Sloppy Joes...and not from a can!

Hey! So Eric and I really wanted Sloppy Joes for dinner tonight. And since I didn't have a can of the Manwich sauce (or however you spell it), I looked for a recipe. I knew that you could make the sauce from scratch. I ended up finding this recipe on www.foodnetwork.com from Rachael Ray. It sounded fast and good, so I made it.

I gotta tell you, Eric is picky sometimes and he agreed with me that this was better than Manwich and we will be making it from scratch from now on. The recipe was simple and it used ingredients I usually have in the pantry.

Here is Rachael Ray's recipe for Sloppy Joes:

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, 1 turn of the pan
• 1 1/4 pounds ground beef sirloin
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon steak seasoning blend, such as McCormick brand Montreal Seasoning
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 small red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 cups tomato sauce
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 4 crusty rolls, split, toasted, and lightly buttered
• Garnish: sliced ripe tomatoes, pickles, Deviled Potato salad, recipe follows

Directions

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add oil and meat to the pan. Spread the meat around the pan and begin to break it up. Combine brown sugar and steak seasoning. Add sugar and spice mixture to the skillet and combine. When the meat has browned, add onion and red peppers to the skillet. Reduce heat to medium and cook onions, peppers, red wine vinegar and Worcestershire sauce with meat for 5 minutes. Add tomato sauce and paste to pan. Stir to combine. Reduce heat to simmer and cook Sloppy Joe mixture 5 minutes longer. Using a large spoon or ice cream scoop, pile sloppy meat onto toasted, buttered bun bottoms and cover with bun tops. Serve with your favorite sides or sliced tomatoes seasoned with salt and pepper, dill pickles and Deviled Potato Salad. Have plenty of napkins on hand!

Now I did a few things differently and it worked so well. I didn't have any onions or red peppers on hand, so I used onion powder and a seasoning blend I have that is called "Roasted Red Peppers and Garlic". I also just used regular hamburger buns from WalMart. :) You all should really try this one. It is so good!

Oh yeah, and if you are lucky enough to have some of Amy Gattis' homemade bread and butter pickles in your pantry, you are definitely gonna have a good dinner!! They were AWESOME and such a nice addition to the sloppy joes. Just ask the twins! :)

Boots

Well, it's official...my girls LOVE shoes! I am pretty choosy about the shoes I buy them since it gets pretty expensive buying 2 pairs at once, all the time. Well, I have found some good deals on great shoes on craigslist, one of which is this pair of boots that Lilly is modeling...only 5 bucks and they look brand new.

Well the girls loved the beige pair so much that I had to put them up in the closet and hide them, because they were petting the pom-poms like a puppy and were fighting over them. :) I found this pink pair at a consignment store last week and told Eric that if they were still there on October 1st, I was getting them....YEA!! These were actually new and were only $7.

This way, hopefully the girls will have warm boots to wear this winter. However, they are one size too big right now. I just need them to fit by Christmas, so they can wear them to Kentucky and keep their toes warm in the snow. They actually match their warm winter coats too. :)

Wordless Wednesday

It's Been A While

I realized today how long it's been since I blogged. I get on a "blogging" roll and then suddenly get extra busy while time flies. :) Plus these 2 little girls keep me on my toes. They never seem to run in the same direction, and RUN they do!

We have been talking and talking and talking, running and running and running, laughing, tickling, reading, spelling, drawing, teaching, and so many other things. Today we were outside in the swing and the girls showed me where their teeth, mouth, ears, eyes, feet, fingers, hair, and nose were on their bodies. They even knew where Mommy's toes were...I just love playing with them and seeing all the things they know.

I just adore Lexi's LOUD high-pitched screams of joy...except today, she was so excited to be at HEB that she kept screaming as we walked down the aisles. :) We need to work on our "outside" voices, I guess. Mommy tends to be a little loud, so we can work on it together. :) Lilly is just a delight as well. Her favorite thing the last few days is to say "Hi" and "Hey" really sweetly to us. She seems to be more cuddly every day too...if that is even possible.

Here are some fun pictures from our outside playtime this evening..which is code for, "We chase the girls around the yard for 15 minutes until we were exhausted, then carried them inside as they cried to stay out longer." Lexi is soooooo fascinated with the street and wants nothing more than to run into it...yikes!

Lilly is wearing the collared dress...

My favorite action shot so far...

The girls hanging out after their nap!