Sloppy Joes (From Mom's Recipe Card File)

Like everyone else staying home because of the coronavirus pandemic, we've been eating at home, which means I've been cooking and cooking and cooking.

When I want to make something I can count on to please everyone, I often fix Mom's "Barbecue," or Sloppy Joes!  It's a simple, all-pantry-ingredient recipe (except for the buns) that we never tire of eating.  Great comfort food.  I make it about every other week.

I make a large-ish batch so I'll have leftovers.  It freezes well, but we usually end up eating it all in a couple of days.  Something else I like to do is to mix all the sauce ingredients up and freeze that.  Then all I have to do is grab a container of sauce out of the freezer and add it to 2 pounds of lean ground beef and 1 cup of chopped onions, browned.  I usually make two to four containers of sauce at a time.  So convenient!


Sloppy Joes

2 lb lean ground beef
1 c chopped onions
1 1/2 c ketchup (I like Heinz)
3/4 c sugar
3 T mustard
1 T prepared horseradish (or to taste)
1 T vinegar
1 1/2 t celery seed
1 1/2 t Worchestershire sauce

Brown the ground beef and onion.  If not using lean ground beef, drain; if using lean ground beef, cook until nearly all the juices have evaporated.

Add the remaining ingredients, simmer about 20 minutes.  Serve on sandwich buns.

The Knee That Went Bad and Easy Black Bean Soup (A New-to-Me Recipe)

That Person With the Infected Knee Replacement has kept me super busy lately, so I've been semi-absent from this blog.  After several months of being hooked up to a wound vac, and the knee becoming more and more painful, the decision was made:  the replacement would have to come out.  So a couple of weeks ago, the surgeon removed the old prosthesis and put in a concrete spacer.

Yes, that's what I said - CONCRETE.

This spacer is impregnated with antimicrobial stuff to fight what's left of the "indolent" infection.  (Indolent:  sounds like lazy bacteria!)  It also has no joint, so it doesn't act like a "real" knee replacement.  It squeaks and creaks and pops (sometimes REALLY loud).  It's not cemented in, so it moves around some.  You should see the kneecap travel when it pops.  Eeeeeewww!

The spacer is painful, and That Person can't put much weight on it, so a full-leg brace and a walker are required for trips down the hall.  Going upstairs is doable, but coming back down is a real issue, so That Person sleeps, eats, and does exercises in the living room recliner.  I do a lot of fetch-and-carry work.

So I'm back into full-time caregiving mode.  Back to giving intravenous medicine again, this time twice a day instead of once, and it takes nearly two hours each time to administer instead of fifteen minutes.

But lucky you!  I'm back, yet AGAIN, and with another recipe.

I opened The Magic Box and found a package of chorizo sausage.  What to do with it?  In my copy of The America's Test Kitchen Quick Family Cookbook (the one with the orange cover) I found a recipe for Easy Black Bean Soup.  I make a lot of soups because I like them, they're easy to make, and the leftovers heat up well.  Remember, I'm all about leftovers - make once, eat twice (or more).  Good for the current meal prep trend, too.

Although I thought it was really good, I'm sorry to say this soup was NOT a hit with the rest of the household.  I'll admit it is not the prettiest dish to look at.  Not much color.  Well, black beans - duh!  Anyway, if you like beans and sausage, you'll probably like this one!

You can see there's not a lot of color
here, other than the red bell peppers.

EASY BLACK BEAN SOUP

1 T canola oil
1 onion, chopped
2 red bell peppers, stemmed, seeded, and chopped
6 garlic cloves, minced
6 oz cooked chorizo sausage, halved lengthwise and sliced 1/4" thick
4 15-oz cans black beans, rinsed and drained
2 15-oz cans chicken broth
1 T fresh minced oregano (or 1 t dried)
1/2 t ground cumin
1/2 t chili powder
salt and pepper to taste
hot sauce to taste
1/2 c minced fresh cilantro

In a 4-quart dutch oven, combine the oil, onion, bell peppers, garlic, and chorizo and cook over medium-high heat until the vegetables are softened and lightly browned, about 5-7 minutes.  Add the remaining ingredients except the cilantro.  Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and simmer 20-30 minutes.  Season to taste and serve.

Creamy Wild Rice Soup (A Comfort Food Recipe with Options)

This is a creamy, hearty soup that hits the spot if you've been working outside in the cold.  I originally got the recipe from the mother of a girl in my daughter's Girl Scout troop.  It's quick and easy, especially if you use leftover rice, prepackaged shredded carrots, and frozen mirepoix vegetables for the onion and celery.  When I fix long grain and wild rice for a side dish, I always make twice as much as I need so I can use the leftovers to make this soup.


Creamy Wild Rice Soup

6 T butter
1/2 c chopped onion
1/2 c chopped celery
1/2 c flour
3 c chicken broth
2 c cooked wild rice OR long grain and wild rice blend
12 oz cooked chicken OR 1/3 c chopped cooked ham
1 c milk OR half-and-half
1/2 c shredded carrots
3 T chopped or slivered almonds
1 1/2 t salt
1/2 t white pepper

In a 3-quart saucepan, melt butter and brown onions and celery.  Stir in flour and cook 1 minute.  Blend in broth, bring to a boil and cook 1 minute, whisking smooth, until thickened.  Add the remaining ingredients and heat to a simmer, then serve.

NOTE:  If you want, use 2 12-oz cans of chicken breast, reduce the broth to 2 cups and add the broth from the cans with the broth specified in the recipe.

Five-Bean Pantry Chili

The weather's cooling off, and it's time for chili!  I've tried a lot of chili recipes, and this is the one I've come up with - some Tex-Mex heat, some Cincinnati cinnamon, and lots of tomatoes, beans, and chili powder, all from the pantry.

This makes a lot because I believe in planned leftovers (less cooking that way).   You can use the leftovers in place of the meat filling in my Mom's tamale bake.

You can serve this with cornbread, saltine crackers, cooked macaroni, cheese, or sour cream, or leave it nekkid!


Five-Bean Chili

1 lb lean ground beef
1 onion, chopped
2 cans chili-ready diced tomatoes
1 can diced tomatoes and green chilis
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can Ro-Tel (hot)
1/2 c dark chili powder
1/4 c sugar
1 T hot sauce, or to taste
1 T cinnamon
1 t cumin
1 t salt
1 can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can light red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can red beans, drained and rinsed
1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed

In an 8-quart stockpot, brown and break up the ground beef and onion.  Add all tomatoes and seasonings.  Bring to a boil.

Add beans and return to a boil.  Turn down heat and simmer 10 to 15 minutes.