Stuff Parents Need

Easing the chaos in the nest, one find at a time.

Best Recipe for Sloppy Joes

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This recipe is straight out of Make Ahead Meals for Busy Moms. Tim and I both agreed that this is one of the best recipes for sloppy joes that we have found. My favorite thing about it is that it includes a fair amount of celery in it. When I read the recipe, I was really skeptical about this addition. It turns out, though, that the flavor the celery adds is terrific, and as long as you get them chopped super fine, you don’t even notice that they are included in terms of texture. What a sneaky way to add some veggies to your meal! I’m definitely going to use this trick in other recipes.

You will also see tips for putting this together a day ahead, if desired, as well as for freezing leftovers. We froze some of what we made, and I know we’ll really enjoy being able to heat this up quickly on a weeknight in the next month or two!

Special thanks to Jane, the author, for permission to print her recipe.

best recipe for sloppy joes

Best Sloppy Joes Recipe

2 lbs. ground beef, 85% lean (we used ground turkey, and it turned out great!)
2 celery ribs, finely diced
2/3 cup onion, finely diced
2/3 cup green bell pepper, finely diced
½ cup ketchup
½ cup Bull’s-Eye Original Barbecue Sauce
16 oz. tomato sauce
2 tablespoons light brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons dry mustard
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons vinegar
Salt and pepper, to taste
8 hamburger buns

~A Day Ahead~
In a large skillet, cook the beef, celery, onion, and green pepper on medium heat, until the beef is cooked through. Drain the fat. Add the ketchup, barbecue sauce, tomato sauce, brown sugar, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, salt, and pepper. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Transfer the mixture to a bowl to cool. Cover and refrigerate until ready to reheat.

~Cooking Directions~
Reheat in the microwave. Serve on hamburger buns. Makes 8 sloppy joes.

~Freezing Directions~
Freeze the sloppy joes in labeled freezer bags and freeze flat. This defrosts in the microwave very quickly for an easy weeknight meal. For us, this is our go-to recipe, as it is the best sloppy joes recipe we have yet to try (and we’ve tried probably 8 different recipes!).

Black Bean Dip Recipe: Easy!

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image of baked black bean dip recipe (easy)
The next time I make this black bean dip I will double it because it doesn’t last long enough. This is a great dish for those nights when you want something really fast, because it comes together quickly. Hooray for quick and tasty food!

Recipe name: Baked Black Bean Dip
Servings: 3

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup light sour cream (optional)
1 clove garlic, diced
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1 cup grated cheddar
4 green onions, chopped
1/2 cup sliced black olives
1 small tomato, diced
tortilla chips

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place beans, sour cream, garlic and cumin in a food processor (I’ve been through several over the years, and this one is by far my favorite). Process until mixed but still chunky.
Spread mixture in a pie plate (I used other bakeware, so it really doesn’t matter). Top with cheese, onions, olives and tomato.
Bake 15 minutes.
Serve with tortilla chips and sour cream, if desired.

Easy Sweet Potato Burritos Recipe

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This is one that might sound a little strange, but I promise it is yummy. Anytime we make these sweet potato burritos, we double the recipe and freeze half of them for a quick meal later! These are perfect for work lunches.

Recipe name: Sweet Potato Burritos
Servings: 6-8

1/2 Tbsp veg oil
Handful of chopped onions
1 clove garlic minced
1 can re-fried beans
3/4 cup water
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp grounds cumin
1 1/2 tsp ground mustard
pinch cayenne pepper
1 Tbsp soy sauce
6-8 flour tortillas
40 oz can yams, mashed
Shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Meanwhile heat the oil in a skillet on medium heat. Saute the onion and garlic until soft. Stir in the beans. Gradually stir in water and heat until warm. Remove the bean mixture from the heat. Stir in all spices and soy sauce.

Heat tortillas in microwave oven for 30 seconds to 1 minute to soften. Put bean mixture on tortillas and spread sweet potato over the beans mixture. Top with cheese. Roll up burrito style and place on a lightly greased backing sheet. Sprinkle top of burritos with cheese. Bake for 12 minutes.

Easy Kung Pao Chicken Recipe

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kung pao chicken recipe
This is the best easy Kung Pao Chicken recipe I have ever tried. I LOVED this! It has a lot of ingredients, and the kitchen gets messy in the process of making this, but it is worth it, and all those ingredients don’t mean it’s hard…promise. I’m a huge fan of takeout Chinese food, and rarely do I find a DIY version that even compares. But this one is definitely a winner!

Recipe name: Kung Pao Chicken
Source: RecipeZaar
Servings: 3-4

Ingredients

  • 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 1 inch pieces
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 2 sesame oil or peanut oil
  • 3 tablespoons green onions, chopped with tops
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/4-1 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes(to your own taste)
  • 1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger (can use fresh grated if preferred)
  • 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 1/3 cup dry roasted peanuts
  • 4 cups cooked rice, hot

Directions

  1. Combine chicken and cornstarch in small bowl.
  2. Toss to coat.
  3. Heat oil in large non-stick skillet or wok on medium heat.
  4. Add chicken.
  5. Stir fry 5- 7 minutes or until no longer pink in center.
  6. Remove from heat.
  7. Add onions, garlic, red pepper and ginger to skillet.
  8. Stir fry 15 seconds.
  9. Remove from heat.
  10. Combine vinegar, soy sauce and sugar in small bowl.
  11. Stir well.
  12. Add to skillet.
  13. Return chicken to skillet.
  14. Stir until chicken is well coated.
  15. Stir in nuts.
  16. Heat thoroughly, stirring occasionally.
  17. Serve over hot rice.

Beef and Bean Recipe: Mexican Beef and Bean Casserole

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Overall, this mexican beef casserole recipe was very tasty and actually easier than the instructions would have you believe. The shortcut that worked for us was to add the sauce, salsa, beans and chili powder to the cooked beef (turkey for us) and let it get hot in the pan, which took maybe 3 or 4 minutes instead of 20 in the oven. Then follow the rest of the directions. Serve this with tortilla chips for scooping.
Oh, our head chef Tim has one more important note: 1 cup of cheese is ridiculous. You definitely need to double that, and don’t apologize for doing it!

Recipe name: Mexican beef and bean casserole
Source: no idea
Servings: 4-6, depending on appetites

1 pound ground beef (or turkey)
2 cans pinto beans
8 oz tomato sauce
1/2 cup salsa
1 tsp chili powder
1 cup shredded mozzerella cheese

Heat oven to 375
Cook beef over medium heat 8-10 minutes or until brown. Drain. Rinse and drain beans. Mix the beef, beans, sauce, salsa and chili powder in an ungreased baking pan. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake 20 minutes. Stir. Bake another 20 minutes. Uncover. Add the cheese and bake an additional 5 minutes. Dig in to a delicious mexican beef casserole!

Chocolate Chip Orange Muffins Recipe

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I love making homemade muffins, because often the recipes are so simple. I thought these chocolate chip orange muffins had a terrific flavor, just perfect for a lazy morning anytime during the holiday season.
The chocolate orange muffins remind me a lot of an actual chocolate orange, a holiday treat I love. We got 9 muffins out of the batter.

Recipe name: Chocolate Chip Orange Muffins
Servings: 4

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup oil
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a mixing bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
In another bowl, combine egg, milk, orange juice and oil. Add the liquid mixture to the flour mixture. Stir until just moistened. Fold in chocolate chips. Grease a muffin tin and bake for 14-18 minutes.

Rachel Ray Pumpkin Sausage Pasta

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Affiliate links may be included at no cost to you. All thoughts and opinions are my own, as always.

Rachel Ray is a really great resource for meals that come together quickly and are easy to make! I use her 365: No Repeats recipe book often and find it to be a great tool. It has survived quite a few cookbook purges! I hope this Rachel Ray pasta recipe makes its way to your dinner table soon.

I was a little concerned when I first read this Rachel Ray pumpkin sausage pasta recipe. I mean, how are Italian sausage, canned pumpkin and a whole bunch of holiday spices going to all work out as an Italian pasta dish? Well, I’m still not sure why everything goes together so well but it does! You definitely have to try this one. One word of advice, go heavy on the Parmesan cheese at the end. Yum-O.

Recipe name: Pumpkin Pasta by Rachel Ray
Source: Food Network
Servings: 4-6

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus 1 tablespoon
  • 1 pound bulk sweet Italian sausage
  • 4 cloves garlic, cracked and chopped
  • 1 medium onion, finely chopped
  • 1 bay leaf,
  • 4 to 6 sprigs sage leaves, chopped
  • 1 cup dry white wine
  • 1 cup chicken stock, canned or paper container
  • 1 cup canned pumpkin
  • 1/2 cup (3 turns around the pan) heavy cream
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg, ground or freshly grated
  • Coarse salt and black pepper
  • 1 pound penne, cooked to al dente
  • Parmesan cheese

Directions

Heat a large, deep nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the pan and brown the sausage in it. Transfer sausage to paper towel lined plate. Drain fat from skillet and return pan to the stove. Add the remaining tablespoon oil, and then the garlic and onion. Saute 3 to 5 minutes until the onions are tender.

Add bay leaf, sage, and wine to the pan. Reduce wine by half, about 2 minutes. Add stock and pumpkin and stir to combine, stirring sauce until it comes to a bubble. Return sausage to pan, reduce heat, and stir in cream. Season the sauce with the cinnamon and nutmeg, and salt and pepper, to taste. Simmer mixture 5 to 10 minutes to thicken sauce.

Return drained pasta to the pot you cooked it in. Remove the bay leaf from sauce and pour the sausage pumpkin sauce over pasta. Combine sauce and pasta and toss over low heat for 1 minute. Garnish the pasta with lots of shaved cheese and sage leaves.

Introducing Simple Sunday Recipes

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One thing that all parents need are simple, go to recipes. If you are like us, you have more important things to spend your money on than going out to eat frequently, so you need to cook. But isn’t cooking such a pain when you already have a million other things to do, and when you kitchen is already dirty and cooking will just add to the mess?!?!

I can certainly relate to this feeling. My solution has been to come up with an arsenal of recipes that are quick and tasty. Believe it or not, I actually have recipes picked out for every single day of the year in my personal cookbook. While some of the recipes get repeated once or twice during the year, many of them are only featured once (I’m not so big into eating the same thing very often). Before we got pregnant, we actually had another blog called Feed the Moose where we would talk about our trials and tribulations in the kitchen. That blog is defunct, but I can still share with you some of the great recipes we discovered during that time.

So I’d like to introduce Simple Sunday Recipes as a weekly feature on this blog. Each Sunday I’ll share one of the recipes that we have on hand that makes cooking not such a hassle. I hope you will enjoy this feature and find some recipes to bring back to your own kitchen! You’ll find Sunday dinner ideas and ideas for any day of the week when you want cooking to be easy (which would be every day, in my book!)

Our first recipe is Larry’s Black Bean Tacos

Recipe name: Larry’s Black Bean Tacos
Source: Recipezaar (and of course, Larry)
Servings:4-6

Ingredients

2 cans black beans
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 package taco seasoning
1 lb ground beef (turkey for us)
1 package soft tortillas

Directions

  1. Brown ground beef with taco seasoning.
  2. Add stewed tomatoes and black beans.
  3. Simmer for 5-10, until black beans heated through.
  4. Serve with tortilla chips or make soft tacos using soft tortillas.

Larry, this post is dedicated to you and yours. We don’t know you, but we like you.

Our substitutions were as follows: We used ground turkey. We also used large tortillas so that these turned into burritos rather than tacos.

The dish was really simple to put together, but Larry, you made one crucial mistake; you left out the cheese! We added a small amount to ours, and that was a great decision.

So make this dish, eat it, love it, take it to work the next day, and make your co-workers jealous!