Cheesy Sloppy Joe Fries

I will be honest with you I made this recipe up.  The story behind it.  I laid out some ground beef the other day for dinner but had no clue what I was going to do with it.  I looked through recipes and nothing jumped out at me.  Then I remembered I bought some Sloppy Joe sauce and that sounded really good to me.  Easy. But I didn't have any buns.  Okay no problem I have some of the cheese toast bread in the freezer and I had used that before for something different.  That is what I will use.  Then  a couple hours later I remember I had some waffle fries in the freezer to make chili cheese fries.  Hey I can put the sloppy Joe sauce on top and cheese and it will be just like that.  So that is how I came up with this recipe.  It turned out good and I was told it was a keeper.

This is one of those meals that you can put together really quickly after you come home from work.

Brown and drain your ground beef.

Add the can of sloppy Joe sauce.

I added some chili powder to add a little zip.

While you are browning your ground beef get your oil heated, and fry your waffle cut fries.

Drain the fries on a paper towel and salt and pepper them.

On a plate layer the fries just like you would chips for taco salad.

Add the meat sauce on top.

Top with cheese.  You could add additional toppings that you might like.  It turned out very good and would be a great gameday food. It's a keeper.

Roasted Fall Vegetables

I had found a recipe for roasting fall vegetables or at least that is what I remembered.  I remembered it had butternut squash in it. It also had turnips in it but that is a story for another day.  I looked around on Pinterest because that is where I keep all my recipes these days and never found it.  Well after the fact I found the recipe I was looking for in the new Southern Living.  Anyway this recipe was good and I have another new recipe for another day.

I kinda came up with this combination of vegetables on my own.  It surprisingly worked out well.

These are frozen brussel sprouts.  I have roasted some before that were frozen but they were smaller and to be honest the smaller ones taste better.  They are a little milder.  The larger ones can be a little bitter. So I am going to look for the smaller ones again.

I had a red and yellow bell pepper.  I really like the flavors they have.  They roast reall well.

I cut up an onion.

I peeled two sweet potatoes.  They are not the easiest to peel.

You will want to cut the pieces about the same size so they will cook evenly.

Here is the inside of a butternut squash.  I had some thin slices of butternut squash last year in a salad.  They had put it on the grill to smoke it a little and put some grill marks but that was my first introduction to it.  So I was excited to try it.  I only used half for these purposes.  I will share the second half later.

I peeled it.  The squash is pretty hard.  Not as hard as the acorn squash.

Cut it in small pieces too so it wil cook.

I had all the veggies in a bowl and I lightly drizzled them with olive oil.  I have used more olive oil this year.

Spread the veggies on a cookie sheet that you have sprayed.  Look at those pretty colors.

I added a little kosher salt

Pepper them well.

I had some small pieces of okra.  I wanted to try roasting it too.  I kept it whole because when you cut it, it can sometimes becomes slimy.  Toss it with some olive oil too.

I ended up using two trays.  Here is the first one with the okra.

Here is the second tray.  This is a good combo of veggies.

Such a good meal, roasted veggies, French onion soup pork chops, and the last of the field peas.

Paula Deen French Onion Pork Chops

I had laid out some pork loin/chops last night and I wanted to do something different with them.  I searched my pork chop board on Pinterest and found this recipe.  I don't know what I did before Pinterest.  Yes I do.  I had about 20 recipes that I kept reusing over and over.  Our dinnertable is a lot more interesting these days that is for sure.

This recipe uses the Lipton onion soup mix.  I keep this in my pantry because I like to roast the potatoes with the mix.

Break 2 eggs in a shallow bowl.  Probably you could get by with one egg.  My pork chops were not that large.

Whisk them a little to mix them up.

In another bowl add 2 packages of the french onion soup mix.  Might could have used only one of those too.

Add 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs.

Stir that together.

Coat the pork chop in the beaten egg.  Dip on both sides.

Then place in the breadcrumb mixture.

Place on a sprayed baking sheet.  Place in a preheated 400 degree oven.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Flip them after 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes.  Flip and put them back in the oven.

They were really good with some fall roasted vegetables.  I would make this recipe again.  It is just as  quick and easy as shake and bake.

French Onion Pork Chops Recipe

4 boneless pork chops
2 packs of french onion soup mix
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
2 eggs

Peach Julius

The peaches are in season now and this is a nice refreshing drink to use some of those really ripe peaches.

Not much is needed for this smooth refreshing drink.

Start with 1/2 cup milk.

1/2 cup of orange juice

1 teaspoon vanilla

Peel and chop 4 ripe peaches.

Add all of them to the container of the blender.

Add a nice generous squirt of honey.

Add a handful or two of ice.

Then blend well until smooth and all the ice is chopped.

Pour into a cup and enjoy.

Peach Julius Recipe

4 ripe peaches peeled and cut

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup orange juice

1 teaspoon vanilla

1-2 Tablespoon honey

handful of ice.

Low Country Boil

I have been wanting to cook this all summer long.  I decided I better hurry or summer was going to get away from me.  This is so easy to throw together and could be a fun party meal.  Cover a table outside with brown paper and then dump the boil out and dig in.

You can add other things that you like as well.  I might try crab legs next time.

Fill a large pot with water.  If you have a large pot with a strainer that will fit inside, that would be the pot to use.  Cut a lemon and add to the water.

Add a packet of crab boil. This one was extra spicy.  We like spicy foods but this was pushing it a little bit.

While you are waiting for the water to boil get your vegetables ready.  Peel and cut onions.  Wash red potatoes.  You don't want them too big because it will take a while for them to cook.  And fresh corn.  Nothing better than some fresh corn.

When the water begins to boil, add the onion.  I just cut it in half.

Put in the corn.  Let this cook for a little bit.

Add the potatoes.  Let this cook for maybe 10 minutes or so.  You can check the potatoes to see if they are close to being done.

Add some sliced sausage.  You don't have to include this if you do not like it.

Watch the pot and check the veggies.  When the potatoes feel like they are almost done it is time to add the shrimp.  The shrimp will only take a couple of minutes to turn pink and be done.

I rinsed the shrimp before adding them to the pot.

The finished meal. Shrimp are nice and pink, potatoes fork tender, corn cooked to perfection.  What takes the longest is waiting for the water to boil.  Meal can be ready for the table in around 30 minutes or less.