Sandy's favorite Sloppy Joes

Crockpot Sloppy Joes

from About.com

Sloppy Joes are traditionally served on toasted hamburger buns, but it is also good over pasta or even as a condiment for hot dogs. prep time: 10 minutes; cook time: 3 hours

Ingredients:

3 pounds ground beef

1 cup onion, finely-diced

1/4 cup finely-diced celery

1/2 green bell pepper, finely-diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 cup ketchup

1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste

1-1/4 cups water

2 teaspoons beef bouillon granules

1 teaspoon Hungarian sweet paprika

1/4 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper

3 Tablespoons cider vinegar

3 Teaspoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon dry mustard

Preparation:

• Heat a heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add ground beef and brown, stirring to break it up. Drain off any fat and add to the crockpot. 
• Add onion, celery, bell pepper, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, tomato paste, water, beef bouillon granules, paprika, black pepper, cider vinegar, brown sugar, and dry mustard to the ground beef. Stir until well combined. 
• Cover. Cook on Low for 6 to 8 hours or High for 3 to 4 hours. 

Yield: about 10 servings

Autumn Vegetable Soup

Kathleen said: "We're back from Oregon. While we were there, my D-I-L made this delicious Autumn soup that I wanted to pass on. She sprinkled it with fresh grated Parmesan just before serving. A French or sour dough bread makes it even more yummy."


Autumn Vegetable Soup
from Fine Cooking magazine

2 tbl. olive oil

3 medium carrots, cut into medium dice

1 large yellow onion, cut into medium dice

2 medium cloves garlic, minced

2 cups 1/2-inch-cubed, peeled butternut squash (about half a 2 pound squash)

1/4 tsp. ground allspice

Pinch cayenne pepper; or more to taste

Kosher salt

1 quart low-salt chicken broth

14.5 oz. can no-salt-added diced tomatoes

4 sprigs fresh thyme

2 cups lightly packed, coarsely chopped kale

1 cup low-salt canned chickpeas

• Heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat.
• Add carrots and onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until they begin to soften (about five minutes.
• Add garlic and cook for one minute more.
• Add squash, allspice, cayenne, and 1 tsp. salt and stir to combine.
• Add broth, tomatoes with juice and thyme.
• Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium, cover and simmer ten minutes.
• Add kale and chickpeas and cook uncovered until squash is tender and kale is wilted, about ten minutes.
• Discard thyme before serving. Season to taste with more salt and cayenne.

Yields about eight cups. You can refrigerate this soup for three days or freeze for two months. You can substitute other fall vegetables or beans.

Beefy Mushroom Barley Soup

Sally says: "I would recommend that readers check out the Penzeys Spices website. There is a selection called 'recipe archives' which is where I found this. They list recipes by season; holiday recipes are up now. And, you can order a free catalog."



Beefy Mushroom Barley Soup
from Penzey Spices


1 lb. lean beef chuck, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 TB. olive oil
3 medium onions, coarsely chopped
10 oz. fresh mushrooms, sliced
3 large carrots, sliced
1/2 cup pearl barley
7 cups beef broth (or 7 cups water plus 2 Tbl. Penzeys BEEF SOUP BASE)
1 cup dry red wine or no salt added tomato juice
1-2 tsp. salt (to taste)
1/2 tsp. fresh ground pepper
1 cup frozen green peas 
2 tsp. fresh lemon juice

Heat the olive oil in a stock pot over medium-high heat. Add the beef and sauté until brown. Transfer to paper towels to drain. Add the onions and mushrooms to the pan drippings and cook until the onions are golden. Return the beef to the pot. Stir in the carrots, barley, broth, wine, 1 tsp. salt and PEPPER, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Simmer, partially covered, until beef and barley are tender, about 45 minutes. Stir in the peas and cook, uncovered, until tender, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat; stir in the lemon juice, taste and add more salt if desired, and serve. Prep. time: 20 minutes  Cooking time: 60 minutes Serves: 6 Nutritional Information: Servings 6; Serving Size 2 cups (581g); Calories 320; Calories from fat 70; Total fat 8g; Cholesterol 35mg; Sodium 1030mg; Carbohydrate 28g; Dietary Fiber 6g..

Cranberry Cherry Relish

This old recipe comes from Marylee, who gives this advice: "Fresh cranberries are packed 12 ounces, not one pound, to a bag, so buy two bags, since most recipes call for a pound. Any extra cranberries freeze well."

Cranberry Cherry Relish
1 pound fresh cranberries
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1/2 cup cranberry juice
zest of one orange, finely grated
1 cup dried cherries

• Pick through the cranberries eliminating damaged fruit, rinse, then drain well.
• Combine the cranberries, sugar, orange juice, cranberry juice and orange zest in a pan.
• Place ofver medium heat; boil slowly until the berries pop open, about ten minutes.
• Remove from heat, skim the foam off the surface with a metal spon, stir in the cherries and let cool to room temperature.
• Cover and refrigerate. Keeps up to one month.

Serves 12: 203 calories per serving, 52 g carb, 1 g protein