Sloppy Becky's

So I hate Sloppy Joe's...always have. Yuck! As a kid my mom made what we called French Bread Loaf. I love this meal, however it is A LOT of bread...which means A LOT of carbs. Right now, I am having to control my carb intake each meal to make sure I don't have any pregnancy related issues. Really bad for a carb loving girl!

Anyhow, last night, we improvised and made Sloppy Becky's as Travis called them! I used just the meat, cheddar cheese soup and tomato soup for the meat mixture. Then instead of putting in the middle of a giant French bread loaf and baking, we used hot dog buns (because we had quite a few left over from hot dog night!) Hamburger buns would work too of course!

They were delicious. The only downside for our current family of four...we needed probably twice the amount I made. Usually one package of meat and soups are enough but when putting them onto buns instead...well we found out we would eat more since there is less bread! Oops...chicken nuggets to the rescue. LOL

While I still love the French Bread Loaf for a meal...Sloppy Becky's might become more of a regular on our menu!

Mash-Up

You're probably thinking I'm going to break out into song, but actually this is a food mash-up! And eggscellent mash-up! ;)

One of our favorite meals is an egg mash-up of potatoes, eggs, bacon, sausage and cheese. This is a recipe though that you can add whatever you like. That's the best part about it being a mash-up. It is about adding what you like and not following a recipe.

We use this mostly for dinner, but on occasion we'll do this for a breakfast meal. I don't know why, but it makes a yummy dinner.

You'll need to adjust the amount of each ingredient depending on how many people you are trying to feed. We currently are feeding a four (2 of which are male teens!). Here's what we use:

Potatoes (can be frozen or fresh) - 1 bag frozen or a bunch of potatoes cut up into little cubes until you feel you have enough. I think I used 8-10 small potatoes last night.

Eggs - we use 12-16 depending on the night.

Sausage - I used 1/2 pound of links.

Bacon - I used about half a package.

Shredded Cheese - however much you like.

Serve with toast and your favorite condiments. Our family uses ketchup, soy sauce and hot sauce! Yes, I typed that right....soy sauce. LOL

Needless to say this makes a huge batch and we barely have any leftovers for Travis' lunch!

Tips: If using fresh potatoes be sure to cut them into small cubes like that frozen hash browns you buy at the store. They cook faster that way. Also be sure to cook at a higher temperature to get them to brown. You want to make sure you have enough vegetable oil to keep the potatoes from sticking to the bottom.

Using fresh potatoes tastes better than with the frozen kind, but it tastes just fine and is quicker to just toss a bag of frozen ones in a pan!

What will you put in your mash-up?

Homemade hash browns! Yum!

Bacon and Sausage cut into small chunks.

Eggs. I started using some whole milk to scramble with and they taste great.

Toss everything together to cook the eggs and your done!

Homemade Yogurt

RC loves yogurt, but it is one of those things that is a little on the expensive side. At least if you are looking for a full fat and preferably organic yogurt! So I decided to do a little research on how to make my own. It's actually pretty easy and so far both Travis and RC like it!

Here is what I use:

Stainless Steel Pot to heat milk

Candy Thermometer

Stainless Steel Thermos (+plus sometimes an old yogurt container if I'm making a big batch)

Stainless Steel Spoon

 Funnel

Heating Pad

Towel

Cooler (I use my Thirty-One Picnic Thermal!)

Milk (whole milk gets you the thickest yogurt)

Live Cultures (or just go by a small thing of yogurt with active live cultures for your starter!)

Directions:

1. Heat milk to around 180℉. Stir to keep from burning.

2. Let cool to 110℉. 

3. Add your starter  yogurt. I usually add about 2 Tbsp when I am filling one thermos about 4 Tbsp if I am doing a bigger batch.

4. Stir and then pour into your containers.

5. Wrap your containers with a towel and place in cooler (in my case, my Picnic Tote!) with the heating pad. Zip up and turn on heating pad. *I have to keep an eye on my heating pad. I have yet to find one that will just stay on constantly so I have to check every couple of hours to make sure it is still on. I have made yogurt in just the thermos with no heat on it but it took a lot longer.

6. Leave for at least 8 hours. Let cool a little and place in fridge.

If you like thinner yogurt you are finished. If you prefer thicker Greek style you will need to continue on.

Greek Yogurt

Strainer

Cheese Cloth

Bowl (if you want to catch the whey and use for something else)

1. Place strainer over/in your sink. If you wish to catch the whey place a bowl under strainer.

2. Place cheese cloth in strainer. I fold mine so it takes longer to strain but doesn't allow thicker parts through.

3. Leave for at least an hour. It is finished with no more whey is coming out.

4. If you leave for too long, you will get more of a cream cheese consistency which means you have yogurt cheese!

*Sorry I forgot to take picture of this part. I will try to do so the next time!

An all-time favorite dinner

 French Bread Loaf is one of my favorites. I don't know where my mom got the recipe from, but it was a childhood favorite and still is one of my favorites today. It reminds me of a sloppy joe, only in my eyes...better!

 

You will need the following:

1 lb turkey or beef (browned)

1 can each cheddar cheese soup and tomato soup

1 loaf French bread (can use a crusty bread Italian too) It's important to find one that is thick

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Brown the meat and drain. Add both cans of soups and simmer.

3. Cut loaf of bread in half and scoop out the middles of each half (you want to create little boats).

4. Add some of the chunks of bread to your meat mixture and stir.

5. Add the meat mixture to each 'boat' and put the two halves back together.

6. Wrap foil around loaf and bake until hot and crusty (usually about 10 - 15 minutes).

Cut into sections and enjoy! We eat it with a knife and fork or you can pick up a half and just bite right in!

 

Easy Chicken Pot Pie

I love chicken pot pie and have wanted for a while to find a good recipe. Tonight I used a recipe from a Pampered Chef group that is all about using the Deep Dish Baker. I don't have one and the recipe was primarily made in the microwave, which I didn't want to do. So I altered it a bit to meet our needs.

2 chicken breasts

2 cans cream of chicken soup

1 can mixed peas/carrots (drained)

1 can diced potatoes (drained)

1 tube crescent rolls (*it called for no seam, but I couldn't find that and didn't want to use pizza crust)

To cook the chicken I boiled it until cooked. In the meantime, drain the veggies and mix in your baking dish (I used a dutch oven) with the cream of chicken soup. When chicken is cooked add and mix. Unroll the crescent rolls and lay flat stretching to cover everything. Bake at 400℉ about 15 minutes or until top is slightly browned and crispy.

The nice thing about using crescent rolls with seams was it made dividing up portions super easy!