Sloppy Joes

Because we like sloppy joes, and we always have most of the ingredients on hand, I always make them from scratch instead of buying a canned or powdered mix. The origin of my recipe is found here. I don't always measure, as you will be able to see from my eyeballed amounts! I started with these 3 sun scorched peppers from my garden because I can't sell them at the farmers market and an onion. I wish I grew my onion but I am not that cool this year. Maybe next year. Sometimes I use bell peppers, sometimes anaheim or pablano peppers. They are all good!

Chop the onions and peppers up to the size that you like. I generally like to have more pepper than this, but it was still good in the end. (This is making up a double batch because I was also taking dinner to a friend, probably important for you to know!)

I sautee the peppers and onions in a TBLS or 2 of oil. Olive, vegetable, canola, whatever I have that day. I prefer olive oil. 

After the peppers and onions start to soften, add the ground beef and brown through. Drain when it is cooked through.

While waiting for the hamburger to cook, you will mix up your sauce. It calls for 3/4 c ketchup, 3 tsp brown sugar, and 1 tsp mustard. I just eyeball it til it looks like I want, obviously my ratios are not the same. Sometimes, when I am feeling spicy, I will even add a tsp or 2 of siracha sauce.

Add the sauce to the drained hamburger mix, stir in completely, and heat through. 

Since we are gluten free, we have sloppy joes over baked potatoes or french fries, rather than on buns. Feel free to do whatever you need to do to make this what you want it to be. It is really good and really flexible. 

Chili Cheese Fries

Today I made a household favorite, chili cheese fries. I make it from scratch because it is quick and easy, and we like the way I season it. This is loosely based on the recipe for the McCormick packet. To make this one you will need:

1-2 LBS of potatoes (or a bag of your favorite frozen fries, I won't judge)
2 cans black (or whatever variety you like) beans (Bush's beans are gluten free)
2 cans tomato sauce
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 lb (I use half a pound) of ground beef
2 TBLS chili powder
1 TBLS garlic powder
1 TBLS onion powder
2 TBLS cumin
salt and pepper to taste
(if you want to skip all the seasonings, you can buy a packet seasoning, but I like being able to be in control of the flavor and adjust as needed for our tastes)

I cut my "fries" first and bake because they take about 45 minutes and that is how long it takes to make and simmer the chili. I just cut them into strips or wedges and toss in olive oil and salt and pepper, then roast in the oven on 450 for 45 minutes.

While the fries are cooking, you make the chili. Start by browning the ground beef. Once browned through, drain off the fat, and then add back to the pot. Add in the cans of stuffs and then season. Warm through, then leave on a low simmer until you are ready to serve.

To build your plate, put some fries on the bottom, chili over the fries, and grate some cheese over the top. We use cheddar because, again, that is what we like. Caity and Trevor also put sour cream on them, but Andruw and I don't care for sour cream :)

Freezing Bananas

To freeze bananas, you will need a few things, Wax Paper, a sheet pan, and bananas... This is what I do when they are overripe :)

 

Peel the bananas, and dice them into manageable chunks. I have one row sideways for you to see about how thick I cut them. Lay them on the wax paper lined sheet pan, and place the whole pan in the freezer for about 20 minutes. This helps keep them separate when they are in the freezer so you can thaw them or use them as needed.

The frozen chunks are good to throw into smoothies with other frozen fruit in place of using ice cubes. It is actually one of my favorite things to do with them.

Cream peas and new potatoes

Well, it is that time of year again, the peas are on. We are picking about a grocery bag full a day which is a good thing and a crazy thing! So, because they are only on for about 10 days a year, we must make our favorite dish with them, right? So here it is. 

You will need:

about 2 cups of peas

3 lbs of baby red potatoes

water

3 cups milk

3 TBLS butter

3 TBLS flour (I used rice flour because,yeah, gluten free, but you can use whatever flour you want)

Start by shelling the peas. The picture below is twice the amount of peas that I used because we just shelled everything that we had! I need blanch and freeze them tomorrow.

Cut up your potatoes. Since we are using baby reds, they shouldn't need to be cut too many times to be small enough. I like them a little bigger than bite size because it is rustic. I just quartered them, like below:

Cover the potatoes in cold water, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until fork tender. Then drain the potatoes.

Because I am so smart, I didn't get pictures of the next steps, so I hope you have a good imagination. After you have drained the potatoes, leave them aside, put 3 cups of water in the pan and bring to a boil. While waiting for that water to boil, in another pan, bring 3 cups of milk and 3 TBLS of butter to a simmer then add 3 TBLS of flour and cook until thickened, stirring frequently. Once the water in the pot is boiling again, add your peas and cook until they are all a nice dark green, probably 2-3 minutes, then add the potatoes back in, as well as adding your white sauce. Cook over a medium low heat until it is your desired thickness. I don't like it thick, so mine is kinda like a soup. Hubby likes it to be thick like a gravy (but if he wanted to have it bad enough he would be the one cooking it right?) Anyway, finish product pictured below :)

Another Chicken recipe

Today, after reading about my uber yummy chicken recipe from before, as well as seeing that all that was thawed in my fridge for meat was chicken, I decided to make some marinaded chicken. I find marinades more complicated without soy and gluten in my life. I was searching for inspiration and found several that suggested honey and lime, which would have been good, but I don't have a lime. I found more that suggested Dijon and oil and vinegar, like a simple vinaigrette. I made the decision to go with a honey Dijon marinade. After searching around a bit more I found that basically an equal amount of honey and Dijon with some oil added would work. I found a recipe here and it was really yummy. I just mixed it up in a zip top bag and rubbed it onto the chicken breasts. Sunny Anderson recommended to let it sit for at least 2 hours. Mine was at 12 hours by the time it was cooked.

I cooked it on my griddle because it was too hot to grill..... Here is a picture: