, chili powder, and pepper; cook 1 minute.Combine 1/4 ketchup and the next 5 ingredients (through tomato sauce) in a small bowl.Add ketchup mixture to pan, stirring evenly to coat beef mixture. Simmer for five minutes or until slightly thickened.While sauce thickens, arrange buns, cut side up, in a singer layer on baking sheet. Broil 2 minutes or until lightly toasted. Place 1/4 cup beef mixture on half of bun. (we added some parm cheese on top too!)

This was such an easy and quick meal! I made this earlier in the day and when my BF and I got back from a run after work, we reheated up the sauce and put the buns in the oven and had dinner ready in less than ten minutes!

Quick and Easy Chicken Broccoli casserole

There is nothing I like more than a home cooked meal that you know has taken a long of time and and love to prepare..but hey let's face reality, sometimes life just gets in the way and you just don't have time to make an elaborate meal..especially during the week.

I actually felt like I was cheating when I made this recipe, but I knew I needed a meal I could throw together quickly and something I could let cook in the oven while me and the BF went for a quick run after work.

The weather is turning into that cool fall weather so I knew I also wanted some warm and homey to look forward to eating after our run.

So looking for a quick throw together recipe, I went to my allrecipes app and looked for Chicken Broccoli Casseroles and made some adjustments to the recipe I found on allrecipes since I want to make something that was more chicken pot pie like.


Ingredients
1/2 lb skinless chicken breast cubed (you don't have to cook this beforehand)
1 1/2 cups frozen broccoli florets
1/2 cup shredded cheese
1 (10.75) can condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1/2 cup skim milk or chicken broth
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp pepper
1 roll flakey refrigerated biscuit (like hungry jack flakey biscuits or whatever your choice of buscuit

In large bowl, combine the chicken, broccoli, and cheese. (I had half a green pepper leftover so I added this as well)Whisk the soup, milk, garlic powder and pepper.Stir in chicken mixture. Transfer into greased 1-1/2 quart baking dish. Bake uncovered at 350 for 30 minutes. Open biscuits, separate each biscuit in half and layer on top. Bake for an additional 25 minutes.

Pulled Pork in ROOT BEER!

We had some friends over for dinner and we decided to go with a make your own taco theme with pulled pork and skirt steak as our filling options.

So for pulled pork, I decided to try using root beer as the liquid in the crock pot.

I got a 5 lb bone in pork shoulder and trimmed off all of the fat. (Note to self: next time I see a pork shoulder with the skin on and think it will be easy to trim off the skin, think twice about this)

I prepared a rub with the following ingredients:

Brown sugar (about 1/4 cup)
smoked paprika (about 2.5 tsp)
cumin (about 1 tsp)
garlic powder
cayenne pepper
dry mustard
pepper

After massaging the rub on the pork shoulder, I let it sit for about 10-15 minutes.
Then heat up a deep skillet and sear all sides of the pork.

After this is completed, I placed the pork in the crock pot.
I add two cups of root beer to the crock pot and set on low. I let it cook for about 7-8 hours. Shred the pork and place back into the crock pot. When ready to serve drain the pork (reserve some liquid) and serve pork with a little bit of the remaining liquid so the meat stays moist.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

There are a million variations of chicken tortilla soup on the Internet. I perused through many of them and finally decided to make the following...and also just added or edited the recipe to my liking. Here is what I did.... (and apologies in advance for the lack of photos, we were having friends over for dinner and in the rush of making everything, I forgot to take more photos..which is pretty standard of me ;)

Ingredients
2 TBSP veg oil
1 small onion diced
2 TBSP minced garlic
2 jalapenos diced (I took out the seeds)
6 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 (14.5 oz) fire roasted diced tomatoes
3 chicken breasts
2 limes juiced
salt and pepper
1 small can green chilies (I only used half)
1 can of corn
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
3-4 corn tortillas


In a medium to large size pot, heat oil and add onions - cook 2 minutes.
Add garlic, jalapenos and cook for 1 minute.Pour in chicken broth and tomatoes (I added in the juice in the can for extra flavor) and bring to a boil. Simmer and then add chicken breast.(I dusted the chicken breasts with a bit of the cumin). Cook 20-25 minutes. Once chicken is cooked, remove from pot and shred (using two forks to shred works the best for me, and I shred it in sections)
Then add the chicken back into the soup, add the cumin and chili powder. Add lime, can of corn, and salt and pepper to taste.


After this, I let the soup simmer. While the soup is simmering, I cut up the corn tortillas into long strips. Heat up a shallow frying pan with vegetable oil and place the tortilla strips in the pan. Flip the tortilla strip after about 45 seconds to a minute (depending on hot your pan is the time may vary) and let cook on the other side. When both sides are golden brown, place on a paper towel on a plate. I then cut up the avocado into slices and grate some cheddar cheese as an accompaniment to the soup.