Sloppy Joes

Did you ever eat Manwiches when you were younger? I use to always fix those for my kids when they were little. They loved them (do they still make 'em?), and I loved them too because they were so easy to make--brown the meat, open the can, mix together, slop it on the bun and eat! Hummm, slop it on the bun--is that why they are called sloppy Joes? Well, where did the Joe come from? He must have been the person slopping it on the bun. Ya think?

Seriously though, here's a recipe for Sloppy Joes that remind me of those Manwiches we use to enjoy. Hope you enjoy these. Oh, and by the way, this recipe is much better than Manwich.

Sloppy Joes

2 pounds ground beef

1/2 cup ketchup

1 can tomato soup

1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2 Tablespoons brown sugar

2 Tablespoons vinegar

1 Tablespoon prepared mustard

Salt and Pepper

Cook hamburger. Salt and pepper (I put some garlic powder too) to taste. Drain grease and add the other ingredients. Simmer slowly for at least 30 minutes. Add more salt and pepper if needed. Scoop (or should I say "Slop") on to hamburger buns and serve.

Poppy Seed Chicken

I was looking through a church cookbook and found this poppy seed chicken casserole. I had all the ingredients and it sounded good, so we tried it. And we liked it--actually we loved it! This one's a keeper.

Poppy Seed Chicken

6 - 8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and cut into pieces

( I just boiled mine in salted water with an onion and a piece of celery) (You can use left-over turkey, too, or if you're like my friend Stephanie, buy the chicken already cooked!)

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 cup sour cream

1 stick butter ( I only used a half of a stick, 4 Tablespoons)

1 Tablespoon poppy seed

2 cups Ritz cracker crumbs (I crumbed up one roll of the Ritz crackers)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13 baking dish. Put meat on the bottom. Mix the soup and sour cream and pour over the chicken. Mix the Ritz crumbs and the poppy seed. Spread over chicken. Melt butter and drizzle over the top. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Do not cover.

Cherry Surprise Cake

Okay, I know you're tired of all these crock pot recipes. So, let me surprise you with something different.

Wow! This was an easy-to-make and delicious cake. Oh, and definitely a surprise! The marshmallows started out on the bottom and ended up on the top forming a thin, brown,bubbly topping. And the cherries, which were on the top, ended up on the bottom. If you like cherries (and I do), I think you will be surprised about how much you will like this cake.

Cherry Surprise Cake

4 cups miniature marshmallows


1 can (21 0z.) light cherry pie filling


1 box yellow cake mix (I used Duncan Hines, because I think it's the best)



Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 9 x 13 pan with Pam. Spread marshmallows evenly over bottom of pan. Prepare cake mix according to package directions. Pour batter over marshmallows. Spoon cherries evenly over batter. Bake 45 - 50 minutes. When toothpick comes out clean, cake is done.

Lazy Day Stew

Here's another crock pot recipe I found in the cookbook my sister, Cathy, gave me for Christmas. It's called Lazy Day Stew. Just the name caught my interest. Of course, the idea of putting butter beans in my stew sounded wonderful to me, too. I do love butter beans. So when you have a lazy day, try this delicious crock pot beef stew.

Lazy Day Stew

1 - 2 pounds stewing beef, cubed

1 - 2 cups carrots, diced

2 cups potatoes. diced

1 large onion, chopped

1 cup celery, chopped

1 package (10 - 14 oz.) frozen butter beans or green beans

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce

1/2 - 1/3 can of water

1 Tablespoon brown sugar

Place beef in bottom of crock pot (I put salt, pepper and garlic powder on the beef). Add vegetables. Sprinkle salt and pepper over ingredients. Mix together tomato sauce and water, and pour over top. Sprinkle brown sugar over all. Cover. Cook on LOW for 8 hours. (I did stir it after about 4 hours, but I probably didn't have to.)

Crock Pot Scalloped Potatoes and Ham

Now this crock pot recipe is not Brandi's, but it is a good one. I had some leftover ham and was looking for a recipe and found this one. My husband says he doesn't eat pork (yeah, we've heard that before), but he loved it and couldn't stop eating it. We always tease him and tell him he's on that seafood diet--he eats everything he sees!

Crock Pot Scalloped Potatoes and Ham

3 pounds of potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced (be sure to slice thin or they won't cook well and be too hard)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 small onion, chopped
1 - 2 cups cooked ham
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Place the thinly (don't forget, slice really thin) sliced potatoes in the crock pot. In a medium bowl, mix together the shredded cheese, onion and ham. Mix with potatoes in the crock pot. Using the same bowl, mix together the soup and water. Season with the garlic powder, salt and pepper. Pour evenly over the potato mixture. Cover, and cook on high for 4 hours.

Snowman Pancakes

We got an early Valentine's surprise--SNOW! Do you believe it? Snow in South Carolina? Well, it does happen every once in a while and when it does we celebrate and have a "Family Snow Day"! The best part is making and eating snowman pancakes. Just use my "Mom's Pancakes" recipe and pour two circles of the mix. The top one is smaller than the bottom. Add chocolate chip eyes, mouth and buttons, and you have snowman pancakes!


Here are some pictures for you to enjoy. Let it snow! Let it snow!
Let it snow!

Playing in the beautiful blanket of snow!

Eating the snow. Ummm, tastes so good!

Making a snow angel!

Building a snowman!

Enjoying the snowman pancakes!

Even Grandma Cleo loved the snowman pancakes!

Hope each of you have a

Happy Valentine's Day!

Beefy Mac

Here's another one of Brandi's crock pot recipes. See why she thinks I should rename my blog? That's okay, Brandi. Your day is coming--I want you to be a guest chef. Get those recipes and pictures ready. I'll be calling you.

Beefy Mac

12 oz. elbow macaroni, cook 5 - 6 minutes, drain and transfer to crock pot

1 1/2 pounds ground beef cooked

1 packet beef stew mix

2 cups shredded 4 cheese blend

1 can cheddar cheese soup

1 small onion, chopped

1 can beef broth

Mix all ingredients in the crock pot and cook on low 2 - 4 hours. Serve with chopped tomato on top and you family's favorite veggie on the side.

Chicken Edamame Chowder

This is a crock pot recipe I got from my daughter-in-law, Brandi. I use a lot of her recipes. As a matter of fact, she told me I should rename my blog to Brandi's Recipe Box! I think Nana's Recipe Box sounds better :-)

Chicken Edamame Chowder

1 - 2 pounds chicken tenders or breasts, cut bit-sized (I did put some salt and pepper on the chicken)

2 cans cream style corn

3 cups frozen shelled edamame

2 - 3 cups diced potatoes

1 small onion, chopped

1/4 cup crumbled bacon

1 can chicken broth

1/2 cup half and half

salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in the crock pot except the half and half and mix together. Cook on high 4 -5 hours. Before serving stir in half and half and salt and pepper to taste.

Crock Pot Chicken Stroganoff

Who doesn't love a good crock pot recipe? I'm really into crock pot recipes right now. Sometimes I just want to come home to a good home-cooked meal, so I let the pot do the cooking for me. For the next several posts, I'm going to be sharing the crock pot recipes we enjoyed. This chicken stroganoff was absolutely delicious. I wasn't sure if it would be any good since you don't put the soup in until after it has cooked several hours. I was wrong! My family ate it up! Next time I'll have to double it! I served it on some rotini pasta that I already had in the pantry, but it would be delicious on rice, egg noodles, or any kind of pasta. You're gonna love this one!

Crock Pot Chicken Stroganoff

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut in cubes

2 Tablespoons butter

1 (.7 ounce) package dry Italian-style salad dressing mix (I used Good Seasons)

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese (I let mine soften, but you don't have to--it just melts into the chicken mixture)

1 can cream of mushroom soup

Put cubed chicken breasts, margarine, and dressing mix in a crock pot. Mix together and cook on low for 5 - 6 hours.

Add the cream cheese and soup to cooked chicken in crock pot. Mix together and cook on high for about 30 minutes until heated through and warm.

Egg-In-A-Hole

My son, Jonathan, and his wife, Mandy, gave me a neat cookbook for Christmas. It is the #1 New York Times Bestseller, The Pioneer Woman Cooks. Ree Drummond (the Pioneer woman) says, "Sometimes it's the simplest things that taste the best." I agree with that statement. So I chose one of her very simple recipes and said to myself, "Why didn't I think of that?"

As many of you know, my husband and I are caregivers for his 97 year old mom. Every morning she wants egg and toast for breakfast so I decided to give it a little twist and serve her Ree Drummond's Egg-In-The-Hole (I call it Egg-In-A-Hole).

Well, Mom loved it. I toasted the piece of bread from the hole and put strawberry jelly on it. She loved that too. I think the round shape confused her because she wanted to know what it was because it was so good (Mom has a sweet tooth!). I had a lot of fun preparing this for her. Can't wait to make it for my grandkids. I think they'll love it too.

It really is the simple things that taste the best!

Egg-In-A-Hole

With a biscuit cutter or a glass, cut a hole in the center of a piece of bread.

Heat 2 tablespoons of butter in a skillet over medium heat. Put bread in skillet and let it soak up the butter for about 1 minute. Crack a large egg into the hole. Hence the name "Egg-In-A-Hole". Sprinkle salt and pepper on the egg and cook for another minute.

With a spatula, flip to the other side. Sprinkle with salt and pepper if you'd like. Cook until egg is desired doneness.

Chinese Hamburger Casserole/Slightly Oriental

Happy Groundhog Day! I decided to go through my old recipe box to look for recipes to try. You know, some of the best recipes are the ones my mom taught me or the ones friends shared with me many years ago when my children were young. When I read this recipe card in the box, my mouth started watering as I remembered how much I enjoyed this tasty dish. As a matter of fact, I have two recipes that are very similar so I included both. You choose.
Chinese Hamburger Casserole

1 pound ground beef

1 small onion, chopped

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 1/2 cups water

1/2 cup uncooked rice

1/8 cup soy sauce

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 can chow mein noodles

Brown meat and onion. Drain off fat. Add other ingredients except for the chow mein noodles.

Bake at 350, covered, for 30 minutes. Remove cover and bake 20 minutes longer. Top with the chow mein noodles and bake 10 more minutes. Remove from oven and let sit about 5 - 10 minutes before serving.

Slightly Oriental

1 pound ground beef

3 cups diced celery

1 large onion

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can water chestnuts

1/2 cup rice uncooked

1 can (5 oz.) chow mein noodles

Brown meat. Add celery and onion. Saute until onions are golden brown or clear.

Mix everything together, except chow mein noodles and put in covered casserole dish.

Bake at 350 for 50 - 60 minutes.

Remove cover the last 10 minutes and sprinkle chow mein noodles on top. Continue baking uncovered.

The first recipe is very good. The kids really like it because it doesn't have the celery and the water chestnuts. Now me--I love the celery and the water chestnuts. Again, it's your choice.