Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes!

I haven’t posted in a LONG time. This recipe is one I actually made 3 weeks ago too! And probably one of the last things I cooked.

My husband and I have been so busy as the final few weeks of this pregnancy approach that we haven’t been cooking anything original – just things we have done in the past that were fast and easy. Or defrosting leftovers to make room for new things I am planning to make and freeze. (I’m one step closer to that – we actually bought a bunch of different ground meats to work with!)

Anyway, this sloppy joe recipe was actually delicious! I hated sloppy joes… my husband made me try the Manwich kind for the first time when we started living together and I just wasn’t into it. But when I saw this slow cooker recipe on MomsWhoThink.com, I knew I wanted to try it.

We first ate it as sandwiches, but I also used it to put over leftover pasta and it was a great topper for that too! So this recipe is pretty versatile for the way you can eat it.

Being a slow cooker recipe, it is very easy to make, and this one is a “set and forget” recipe, you do not need to do anything in the middle while cooking. I definitely recommend this one!

And now, the recipe: (as usual, I made half of what is listed below)

Ingredients:

3 lbs. ground beef, browned and drained
1 onion, finely chopped
1 green pepper, chopped (I actually used red)
28 oz can tomato sauce
¾ cup ketchup
3 TBSP Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp chili powder
½ tsp black pepper
½ tsp garlic powder
8 sandwich buns

Directions:

Combine all ingredients except for sandwich buns in the slow cooker. You can grease your slow cooker if you want. I did for the first time, and I felt it made it harder to clean.

Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours. (If you put the meat in raw, cook longer until brown!)

Service in sandwich buns and top with shredded cheese if desired.

The first time we ate them, we did not use cheese but the second time we did. Yum! When I also used this over pasta, I put Parmesan cheese on and that was delicious!!
Definitely try this one out – maybe I’ll use some more of my ground beef to make more and freeze so we can eat it when the baby is here!

Also, another reminder – if you or anyone you know plays fantasy baseball, their drafts are most likely starting or coming up SOON! Get an advantage! Go to www.rotoprofessor.com and buy the fantasy baseball draft guide! It’s only $6 and gets updated every few weeks until the baseball season starts. (In fact, 2 or 3 updates have already gone out so the guide is getting more and more comprehensive by now!) This is the 3rd year the draft guide is on sale and it gets rave reviews. Check it out! (And if you must know, the RotoProfessor himself, who makes this guide, has won his fantasy league a few times now.) Plus, anyone who purchases the guide before March 15th has a chance to win an autographed baseball of Yankees starting pitcher, Michael Pineda! Pass the word!

Guest Post - Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream

I haven't posted in a while. Half a month. Sorry! I actually haven't been cooking much because we've had an influx of leftovers lately from restaurants or easy dinners I made that I have either already posted here or aren't post worthy!

And last week we had a bathroom renovation going on so that was a minimal cooking week. But I cooked today (sorry, that is not what this post is about!) and I will be starting to make foods to freeze before Junior comes so I will be (hopefully) be making lots of things in the upcoming weeks - we only have 8 to go! Yikes!

The post below is from my favorite cousin-in-law and her experience baking cupcakes for the first time completely from scratch. She was really, really excited about this (she's just out of college and learning to cook more on her own!) so she wanted to share her recipe and experience. Good job, Melissa!

Also, please remember, if you, or anyone you know, plays fantasy baseball and has a draft coming up, tell them to head on over to RotoProfessor.com for lots of great tips, tricks and articles. Also, RotoProfessor's third annual Draft Guide is on sale now for just $6!! It is an electronic draft guide created on Excel and updates get sent to the buyer every 2-3 weeks before the season starts. This guide gets repeat buyers and rave reviews and is much cheaper than a magazine from the store! Also, anyone who buys the guide before March 15 is entered to win an autographed baseball by Michael Pineda!! What an awesome prize!

OK, and now, the guest post. Everything written below here are Melissa's words:

Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream
By: Melissa

This was my first time making cupcakes and frosting from scratch. I bake cookies from scratch all the time, but have always been afraid to try any kind of cake...until I found this recipe from joythebaker.com. It seemed simple enough...AND IT WAS! Start to finish (including clean up) was just over an hour!

To see the original post, visit joythebaker.com and search "Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream".

Here's the recipe, almost word-for-word from Joy's. I made a few substitutions and I put those in (parentheses). This makes 12 cupcakes.


CUPCAKES

1 cup flour
3/4 cup of sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
3 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup whole milk (1/2 cup skim milk and 2 tbsp butter)
1 egg (3 tbsp egg beaters)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat over to 350 degrees.

Put flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and butter into a bowl. Mix until a sandy consistency and everything is combined. Gradually pour in half of the milk and beat until the milk is just incorporated.

Whisk the egg, vanilla and remaining milk together in a separate bowl for a few seconds, then pour into the flour mixture and continue beating until just incorporated. Scrape any unmixed ingredients from the side/bottom. Continue mixing until the batter is smooth - just a few minutes. Don't overmix!

Spoon the batter into paper lined muffin tins (I used an ice cream scoop).


Bake for 20-25 minute . Let them cool in the pan a bit before putting them on a wire rack to cool completely.


VANILLA BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
5 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 tbsp whole milk (2.5 tbsp skim milk)
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Beat powdered sugar and butter together until well mixed. Combine milk and vanilla extract in a separate bowl, then pour the combination into the other mixture, slowly. Once all together, mix until light and fluffy.

DECORATE!

I have always wanted to try using a piping bag, so i made my own (sort of) using a gallon sized ziplock bag. It worked pretty well! Not too easy, but it wasn't a disaster. I topped mine off with some silver sprinkles from Wilton.

For my first attempt, I'm really happy. And so was my roommate and his friends! I will absolutely make these again!

Game Day Snack Week 12 - Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Mini Cakes

I got the recipe for this week from a coupon circular a few weeks ago. It was called Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake, but after making this and eating it, my husband and I can't figure out why it would be classified as coffee cake (unless since the instructions say to serve with coffee brings in the coffee part..), but they sure were tasty little afternoon treats. So, I am calling them mini cakes.

The recipe was very easy to make. It took me about 10 minutes to put all the ingredients together, and then 24 minutes to bake them.

They are easily transportable too!

I also had all of the ingredients in the house so I didn't have to buy anything special. That was great!

Here are the ingredients:

Non-stick cooking spray
2 1/2 cups Buttermilk pancake mix OR 2 1/2 cups light pancake mix
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping:
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup walnuts, finely chopped (optional, we did not use)


Here are the directions:

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees F.

Coat an 8 or 9 inch square pan with non-stick cooking spray.

Combine the pancake mix, 1/3 cup sugar and chocolate chips in a medium sized bowl. Add in the water, sour cream and vanilla extract.

Blend well.

Using a cake scoop or an ice cream scoop, shape dough into 16 2-inch balls.

Place in 4 rows of 4 each in prepared pan.

Combine the topping ingredients in a small bowl and sprinkle over the dough.


Bake 24-26 minutes or until golden brown.

Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Enjoy a sweet game day treat!

** Also, remember! For those of you sports fans who play fantasy baseball, Rotoprofessor.com is having a sale this weekend on its annual draft guide! This is the 3rd year this draft guide is being sold and it gets rave reviews! For just $6 you get a comprehensive draft guide electronically, with updates every 2-3 weeks until the baseball season starts. $5 through Monday night so hurry!!

Side Note for Those Who Play Fantasy Baseball!

For those of you who like the Game Day snacks, they were inspired a long time ago on my husband's fantasy sports website, www.rotoprofessor.com.

He does a draft guide every year for the baseball season and sells it for just a few dollars and it gets updated electronically every 2-3 weeks until the season starts.

So if you play fantasy baseball, head over to the Rotoprofessor and check out the coming draft guide - this is the 3rd year it is being released and it gets rave reviews! There will be a black Friday sale for the guide this year, so get yours now!