Sloppy Joes

This is my mom's recipe. It's really good. I usually only put in half of the chili powder because it's a little spicy for my kids with all of it.

2 pounds ground beef (or turkey if you want)

1/2 cup diced celery

1 small onion, diced

2 cups tomato juice

1 cup ketchup

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons dry mustard

2 teaspoons chili powder

2 teaspoons paprika

2 Tablespoons worchestershire sauce

salt and pepper to taste

Brown the meat with the celery and onion. Drain the fat. Add the other ingredients and cook until warm. Serve on buns, with or without cheese.

Zucchini Bread

I always put the zucchini in the blender and measure it out into Ziplocks in the summer when there is an over-abundance of zucchini everywhere. That way I can just get a bag out of the freezer and make zucchini bread anytime of the year. It works best if you grate the zucchini first before trying to blend it.

3-4 cups of zucchini, big seeds removed and grated

(2 1/2 cups of blended zucchini)

1 1/2 cups raisins

2 1/2 cups sugar

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1 cup chopped nuts - I use walnuts

3 eggs

1 cup oil

3 teaspoons vanilla

Put zucchini in blender and blend until smoothish (no chunks, but not totally liquified). You will need 2 1/2 cups of blended zucchini. Add the raisins to the zucchini and heat until hot, not boiling. You are just heating up the raisins and reconstituting them in the juice of the zucchini. Remove from the heat.

In a large bowl mix together all the other ingredients with a spoon. I mix together the dry ingredients first, then when they are mixed thoroughly, I add the eggs, oil, and vanilla. Mix thoroughly with a spoon until no clumps remain.

Pour into two large loaf pans that have been greased, lined with wax paper, and greased again.

Bake at 335 degrees for 70 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted.

We love to have this sliced and toasted in the oven.

Sponge Cake

I guess I need to get back to posting a recipe a day. Sorry I was such a slacker this last week. I had issues.

This cake is what I made for the one year old's official birthday cake. (What he had on his birthday was a store bought piece of yucky-ness. Just my opinion, and no offence to the store where it was purchased. I just think that homemade is SOOOO much better.) It is sorta like angel food cake, not as light and airy.

9 eggs, separated

1 1/2 cups cold water

1 1/2 teaspoons lemon extract

1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon rind

1 1/2 cups sifted flour

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/4 teaspoon salt

Beat egg yolks until very thick and lemon colored, about five minutes. Gradually beat in sugar. Beat in water, lemon extract and lemon rind. Beat in flour.

Beat egg whites until frothy; add cream of tartar and salt then beat until stiff enough to hold a point. Gently fold into egg yolk mixture.

Bake in dry, ungreased deep 9 for 10-inch tube pan at 325 degrees for 60 to 65 minutes.

Invert pan immediately and let cake hang in pan until entirely cool.

This is a picture of the pan I use so you can see what it's like. I didn't have any lemon extract, so I substituted lemon juice for all the water, still added the 1 1/2 teaspoons of lemon juice in place of the extract, and put in the rind on one lemon. You could also (and I have before) substitute almond extract, or any other extract you have that you might think would be tasty. You could even add sprinkles or tiny chocolate chips in with the flour. If you wanted a chocolate sponge cake, add cocoa powder - about 1/4 cup - in with the flour. It might be a good idea to cut the flour by about 1/8 cup or so if you decide to do this so the cake isn't too dry.

The reason you invert the pan until it's cool is so that the weight of the cake will not make it collapse. I have done that before, and the cake is flat and very dense. Still edible, but not nearly as tasty. After the cake is cooled, you run a knife around the sides (if it hasn't fallen out by itself), take it out of the pan, and run the knife around the middle spindle and under the cake to remove the insert.

I always serve this with strawberries, fresh or frozen with sugar so it makes a syrup, chocolate sauce, because everything's better with chocolate, and whipped cream.

(It's really good sliced, toasted in the oven, and eaten at breakfast if you have any left over. I don't know how I know this. I, of course, always eat a well balanced meal for breakfast.)

Since I didn't get around to posting a recipe yesterday, you get two today. And since today is pi day (3.14, March 14) here is my mom's recipe for pie crust.

Pie Crust

2 cups flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup shortening

1/2 cup very cold water

Mix together the dry ingredients. Cut in (with a pastry cutter or two knives) the shortening until it's mixed and crumbly. Add water last. Roll out on lightly floured board. Makes two pie crusts or one double crust (bottom and top crust - like on an apple pie).

Bake shell at 425 degrees for 15 minutes.

For a filled pie, bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes then turn down to 375 degrees for 30 minutes. For filled tarts or individual pies, bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes then turn down to 375 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes.

Cornbread

I got this recipe off the box for Alber's cornmeal. Since my family is a little larger, I one and a half times it. It still fits in a 9 x 13 pan. Sorry, I no longer have the original recipe.

2 1/4 cups flour

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup Alber's yellow corn meal

1 1/2 Tablespoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 3/4 plus 1/8 cups milk

3 eggs

1/3 plus a half a third cup oil

4 1/2 Tablespoons melted butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13 pan.

Mix ingredients together just until blended. Pour into greased pan.

Bake for 35 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.

Chicken Broccoli Casserole

My family loves this. I make it often, probably too often. It can be made ahead and put in the freezer for later use.

Line the bottom of a pan (sprayed with cooking spray, of course) with fresh, cooked (or frozen) broccoli. Sprinkle with cubed cooked chicken. Make a sauce with two cans of cream of mushroom soup, 1 cup mayonnaise, and about 1 1/2 teaspoons of lemon juice. Spread the sauce on top of the chicken. Cover the top with shredded cheddar cheese. You can sprinkle the top with bread crumbs, crushed up corn flakes, or leave it plain. I guess you could even top it with sliced almonds if you wanted a little crunch. Cook for about 30 minutes in a 350 - 375 degree oven until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Makes one 9 x 13 pan that will serve 10 - 12 hungry people. Serve with rice and maybe some fruit or a salad.

I have made this using frozen Normandy blend veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, carrots). I have also, on occasion added some mushrooms. I usually put it all in a huge bowl and mix it up (except the cheese) because I like it when you get sauce in every bite. You know, no naked broccoli or chicken.

Enchiladas

These are somewhat like the enchiladas below. They are not creamy though. You can make them with chicken, beef, pork, whatever. I'm sure you could use shrimp if you wanted to, although I have never tried it. I always make these sometime in the first few days after I make a roast. These freeze really well, so you could easily make them ahead of time and just thaw on the day you want to eat them. You could also just freeze the filling for use later. That's what I do if I have more than I want to use that day.

First you put some salsa (whatever brand you like) into a strainer over a bowl or whatever. Then you cube up your meat. I always add shredded cheese to the meat. When the salsa is done draining, I see how much salsa juice I have. If I think I'll need more, I pour a little water over the salsa and let it drain some more. Sometimes I add black beans in with the meat, sometimes corn, sometimes nothing. It totally depends on my mood, and if I have anything left over in the fridge that I think would be good in the enchiladas. After the salsa is done draining, I dump the salsa in with the meat. It is now meat, cheese, salsa, and beans or other add-ins.

Next you take your tortillas and warm them up a little. Then I dip them in the salsa juice - I forgot, if I add black beans to the meat I put a little water in the can before I drain them and then I drain them into the salsa juice, so the bean juice is in with the salsa juice. Anyway, then I take a tortilla, dip it into the salsa juice, and put some of the meat, bean, cheese, salsa mixture in the middle. Sometimes I've even spread a little refried beans down the tortilla before the meat mixture, but not if there's beans in with the meat. That's just asking for trouble. (If I have any salsa juice left, I just pop it into a container, label it, and stick it in the freezer for use next time.)

Then I roll them up and put them in a pan that I've sprayed with cooking spray. Then I spread shredded cheese over the top.

Cook in a 350 - 375 degree oven for about half an hour until the cheese is bubbly and yummy looking.

Serve with salad, corn, applesauce, sour cream, or whatever you like.