Granini's Sloppy Joes

Granini's Sloppy Joes

This recipe is my super simple, easy peasy recipe that's always a hit.  Perfect for a cold Saturday afternoon.  Bring extra napkins, though, because these truly are Untidy Josephs!

Ingredients:

1 package ground beef (I use the 7% fat kind and drain off the fat).  No, I don't know how much I use.  It's a package.  I'll look at the amount next time I'm acquiring ground beef, and adjust the amount on the recipe accordingly.   I promise.

1 onion, diced

1 green pepper, diced,

1 jar of Heinz chili sauce (picture below)

2 dashes of Worcestershire sauce

Hamburger buns

Directions:

1.   In a large skillet, add the diced onions and peppers and sauté until soft.  Scoop out the onions and peppers and put into a bowl and set aside.
2.   Brown the ground beef, making sure to chunk the beef into small chunks.
3.   Drain the fat from the beef.
4.   Add in the veggies back to the skillet.
5.   Add in one entire jar of Heinz chili sauce.
6.   I usually fill the jar with a dash of water, recap the jar, shake thoroughly to get all the remaining ketchup stuffs off the innerds of the jar, and then add that watery ketchupy sauce back to my sloppy joes.  You don't have to do it.  I just like as much of the yummy goodness as possible.  Don't add TOO much water.  You don't want too much dilution of flavor.
7.   Add in two dashes of Worcestershire sauce.  
8.   Let simmer, partially covered (to avoid splatters) for at least 13 minutes.  I usually aim for about 20 minutes or so.  Sometimes I let it simmer for an hour.  It depends upon how hungry I am, or how hungry the kiddos are, or how much extra time I allotted myself.  Whatevs.  This meal is totally easy peasy.
9. Serve on buns.  With potato chips on the side.  I like the low salt, guilt free tater chips they have at Trader Joes.  But that's just me.  

Enjoy!

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For those of you who like pictures, here you go!

Mmmm.  Veggies cooking up on the stove top!

Veggies all done and set aside, and now it's time for the beef!

All browned up and drained!

Add the veggies back in.

Ah! Here it is! The magic Heinz Chili Sauce concoction!  Perfecto.

Simmer that goodness all up, and mmmm, mmm, that smells fantastico!

Yummy yummy, to my tummy!  Now all the plate needs are chips, and you're good to go!

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Things to know before heading to college: The List

Things to make sure your child knows how to do 

before heading off to college

A hundred gajillion years ago, when my kiddos were still teensy weensy, I talked with a woman who had a high school senior.  She said that she had seen an article in the newspaper with a list of all the most important things kiddos should know how to do before they headed off to college.  She said that she cut the article out of the newspaper, and put it up on the fridge, where she and her son could look at it every day during his senior year.  Throughout the year, the two of them worked on the list together, making sure that by the time he left for college, he knew how to do each and every one of the items on that list.

As my children have aged, I have started amassing my list of "to dos," and thought I'd post it here.  As the list grows, I'll add to it.  And if any of you have further suggestions, I'd love to add those to the list.  Here's my list (in no particular order) so far:

The List

1. How to cook and prepare 7 full meals (breakfasts, lunches, and dinners) from scratch.
2. How to plan meals and then go to the store and buy for the planned meals
3. How to choose good cuts of meat and the best produce
4. How to sew on a button
5. How to iron a shirt
6. How to tie a tie (and a bowtie)
7. How to wash, dry, and fold clothes
8. How to treat a stain on clothes
9. How to wash dishes (prepping dishes for the dishwasher, and washing by hand)
10. How to clean the bathrooms
11. How to vacuum and dust
12. How pump their own gas, check oil, change tire, check air tire pressure, and jump start a car.
13. Have the phone number to a plumber/electrician/car mechanic/towing service if ever needed.
14. How to balance a checkbook / manage a bank account
15. How to pay bills (with a check and with online banking)
16. How to plan and stay on a budget, including how to get and use coupons.
17. How to file taxes
18. How to apply for credit cards, understanding fees and the impact of credit cards on your life, etc.
19. How to read a credit report and manage credit / improve credit score, how check credit report annually and dispute inaccuracies
20. How to save for retirement, including how to invest money and having an emergency fund.
21. How to write and maintain an effective resume
22. How to look for, and apply to a job
23. How to ace a job interview
24. How to look for and rent an apartment 
25. How to schedule and confirm doctor appointments and have prescriptions filled.
26. How to effectively use birth control
27. How to administer First Aid (burns, cuts, sprains, broken bones)
28. How to administer CPR
29. How to administer the Heimlich maneuver
30. How to treat common illnesses--cough, fever, flu. 
31. How to treat insect bites, or poison ivy, or bee stings.
32. How to do minor home repairs. Unclog toilets/drains, change lightbulbs, properly hang pictures, etc. 
33. How to turn the water off to a toilet or sink if there is a leak
34. How to turn the gas or electricity off/where to find the switches to do so
35. How to operate a fuse box
36. How to fix running toilets, clogged toilets, clogged drains, and leaking faucets
37. How to use a drill
38. How to paint a room (including taping, painting trim, and rolling paint on walls)
39. How to use a fire extinguisher
40. How to put out different types of fires
41. What to keep on hand for an emergency (batteries, candles, etc.)
42. How to be a respectful houseguest
43. How to maintain a lawn (mow, weed, plant bulbs, flowers, and vegetables)
44. How to keep up on the news, government, etc.
45. How to drive 
46. How to swim 
47. How to use public transportation 
48. How to register to vote
49. How to contact their state and national representatives
50. How to be aware of one’s surroundings and how to be able to defend themselves in scary situations 
51. How to put on make up appropriately
52. How to shop for clothes that fit and flatter
53. How to open a bottle of wine  
54. How to fix one mean cocktail
55. Read the book “How to Win Friends and Influence People”
56. Raise your kids to use common sense, try to do as much for themselves as possible, and know when to ask for help and who and/or where to go to for help when they need it, they'll be ok to get started in life out from under our wings.

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GranNini's Frittata

GranNini's Frittata

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, diced

1 red pepper, diced

6 mushrooms, diced

1 can diced green chilis (4 ounces)

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

salt and pepper (dash of each)

1 1/2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, grated and divided into two piles

6 eggs, whisked

1/3 cup milk, heavy cream, or half & half (whatever you have on hand works)

** We have several vegetarian family members and friends, and alas, we don't tend to add meat into our egg dishes, but rather serve it on the side.  That said, this frittata is terrifically tasty when you add cubes of ham, or polksa kielbasa, or cooked bacon, or bits of sausage.  When I used to make it with meat, I'd cook the meat first, then the veggies, then mix them all together and add them to the bottom layer of the pie dish before adding in the cheese. **

Recipe:

1. In a large saucepan, heat olive oil.  Add in peppers and onions and cook until soft.
2. Add in the mushrooms, stirring frequently, until mushrooms are also soft.
3. Remove from heat.
4. Add in diced green chilis (no need to drain), salt and pepper.  Stir to mix.
5. Lightly spray a pie plate with cooking spray.  Spread out the veggies onto the bottom of the pie plate evenly.
6. Sprinkle about 2/3 of the cheese over the entire mixture.
7. In a bowl, whisk 6 eggs and the milk (or cream or half & half).
8. Pour the egg mixture directly over the cheesy veggie mixture.
9. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top.
10. Bake at 350° for 35 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.

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For those of you who like pictures, here you go!

 Place the veggies on the warmed oil in a saucepan and cook until mostly soft.

They should look roughly like this when they're mostly soft.

 Add in the mushrooms, and cook some more.

 Mmmmmm.

Sprinkle on garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper.

These are the green chilis I use.  You can't really ever taste the chilis as chilis inside the egg dish, but they add such a great depth of flavor to the dish that whenever I forget them, I get all sad.  :(

Just plunk them right on in there and stir them in.

Spray your pie plate with cooking spray, and then layer all the veggies right on in there.

Shred some sharp cheddar cheese.  One big handful is plenty.  But there really is no such thing as too much cheese, is there?  Save some aside to sprinkle on the top.

Sprinkle the cheese on top.

Poor in your egg mixture over the whole thing.

Perhaps sprinkle some more cheese on top of that whole mess too.  Plunk it on into the oven.

Eat it up!!  I forgot to take a picture of the pretty frittata before we devoured it.  Sigh.  Alas, here's what it looked like before the last of us were served.

Enjoy!

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Granini's Biscuits and Gravy

GranNini's Biscuits and Gravy

Ingredients:

1 package sausage *

1 Tablespoon margarine (you will need more later)

1 package Lipton onion soup mix

2 cups hot water

3 Tablespoons margarine

3 Tablespoons flour

1 cup milk

1 to 1 1/2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

Dash of Lawry's Seasoned Salt

(*I use Isernio's Breakfast Chicken Sausage, but feel free to use pork sausage if you prefer)

Directions:

1. In a bowl or glass measuring cup, mix Lipton onion soup mix with 2 cups of hot water.  Set aside.
2. Shred the sharp cheddar cheese and set aside.  I can't buy pre-shredded cheese.  It gives me the heeby-jeebies.  Don't know why, but it does.  I also never measure my cheese with a measuring cup.  I simply eyeball what I need.  I probably use even more than a cup -- a large handful or so seems to be just about enough.
3. In a large skillet, melt 1 Tablespoon of margarine.  Add in the chicken sausage, and brown the chicken sausage completely.  Make sure to break up the pieces of sausage into small, bite sized pieces while browning.  Drain, and set aside in a small bowl.
4. Add margarine to the skillet.  Over medium low heat, melt margarine.  Sprinkle flour over the top, and whisk together, allowing the mixture to heat up for several minutes, stirring constantly.
5. Slowly whisk in the Liption onion soup water mixture, a little at a time, to avoid making lumps.  
6. Slowly whisk in milk.
7. Allow the mixture to come to a full simmer, stirring constantly.  If the mixture is still too thick, add in more milk as necessary to reach the desired consistency.  Some people prefer a thinner sausage gravy.
8. Gently add in the sausage, and stir for a minute or so.
9. Sprinkle on the cheddar cheese, and stir until thoroughly integrated.  
10. Sprinkle on a dash of Lawry's seasoned salt.  Again, I don't measure, I just eyeball it.  Probably about 1 teaspoon worth.  Again, you will need to season your gravy to your tastes.  I prefer a saltier, more flavorful sausage gravy than what you might find at oh, say, a breakfast restaurant.  But the soup mix adds in a LOT of salt all on its own.  
11. Ladle your gravy over piping hot biscuits and serve!  

For those of you who need the biscuits recipe, click here.

Mmmmm.  Biscuits and gravy!!

For those of you who like pictures, here you go!

Melt a little bit of margarine, then add in your sausage.

I use chicken sausage.  I have a favorite brand, which is very flavorful, and tastes delicious.  Next time I'll try to remember to take a picture of the package.  But you can use pork sausage just as easily.

Brown your sausage completely.  Then remove from the pan.

 Add in the flour, and whisk together over medium low heat.  Too hot, and you'll get lumps.  And who wants lumps?!?

 Slowly add in the soup mix to form a roux.  Stir together thoroughly and let cook a bit to get rid of the 'floury' taste.

Slowly stir in the milk, and allow the mixture to simmer.  Mmmm. Smells good already!

Add the sausage back in.  Then stir it all together.

Oh, my!  Smell that goodness!

Sprinkle on the sharp cheddar cheese and some Lawry's seasoned salt.

Now that's good gravy!

Serve it up with some super cheesy scrambled eggs on top of piping hot biscuits, and that's a mighty fine breakfast you have!!  

If you need the biscuits recipe, click here.

Enjoy!

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I not only bake and cook, I write murder mysteries too!

Both books are available in paperback and kindle versions

Diamonds for Diamond 
(Book 1 in the Jack Diamond Mystery series)
and
No One Noticed

(Book 2 in the Jack Diamond Mystery Series)

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Granini's Biscuits

Granini's Biscuits

I've been making these biscuits for a gajillion years.  They're incredibly easy to make, and are so very simple that they're hard to screw up.  Not only do we eat them with breakfast (biscuits and gravy!), and dinner (soup and biscuits), but sometimes I sweeten them up with a bit of powdered sugar, and we eat them for dessert as a 'base' for strawberry shortcake.  We've also been known to eat them for snack time, sliced in half, and toasted with melted sharp cheddar cheese. 

However you like to eat them, these biscuits are tasty, easy to make, and sure to please.

Ingredients:

5 Tablespoons butter (unsalted) or margarine

1 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 3/4 cups flour

2/3 to 3/4 cups milk (or buttermilk)**

** I truly do prefer these biscuits using buttermilk, rather than milk.  However, I very rarely remember to save any buttermilk aside after having made my buttermilk pancakes.  But if and when I happen to have buttermilk just hanging around in my fridge, I use it.  If I don't have any, I use regular milk, and they're still quite delicious!  I promise.  It won't be the end of the world if you don't happen to have any buttermilk.  No need to dash off to the store just to make these biscuits.  And, just to be honest, 9 times out of 10, I make them without the buttermilk.  They're just über delicious with the buttermilk.  Just sayin'.

Directions:

1. Using a pastry knife, cut the butter, salt, baking powder, and flour together until the mixture looks like course oatmeal.
2. Pour milk over the mixture.
3. Using a fork, using as few strokes as possible, slowly stir the mixture together until a dough ball forms.  
4. Sprinkle a little flour onto a surface area.
5. Turn the dough out onto the lightly floured working area.
6. Gently roll the dough to about an inch and a quarter thick.  When I'm in a hurry, I just pat the dough flat, skipping the rolling pin altogether.  Why wash another thing?  I'm lazy, I know.
7. Lightly flour a biscuit cutter and cut the biscuits out, and place them on an ungreased cookie sheet.
8. Bake at 375° for 12 minutes, or until very lightly golden brown.  Best served while hot.  But they're VERY tasty when they're room temperature too.

And for those of you who like pictures with the directions, I'm ever so sorry!  I forgot to take pictures along the way.  Next time I make them, I'll try to remember.  As a consolation prize, here's a picture of the biscuits right before my kiddo ate them as part of biscuits and gravy!

Oh yeah.  That's just mouth waterin' goodness, right there.  

GranNini's Biscuits and Gravy.  

With super cheesy scrambled eggs.  

Mmmmmm.

What's that? You want the recipe for my biscuits and gravy?  Why, of course!!  I'll post that up next.

Enjoy!

* * * * *

I not only bake and cook, I write murder mysteries too!

Both books are available in paperback and kindle versions

Diamonds for Diamond 
(Book 1 in the Jack Diamond Mystery series)
and
No One Noticed

(Book 2 in the Jack Diamond Mystery Series)

* * * * *

Granini's Dinner Rolls

Granini's Dinner Rolls

This is essentially the old Parker House Roll dough recipe, which I don't make into traditional Parker House Roll shapes, nor do I slather on all that extra butter at the end.  But it works beautifully for my purposes, and makes up a yummy dinner roll.

Ingredients:

1 package yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)

1/4 cup warm water

1 cup scalded milk

2 Tablespoons shortening

2 Tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 egg, beaten

3 1/4 cups flour

Directions:

1. Soften the yeast in the warm water.
2. To scald the milk: place milk in a reactive saucepan on medium high.  Allow the milk to come to a full simmer.  When the milk starts to climb the sides of the pan, pull it off the heat.
3. Add shortening to the very hot milk.  Allow milk to cool for about 10 minutes.
4. In a large mixing bowl, beat an egg.  
5. Slowly add in the sugar, salt and 1/2 cup of the flour.  Slowly pour in the milk, and mix in the remaining flour.
6. Knead the dough for roughly 5 minutes.
7. Lightly spray a clean, large mixing bowl with cooking spray.  Plunk your bread dough into the bowl, and cover with plastic wrap.  Allow to double.  
8. Lightly flour your counter.  Pour the dough out.  Split the dough into even sections, first in half, then in quarters, then into six pieces for each quarter.
9. Lightly spray two muffin tins (12 spots apiece) with cooking spray.
10. Knead each piece with your fingers, turning the dough roughly inside out and shape each piece into a ball.  Place each ball into an awaiting muffin tin.
11. Allow the dough to rest and rise for 30 minutes.
12. Bake at 400˚ for 7 to 8 minutes, or until lightly golden brown.
13. Serve with warm, lightly salted butter.  
14. Try not to eat all of them, all by yourself, in one setting. If you do ever happen to have any leftover, which has happened, I think, maybe, just once, in the three hundred gajillion times I've made them, they are quite tasty and delicious the next morning for breakfast with a little slice of cheese or a bowl of fresh berries.  Or just by themselves. Naked.  The rolls, not you.  Just sayin'.

Yummmmmmmm!

For those of you who like pictures to go with your instructions, here you go!

My pretty dough.  It's a doubled and beautiful.

I hate having a few rolls that are huge, and a few that are teeny.  So I like to cut mine up into equal sized pieces before forming them into balls.

A perfectly plump little ball.  When I'm kneading the dough, I use my thumbs to sort of turn the dough chunk inside out again and again until it's a perfect little round ball.  Then I plunk it down into my awaiting muffin cup.

Dough balls getting read to rise.

Artsy fartsy photo shot, so you can see how much they rise in 1/2 an hour.

Same dough ball, 1/2 an hour later.  All ready for the oven!

Same dough ball hot and fresh out of the oven, stinkin' up my kitchen with its yummy smells.  Mmmmm, rolls!!!

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Find other tasty Thanksgiving Dinner dishes here:

And tasty pie recipes here:

* * * * *

I not only bake and cook, I write murder mysteries too!

Both books are available in paperback and kindle versions

Diamonds for Diamond 
(Book 1 in the Jack Diamond Mystery series)
and
No One Noticed

(Book 2 in the Jack Diamond Mystery Series)