Hawaiian Joes - the Dinner to DIE For

We have been eating a lot of tomato/seasoning/pasta or rice concoctions recently. All a little different, all a lot the same. Tonight, we decided to mix things up and have sloppy joes.

Now, back in the day, we bought some ground turkey, ground pork, ground beef, and ground chicken when it was on sale. We decided to use turkey and chicken to make our sloppy joes. We didn't have enough beef and we've been using the meats we have a lot of, so chicken/turkey combination it was. (Why the combo? Why not?)

We made the sloppy joes the way we usually do (except I forgot the mustard) - brown the meat, salt and pepper it, watch it cook. Then we spiced things up a bit and added some garlic and some Worcestershire sauce. Why not, right? After the garlic made our house smell divine, we added ketchup and brown sugar and let it all meld together into what we assumed would be sloppy joe heaven.

And then we tasted it. And it did NOT taste like sloppy joes. (Guess we missed the rule about using beef for sloppy joes. Oops.) I was not very excited, but Patrick tasted it a couple times and then he had this great idea - add some pineapple! Truth be told, he wanted the pineapple on the side because he hates pineapple with his meats (or something like that??), but that's what we are always doing, so I begged him to let me add it straight to the meat. I am SO glad he agreed.

We made the most delicious accidental meal I have eaten in a VERY LONG time. And the most delicious pineappley meal I've eaten in a long time.

It was so good that I am sharing the recipe with you now, as in, I JUST finished eating and the dishes are not even done yet.

Allow for some guestimations and whatnot because when I cook I pretty much just throw things in, and Patrick is getting good at that too. :)

Oh, and I apologize for not having a picture - I thought of that as the last bite was in my mouth. That's right, it was so good we don't even have leftovers.

Hawaiian Joes

1 lb ground birdy (we used chicken and turkey)

salt and pepper, to taste

1 1/2 T Worcestershire sauce (this is my guess, maybe it was closer to 1 T)

1 tsp minced garlic

1/3 - 1/2 C ketchup (to taste)

1/3ish C brown sugar (to taste)

1/2 - 3/4 can of pineapple chunks (again, to taste)

1. Brown the meat in a large frying pan. Salt and pepper it to taste while browning.

2. Add in garlic and Worcestershire, stir, and continue to brown meat.

3. Once meat is fully cooked (we don't want to risk any food-borne illnesses, here, folks), add ketchup and brown sugar. Honestly, I just dumped until it was the consistency of sloppy joes.

4. Simmer over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, allowing the flavors to blend and soak into the meat, about 5 minutes.

5. Stir in pineapple chunks.

6. Simmer on low (or medium-low), stirring occasionally.

7. Here is the fun and VERY IMPORTANT part. Let some of it burn, er, caramelize. The brown sugar and the pineapple juices will caramelize and create this DELICIOUS burn that makes you think you grilled your dinner... or ate at Tucano's. It is important that you do not stir it too frequently, or you won't get that divine crisp on your meat/pineapple.

8. Eat it until you can't eat anymore, or until it's gone. We served ours on whole wheat pieces of bread. We are simpletons when it comes to what's under our sloppy's.

And the whole wheat added to our fairly healthy meal: ground birdy, better for ya than fatty beef; whole wheat bread, yum; diced fresh strawberries; green salad, leafy greens are so good for ya and this was the real-deal lettuce, not iceberg.

Dinner was a HUGE success and we felt good eating it. I hope you make this and enjoy it as much as we did! We will DEFINITELY be adding this to our menu more often. And then I'll take a picture of it. :) Yum!!!

Now go make some tummies happy!

Best Breakfast Side Dish - Potatoes and Onions

I grew up on potatoes and onions, pan-fried in bacon grease or butter with salt and pepper.

I know what you're thinking. That sounds ridiculously delicious and healthy. Well, it is. Okay, and isn't. But who doesn't love bacon? Or butter, for that matter? Yeah, that's what I thought.

So here you have it.

- Peel, wash, and grate some potatoes. Think one potato a person (you're going to want to eat all of them, I promise).

- Dice an onion, yellow or white.

- Use the same pan you used to cook your bacon (but get rid of some of the grease...) or melt a couple tablespoons of butter in a skillet. (This is pretty scientific, huh?)

- Toss in your grated potatoes and diced onions, add some salt and pepper, and let them babies cook on medium heat.

You'll want to flip them over. I like mine a little on the brown and toasted side. If you toss them around or mix them too much, they get mushy. Just FYI. It helps if you just let them fry for a few minutes, then kind of flip them over. Just cook them until everything is soft and cooked, and even a little brown.

Eat them with a lovely over-medium egg and a piece of toast (you have to have the toast to dip in the egg yolk). They're really good with my grandma's chili sauce, but, unfortunately, I don't have the recipe for that. They're also good with salsa or ketchup. Seriously, you can't ruin these. They're just SO good!

(And so not healthy... and who cares. :D)