Taco Rice

I am always looking for ways to keep my kitchen cool during the summer. I use my crockpot & grill a lot. I have decided to start looking for recipes I can make in my rice cooker. Here's one we tried recently.

Taco Rice

1 1/2 lbs ground beef

3 cups raw rice

1 can petite diced tomatoes

1 can Rotel tomatoes with green chilies

1 medium onion, diced

1 packet Taco Seasoning

Water

Brown ground beef & onion. Mix in taco seasoning.Put rice in rice cooker. Add undrained tomatoes. Fill with water to the 3 cup line in your rice cooker. Put ground beef in the rice cooker and stir. Close your rice cooker and cook on the white rice setting (unless you're using brown rice, then use that setting.) Serve in a bowl with shredded cheddar & salsa, or rolled up in tortillas.

Crockpot Tuesday- Shepherd's Pie

I recently acquired a copy of Angela Coffman's (of Grocery Shrink fame) Slow and Savory Suppers e-book. It looks like it's gonna be a great crockpot resource. I have only been able to try one recipe so far, but it was fabulous. :) Everyone in the family liked it. I am going to be trying at least one of these a week until I go through them all. Here's the recipe I tried (reposted with Angela's permission, of course)

Shepherd's Pie

2 carrots, peeled and diced

2 stalks celery, diced

1 onion, diced

2 cups frozen peas

2 tsp garlic powder

1 lb ground beef, browned

1 tbsp tomato paste

2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup water

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

2-4 cups mashed potatoes

1/2 cup parmesan or sharp cheddar cheese

1.Combine all but potatoes and cheese in a greased slow cooker. ( I did not grease mine and it turned out fine.) 2. Spread mashed potatoes on top. 3. Sprinkle with cheese. 4. Cook on high 3-4 hours or low 6-8 hours.

Bacon Cheese Burgers

I'm in the mood for a nice tasty grilled burger for dinner. So, I figured I'd look up a few recipes online and see what I could throw together. This looked interesting. Of course, I don't have all of the ingredients on hand, so I improvised. I usually improvise. :)

Bacon Cheese Burgers

2 1/2lbs ground beef

6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

1 cup sour cream

1-2 cups shredded cheese (I used a cheddar monterey jack blend)

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp Bacon Salt

Crushed saltines, just enough to hold meat mixture together

Mix all ingredients in a larg bowl until everything is evenly mixed. Form into patties. How many patties you get depends on how big you like your burgers. Grill over medium high heat about 8 minutes on each side, or until they are done to your taste. Serve on buns.

Leftover Saturday-Sloppy Joe Ring

Saturday is our "Leftover" day. It's a time to use up what has accumulated in the fridge all week. Normally that's our plan for lunch on Saturday. Unless we're out all day, and then that's the plan for dinner. Anyway, we go through the leftovers in the fridge on Saturday. LOL





I recently posted my Sloppy Joe recipe on the blog. (No pics of that one, I'll have to get them next time.) That particular recipe makes a TON of Sloppy Joe filling. We always have leftovers. Here's what I did with them this time.

Sloppy Joe Ring

1-2 cups leftover Sloppy Joe filling

2 containers crescent rolls

Preheat your oven to 375. Get out a large pizza pan. Open the crescent rolls and place wide side to the center of the pan, over lapping the edges to form a circle. This was kinda tricky for me and I had to re-arrange them a couple of times. Spoon the Sloppy Joe filling along the inside of the ring, on the wide edges. Don't put it right on the edge. You need a little bit of space to tuck the pointy bits under. After you get the filling in, fold the points into the center and slightly tuck them under the inside edge of the circle. Put in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until filling is hot and crescent rolls are slightly brown. Easy Peasy.

This was a hit with most of the family. They Hubby loved it. The Large boy enjoyed it.The Medium boy ate seconds, which he doesn't often do. The Small boy didn't like the crescent roll part. ( I seriously do not know where this kid came from. No pizza, not a fan of cheese, and now crescent rolls....LOL) I thought it was yummy and supper easy. I will be making it again for sure.

Sloppy Joe Slop-Sloppy Joe

Ok, bad title, I know. I know you are now belting out the Lunch Lady song. Admit it. You know you are, even if it's just in your head.

Have I mentioned I am not good at coming up with titles for things. I'm just not "name" creative. :) It's true. Maybe I'll get better as the blog goes on, maybe not. Hang around and find out. LOL



Ok, time to reign in the ADD-ness and focus. Focus. FOCUS...Alrighty, here we go. Oh, I feel another song coming on...FOCUS...



Who doesn't like Sloppy Joes?? Well, I am sure some people don't (Let's pray for them, shall we?) , but I am sure they are in the minority. Right??? Well, we like Sloppy Joes around here. The medium & small boys like them with ketchup and cheese. I like mine off the bun, in a bowl, with cheese. The large boy & the hubby just like them. Here's the recipe I use.

Sloppy Joes

Here is a super easy, not from the can version that our whole family loves. It makes a lot, and we usually have leftovers. You can freezer the leftovers or use them in another meal. I'm working on a recipe for the leftovers. I'll post it when I've got it perfected.

2lbs ground beef

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped green pepper (You can leave this out with no taste issues.)

1 can condensed tomato soup

1- 8oz can tomato sauce

2 tbsp ketchup

1 1/2 tbsp worcestershire sauce

1 tbsp mustard (I use course ground, but you can use whatever you have on hand)

1/4 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp garlic powder

Hamburger buns

In a large pan, brown ground beef and onion. Add green peppers, if using. Cook an additional 5 minutes or so until beef is cooked through and onions and peppers are soft. While the meat mixture is cooking. Put the tomato soup, tomato sauce, ketchup, worcestershire sauce, mustard, chili powder and garlic powder in a crockpot. Drain meat mixture and add it to the crockpot. Cook on low 3-4 hours. Serve over buns.

I have let this cook much longer with no problems. You could shift it to the "keep warm" setting on your crockpot, if you have one, at the 3-4 hour mark if you like.