A new favorite sloppy joe

Turkey Sloppy Joes
Delicious and Dependable Slow Cooker Recipes Copyright 2002

2 tbsp vegetable oil, divided
1 ½ lbs ground turkey
2 onions, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeño pepper, minced, optional I used this
1 tbsp chili powder
2 tsp dried oregano leaves
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 cup tomato-based chili sauce
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese I used less
1 green bell pepper, finely chopped, optional I added this
Hot onion buns I used whole wheat buns

1. In a skillet, heat 1 tbsp oil over medium heat. Add turkey and cook, breaking up the meat with a spoon, until no longer pink. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a slow cooker stoneware. Drain and discard liquid.
2. Add remaining oil to pan. Add onions and cook, stirring, until softened. Add garlic, jalapeño pepper, if using, chili powder, oregano, salt and black pepper and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add chili sauce and Worcestershire sauce and bring to a boil.
3. Transfer mixture to slow cooker stoneware. Cover and cook on LOW for 8 to 10 hours or on HIGH for 4 to 5 hours, until mixture is hot and bubbling. Add cheese and green pepper, if using. Cover and cook on HIGH for 20 minutes, until cheese is melted and pepper is softened. Spoon over hot split onion buns and serve.

Serves 6.
__________________________

I thought these were a lot more flavorful than your average sloppy joe. I did find them to be a bit too salty so when I make them again, I won't add the salt. I don't think these have to be slow-cooked, although I think they should simmer for a while to blend the flavors. So if you don't own a crock pot, I think you could still give this recipe a try. My son enjoyed these too.

My only regret is that I had planned on making my own sandwich rolls but I saw that I had rolls in the breadbox and decided to use those up instead. Had I known just how much I was going to like the filling, I would have made the homemade rolls - this recipe deserved them.

I think I need to regroup. I feel 'off' since I've been sick, maybe even before that. I'm not taking a break from blogging (as long as I'm cooking, I might as well be blogging) but I need to clean and organize my house and get a few things out of the way that have been nagging at me before I can really throw myself back into this. I think I do pretty well considering I'm out of the house 10 hours Monday-Friday for work and commute and I'm raising a 3 year old and a husband. However, I'm starting to bore myself. I'd like to make at least a few recipes each month that challenge me, that maybe aren't practically but hopefully fun. I'm blown away by so many food bloggers yet I've noticed that some of most prolific ones don't mention working outside the home or even children in many cases. What I wouldn't do to have just one day a week to cook to my heart's content.

It's the last day to sign up for a chance to win a cookbook this month. I never updated the cookbook link in the corner and I'm seeing some problems with linking to old posts with the new Blogger (at least I think it's the new blogger). I'll look into it but I'm out of time right now. Go into the February archives and scroll down to sign up if you haven't yet.

Blast From The Past: Shortbread Wedges from April 2006. One thing I would like to do more often is make more fun homemade treats for my son. I haven't pulled that animal pan out in ages. Right now he's enjoying graham cracker sticks that I dipped in chocolate and covered with sprinkles. Every time he eats one, he asks 'You made this?' and he seems very impressed lol.

Question of the Day: Have you come across any problems with new Blogger? What are they?

Good banana bread and bad customer service

Toni’s Banana Chocolate Chip Walnut Bread (without the Walnut)
Cooking Light Annual Recipes 2007 Copyright 2006

2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 4)
1 cup vanilla fat-free yogurt I used lowfat
½ cup reduced-fat vanilla soy milk I used 1% milk
¼ cup canola oil
½ teaspoon vanilla extract I used a little bit more
4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
½ cup chopped walnuts I omitted these
Cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place first 5 ingredients in a food processor; process until smooth.
3. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Add banana mixture to flour mixture stirring just until moist. Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts until well combined. Divide mixture evenly between 2 (9x5-inch) loaf pans coated with cooking spray.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on a wire rack 10 minutes. Remove from pans; cool completely.

Yield 2 loaves. 16 servings per loaf. Per serving: 150 cal, 4.9 g fat, 3.2 g pro, 25.8 g carbs, 2.7 g fiber, 0 mg chol, 153 mg sodium
____________________________

I thought of all sorts of things to do with my excess bananas but in the end, I went with something somewhat healthy. The lead-in said that this was an adaptation of a vegan recipe. If you used all soy products and a dairy-free chocolate chip this would be vegan - nice for anyone with dairy or egg allergies. I was very pleased with this. It was very moist and flavorful.

This was a recipe sent in from a reader. I have three of the Cooking Light annuals and I seem to pick the reader recipes more often that the other recipes. Not on purpose, it just works out that way. I wonder why that is.

This is my contribution to Sweetnick's ARF/5-A-Day Tuesdays. . Bananas are a great source of potassium, B6, vitamin C and fiber.

Can I tell you about the worst customer service experience I had yesterday? It's food related. I went out for lunch for only about the second time this year. I just stopped by Bagel Builders for a white veggie pizza bagel. I placed my order and waited. Eventually I noticed that the people who ordered after me are picking up their orders but I was still standing there. One of the workers noticed this too and asked me what I ordered. I told him, he didn't have my order, he conferred with the other person filling orders and she didn't have it either. He went over to the shelf when the cashier places the order card and found my order and gave it to the other woman.

I still stood there and wasn't served until just about everyone else in the place was served! When I got my order (which turned out to be the wrong thing - just a plain white pizza with no veggies), the woman apologized and said that my order got left behind and she could only make the orders in the order she was given them. So even though she knew that my order had gotten lost, she still didn't make it until all of the other orders that came in WAY after me were prepared. Am I missing something here?

Another time I went in there for breakfast and ordered a wrap and the one woman filling orders that morning kept handing people who came in behind me their toasted bagels and I asked where my order was and she told me that she was the only one working and she just couldn't get to it (i.e. she was going to fill every simpler order that came in before making my wrap) It was the middle of the breakfast rush and if I hadn't spoken up I would have been standing there for who knows how long. So much for strictly filling the orders in the order they receive them. I try to be reasonable but I'm really at a loss to understand people sometimes.

So no more Bagel Builders for me which is a shame because they have good coffee. I just can't spend my money there anymore. I gave them several chances, forgave some inconsistencies in product (the white veggie pizza varied quite a bit, depending on who made it) and service (sometimes it was slow but I waited patiently and other times they were speedy).

Blast From The Past: Sour Cream Banana Bread from December 2005. My old stand-by but unfortunately not as healthy as today's recipe. You really can't compare the two - one is whole wheat and one isn't. Both are very, very good recipes.

Question of the Day: Have you ever dealt with bad customer service in a restaurant? How many chances do you give them?

A hit with my son

Super-Easy Mac and Cheese
Weight Watchers Five Ingredient 15 Minute Cookbook Copyright 2005

½ cup 1% low-fat milk
¼ teaspoon dry mustard
¼ teaspoon pepper
6 ounces processed cheese (such as Velveeta), cubed I used 2% Velveeta
4 cups hot cooked medium elbow macaroni (about 8 ounces uncooked), cooked without salt or fat I used Dreamfields

1. Combine first 4 ingredients in a large saucepan; cook over medium heat until cheese melts and mixture is smooth, stirring frequently. Remove from heat; stir in macaroni. Serve immediately.

Yield: 8 (1/2 cup) servings. 3 points per serving.
_____________________________

This was just something I made on a whim. I had recently looked at the recipe and when I walked past the Velveeta in the grocery store, I felt the urge to throw some in my cart even though I hadn't really planned on making this recipe right away.

Usually I prefer to blend a little Velveeta with other cheeses, not that I buy Velveeta very often. It seems to smooth out cheese sauces very nicely. Just the Velveeta on it's own wasn't bad here. I liked that it didn't seem as rich as a regular cheese sauce - sometimes macaroni and cheese can be too heavy as a side dish. I love Alton Brown's stove-top recipe but as a side dish, it can be too much.

Another nice thing about the Velveeta is that the leftovers didn't dry out like other macaroni and cheese recipes often do. My son really liked this so I was glad to be able to freeze the leftovers for him. They reheat beautifully.

I really like these Weight Watcher's magazine style cookbooks and there's a new one out but they're so expensive. I was hoping Costco had it in there magazine section but they didn't. I'll probably break down and get the new one eventually.

Lately, when it comes to cooking, the spirit is willing but the body is dead tired. I don't get sick very often so maybe I just forgot how long it takes to recover or maybe it's just my advanced age, but I didn't expect not to bounce right back after being sick. My butt has been dragging for over a week.

I scheduled a trip to Ollie's since my coupon was about to expire and then I couldn't find the coupon! Oh well, I went anyway. I got a raise on Friday so that was my splurge. They didn't have anything too special but that didn't stop me. I bought a nice Pillsbury cookbook, a Betty Crocker chicken cookbook, a bread machine cookbook, a few healthy recipe cookbooks and a Bisquick cookbook. All the books basically contain recipes I probably already have somewhere but if I only bought books that made sense I wouldn't be the Cookbook Junkie, I'd just be someone with a small, logical cookbook collection.

Blast From The Past: Maple-Glazed Salmon from March 2006, also from this cookbook. Wonderful but why does cooking salmon have to stink up the house so much?? Damn, I just remembered that I forgot to take my fish oil capsules this morning.

Question of the Day: Do you take any dietary supplements (vitamins, fish oil, etc)?

More Rachael Ray

Chicken, Veal or Pork Schnitzel with Red Caraway Cabbage
Rachael Ray 365: No Repeats Copyright 2005

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast halves or thin-cut boneless pork loin chops, or thin-cut boneless veal chops or cutlets I used pork
salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ cup all-purpose flour
2 eggs beaten with a splash of milk or cream
2 cups plain bread crumbs
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
vegetable oil or light-in-color olive oil, for frying, plus 1 tablespoons

CABBAGE
1 red onion, thinly sliced
1 green apple, peeled and chopped
½ red cabbage, chopped (about 4 cups)
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons light or dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1 lemon, cut into wedges

If using chicken, butterfly each chicken breast and place between wax paper. For pork, place chops several inches apart between wax paper. For veal, if you have large, thin-cut pieces from the butcher, use as is. If the veal is more than ¼ inch thick, place it between wax paper. Pound the meat until very thin using a small heavy skillet or mallet.

Season the meat with salt and pepper and dust in flour. Beat the eggs and milk or cream in a large shallow dish. Combine the bread crumbs with the nutmeg and more salt and pepper and place on a large plate. Coat the meat in egg, then in crumbs. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium to medium high heat with just enough oil to thinly coat the bottom of the pan. When the oil gets wavy looking, add the meat in a single layer and cook until golden on each side, 3 minutes each. Transfer the meat to a plate and repeat, if necessary. Reserve the cooked schnitzel under a loose foil tent.

Meanwhile, heat a second, deep, large nontick skillet over medium-high to high heat. Add about 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil or light olive oil. Add the onions, apples, and cabbage. Season the mixture with salt, pepper and the caraway seeds. Toss and sear the mixture for 5 minutes, then add the vinegar, brown sugar, Worcestershire and toss to coat and combine the cabbage evenly. Reduce the heat a bit and keep the cabbage going until all the meat is cooked.

Serve the schnitzels with the lemon wedges and a pile of seared red cabbage with caraway alongside.

Makes 4 servings.
_____________________________

I thought I'd try my hand at another Rachael Ray recipe. I thought the pork was very good. It was very tender and I loved the nutmeg in the breading. The cabbage, well sometimes I just don't know if a recipe is lacking or if I wasn't in the mood for something. There was nothing wrong with the cabbage. I like cabbage. This just didn't wow me. My husband seemed to enjoy it so I really think it was just me. Maybe it was because I enjoyed the pork so much and I really didn't want anything else.

I think I need a new cookbook. It's been a few weeks since I got a new cookbook. I have a coupon for Ollie's that expires Sunday, 15% off their already rock bottom prices. I've been waiting for King Arthur's Whole Grain Baking Book from a book club for weeks. It was supposed to ship this week. I'm very anxious to get my hands on that book.

Blast From The Past: Black Magic Banana Cupcakes, from September 2005 - my first post! These might be a good use of those bananas I have sitting on the counter.

Question of the Day: What is the last cookbook you acquired?

Soup or stew jeudi

French Beef Stew
Passport to Flavor Copyright 1993

1 ½ pounds stew beef, cut into 1-inch cubes
¼ cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cans (14 ½ ounces each) stewed tomatoes I used one can of stewed tomatoes and one can of diced tomatoes with basil, oregano and garlic
1 can (14 ounces) beef broth
4 medium carrots, pared, cut into 1-inch chunks
2 medium potatoes, pared, cut into 1-inch chunks I kept the pieces big to avoid mushiness
¼ teaspoon thyme
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard (optional) I used this and wouldn't suggest leaving it out

Combine meat and flour in plastic bag; toss to coat evenly. In 6-quart saucepan, brown meat in oil. Season with salt and pepper, if desired. Add remaining ingredients, except mustard. Bring to boil; reduce heat. Cover and simmer 1 hour or until beef is tender. Blend in mustard. Garnish with chopped parsley and serve with warm crusty French bread, if desired.

6 to 8 servings.
_________________________________

This simple little stew was actually very good. I messed up a little and had to use one can of diced seasoned tomatoes but that probably only made it better. The husband even specifically commented that this was good stew. I thought the addition of the mustard was important - I wouldn't leave it out. I always make my stews the day before which makes them even better. This was definitely one of the best beef stew recipes I've tried. I loved that it was so easy to throw together.

This is my contribution to Cyndi's Soup of Stew Thursdays. She's had a rough couple of weeks, hopefully she'll be able to get to the round up this week.

Blast From The Past: Banana Cake VI from July 2006. I have some bananas and I've been thinking about that cake but I should probably look for something healthier. I think I've dipped enough bananas in chocolate. I've been on a chocolate dipping binge. Pretzels and graham crackers are my current favorites.

Question of the Day: Have you been eating a lot of any one particular food lately? Do you get on food 'kicks' or do you generally eat a variety of things?