This is truly one of the favorites here in our little nest.
Homemade Sloppy Joes.

Now, those of you who have already cringed and quickly vowed never to read this blog again for fear of compromising your good taste, hear me out: these are not, I repeat NOT your childhood Sloppy Joes. They taste nothing like the slightly foul product that rhymes with “Sanwich.” Yuck. These do not come in a can and thus, they do not taste like the come in a can. However, they are still rather quick to prepare.

Try ’em. You like ’em!

Super Sloppy Joes (Adapted from Rachel Ray)

1.25 lb. of Ground Turkey or Beef (I like to mix half and half to cut the fat.)
¼ cup of minced onion (fresh) or a few tbs. of dried minced onion
¼ cup of Brown Sugar
Montreal Steak Seasoning (or other steak seasoning)
1 Tbs. Red Wine Vinegar
1 Tbs. Worcestershire Sauce
2 Tbs. Tomato Paste
2 Cups Tomato Sauce

Brown the meat, seasoning to taste with steak seasoning and the onion.  As meat begins to be done, add brown sugar and allow it to caramelize. When meat is browned, add vinegar and Worcestershire and cook for 3-5 minutes.  Add tomato paste and sauce and cook until reduced and thickened a bit. Taste Sloppy Joe Mixture and see if it needs extra seasoning. (sometimes extra brown sugar is needed.)
We like it on lightly toasted buns of some kind and roasted potato wedges (recipe below)

Roasted Potato Wedges
* Glass 9×13 Dish (you may need more than one); spray with Pam
* Several Large baking potatoes
* Olive Oil
* Seasoned Salt; a few tablespoons of Flour
Cut Potatoes in wedges, lay wedges in dish. Drizzle liberally with olive oil and sprinkle lightly with flour, seasoned salt (to taste) breaking up any lumps of flour. (Also great to add sprinkled Parmesan cheese—in the green can—)
Cook on 425’ degrees until Potatoes are getting golden brown and crispy. If you use a glass dish, the potatoes will get brown on the bottom and you don’t have to flip them.

We serve all this with dill pickle slices and a stack of napkins!!! 🙂
(And of course, a nice tall glass of sweet tea!)

     It is during this time of the year that I find myself looking to make filling meals that are warm, comforting and full of good healthy ingredients. It also happens that during this time in our life, (enter one smallish income for 3 people) I find myself looking to stretch our grocery bill into as many meals as possible. It really makes my day when I can stretch one meal into two or more- (other than just eating leftovers, which is always nice.)

     Last night, I made this recipe for a slow-cooker beef stew. If you enjoy cozy meals such as this, I would certainly recommend giving it a try. A few things you should know, the recipe calls for 4 lbs. of bottom round. That is a lot of meat— so for Mr. S and I, I used about 1.35 lbs. of cubed stew meat. It still made plenty and it was not too meat heavy as some stews can be. We prefer a lot of vegetables. Another observation, the recipe calls for baby carrots. Baby carrots are fine and definitely convenient. We have taken to buying a large bag of whole organic carrots because we get WAY more per pound, they last much longer in the fridge since they are unpeeled (we’re talking weeks here) and we tend to think the taste is just sweeter and more “carrot-ey” (Yes, I have coined a new word.) One other disclaimer, the recipe calls for a cup of red wine. Obviously, the alcohol cooks out, but if you choose not to use the wine,  you could try beef broth.. however I would add at least a small amount of red wine or red cooking wine, because the flavor is really unmistakable.The resulting dish was really good and warmed us from the inside out on a chilly rainy night.

On to meal #2:
   Long ago, my mother taught me that beef stew or soup makes an excellent Meat Pie a couple days later. Just thicken or thin the sauce to your desired consistency, place in a casserole dish and cover with a piecrust. Seal the edges and bake until golden brown and bubbly. Tip: try adding a small sprinkling of fresh or dried Thyme or Rosemary to your crust before rolling it out. Beautiful and Savory! If you are short on time, you can certainly use a roll-out pie crust, or even top your beef stew with biscuit-dough. Either one would make excellent use of leftovers and give your family the feeling of an entirely different Supper. Especially if you wait a day in between! You could also accomplish this same concept by topping leftover chili with cornbread and baking. Yum!

This is just a simple technique that I use from time to time and I thought I would share.

What are some creative ways you get double or even triple duty out of your leftovers?