Skinny Sloppy Joe's

I haven't blogged in a reallllllly long time.  Going back to teaching is always such a shock to the system.  Ask my poor husband... I've barely cooked.  But now that I'm back in the swing of things (3 months later)... it's time to cook again.  Actually, part of it is that I started using Peapod for grocery delivery, which requires advanced planning - so I know WHAT I'm cooking each night.  Planning ahead... who'd have thunk it.  

Anyway, tonight I made Skinny Sloppy Joes from this recipe.    It was DELICIOUS.   Here's the low down and I how I made it a bit different than the original.

1.  I started by browning 1 pound of lean organic ground beef with 1 Tbs of steak seasoning.  Because my husband is anti-onion I can never use store bought steak seasoning, so I used a rub that I made a while back. It was soooo good that I kept the extra.  (*update* Here's the steak rub recipe - I left out the onion powder for the hubby... yes, he is THAT anti-onion).   

2.  Once the meat was browned all the way through I strained some of the fat off (I always do this), and added a handful of pre-shredded carrots that I chopped up, 1/2 chopped red bell pepper, approximately 4 oz of mushrooms chopped, and 3-4 tablespoons of pre-chopped garlic.  The original recipe calls for onion... obviously, that was out, and for the veggies to be very finely chopped up in a food processor.  I didn't do that and the dish was still awesome.  

3.  Then I added 1 Tbs red wine vinegar and 1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce. 

4.  Last, I added 16 oz of tomato sauce.  The recipe called for two cups of sauce plus 2 Tbs of tomato paste.  I always have sauce and paste in the house... except tonight I didn't.  So I figured if I added extra tomato sauce - put a wire mesh screen over the pan, and boiled it down it would be roughly the same thing.  It worked out great. I served them on whole wheat buns and tada - tasty, messy, sloppy Joes from scratch!   

BBQ menu

July 20, 2012

Having a BBQ tonight with some friends.  Found out our grill was dead so last night the hubby and I bought a new one and put it together from 8:30-11:30pm (after he'd worked a full day - poor hubby). It looks pretty badass though, and now that we've built it we also know how all the parts work and what to replace if it breaks.  As we were putting it together I think we figured out how we could have fixed the old gas grill, but too late.  The junk guys who go down our ally looking for metal are going to be stoked.  Annnnnyway.....

I always cook too much, but I'd rather have too much than not enough.
Here's the menu:

Starters: Chips & Salsa, Watermelon.

Drinks:  Sarasota Lemonade (Mix 2 bottles of Moscato + 1 container of frozen pink lemonade concentrate + 3 cups sprite + 1/2 container of crushed raspberries + ice).  Add fresh raspberries to individual drinks.  AND Adult Root-beer Floats (pour 2 oz vanilla vodka over ice, and 5 oz. root beer.  Top with whip cream.)  Serve with a straw!  Beer (but really, would you drink beer with the other two available??)
VERDICT:  Sarasota lemonade was AWESOME!  I put it in mason jars, sealed them and threw them in the cooler with beer.  They were soooo yummy.  The root-beer floats were also good, but a little strong.  I made them with vanilla ice cream.

Burgers: They should be juicy! (Mix 2 lbs 80% lean ground beef + 1 egg + 3/4 c. bread crumbs + 3 Tbs. evaporated milk + 2 Tbs. worcestershire + 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper + 2 tbs chopped garlic with your hands.  Make into 8 patties).
VERDICT:  I wound up using 2.25 pounds of 75% lean ground beef.  The flavor was fine, but it needed salt & pepper and way less bread crumbs (maybe a quarter cup or more less).

Sides:  Caprese Pasta Salad (4 cups cooked & cooled pasta + 2 cups sliced grape tomatoes + 8 oz fresh mozzarella cut into 1/2 inch cubes + 2 Tbs olive oil + salt & pepper to taste.)  Tabbouleh (1/2 cup bulgar soaked in water for 30 minutes + 1/4 c. lemon juice + 2 Tbs olive oil + 1/2 tsp minced garlic + 1/4 tsp salt + pepper to taste + 2 bunches (2 cups) of flat leaf parsley chopped  + 1/4 c. fresh chopped mint + 2 tomatoes diced + 1 small cucumber peeled seeded & diced.  Toss & Chill.
VERDICT:  The Caprese Pasta salad was good but I didn't salt it enough and it could have benefitted from a little balsamic vinegar.  The Tabbouleh was AWESOME and I forgot the cucumber.  Ooops.  It was a huge hit, which actually surprised me.

Dessert:  Grilled Banana Smores (slice 1 banana per person down the middle & stuff with mini marshmallows & chocolate chips.  Wrap in tin foil & grill.  Sprinkle with crushed graham crackers.  I will also serve with ice cream if people want it.
VERDICT:   We wound up having the root beer floats for dessert.  Guess I'll make the banana later!

What do you think?  Too much?  Just enough?  There will only be 5 people there :) HA!

Roasted Lime Cilantro Eye of Round Tacos

Dinner Thursday June 28, 2012

Roasted Lime Cilantro Eye of Round Tacos.   If using a 2 pound roast, 4 servings = approx. 8 points+ each (not including taco fixings).  Honestly, I think it's more like 6 servings.. maybe more.

This needs to be prepped the night before you cook it!  I always miss that so I thought I'd put it first.

The Night Before
1.  In a cuisinart make a paste of 8 garlic cloves, 1 jalapeño seeded (if you're weak) and diced, 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro, 1/4 cup fresh squeezed lime juice (about 3 limes), 1 Tbs. Coriander seeds (the website I got this from says 1 Tbs of ground coriander will work too), 1 Tbs. Cumin seeds (I didn't have seeds, so I just used 1 Tbs ground cumin), 1 Tbs coarse-grained salt, 1 Tbs olive oil.
2.  Slice into a 2 to 4.5 pound eye of round roast (I have a 2 pounder, and so did the website I got this from), making a few one inch cuts on each side.  Rub a tsp. of the paste (mine was a sauce) into the cuts and then slather it onto the whole roast.  Wrap the roast tightly in plastic wrap and put it back in the fridge.
Day of
3.  Put the roast into a crock pot on low for 8 hours.  Shred and serve with taco fixings.  You can also do this in an oven, but it's going to be 100 degrees F tomorrow.  Why would I turn on the oven if I don't have to?

5 1/2 hours left to cook.  I really need to get a better camera.

3 Hours left.  Look at all that juice!

It said 1 hour left, but I wanted to test how shreddable the beef was... and it just fell apart.  AND THE TASTE! OMG.  I just texted my husband and told him to come home from work early because dinner is going to be SO GOOD.

Notes:  Next time I make this I'm going to try half the salt (1.5 tsp instead of 1 Tbs.)  It's really good, but I am pretty salt sensitive (just taste, not effects).  I think this would be fabulous with much less.

For those who watch calories (or points plus), hard taco shells are 3 pts+ each, soft corn tortilla's are 1 pts+ each.  Light sour cream is 1 pt+ per table spoon.  Avocado is 3 pts+ for 1/4.  I went WAY over points tonight because I didn't pay attention to the extras when I was eating.  I still have activity points, so I'm okay, but I think I'd eat this on a salad next time.  The beef was delicious.  The rest is gravy.