I made dinner today for both Monday and Tuesday, knowing that we are going to be rushed both nights.
I thought I'd share this with all of you who have an extra hour on Sunday but want to come home to a quick, home-cooked meal during the week even thought you work a standard 8-5 and the kids have to be in bed by 7. Yes, I hear you -- it makes it hard.
So, the meals of choice this week are stuffed bell peppers for tomorrow night and sloppy joe sandwiches for Tuesday; nothing extravagant, but with ground beef on sale and the ingredients being agreeable to both meals, this took me a total of an hour and now on both Monday and Tuesday we'll have a homemade meal within minutes of walking in the door.
Both of these recipes are a basic spin on the standards; you'll find similar recipes in Betty Crocker or Better Homes or anything along those lines, so if you don't care for my versions, you can tweak accordingly. The basic browned grown beef starts both meals; use 1/3 of the mixture for the stuffed peppers and the remaining 2/3 for the sloppy joes.
Starter ground beef for both dinners:
3 lbs lean ground beef
3 small onions, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and pepper to taste
Season the ground beef with salt and pepper and brown the meat, onions, and garlic over medium high heat, stirring to break up the meat. Drain and set aside.
Stuffed Peppers
6 bell peppers, with the tops cut off (about an inch to create a cup), cored and seeded. Dice the tops of the peppers to include in the stuffing.
1 cup uncooked white rice
1 26.5-oz. can tomato sauce
2 16-oz. cans diced tomatoes
Salt and pepper to taste
½ cup shredded parmesan and mozzarella cheese mixture
Water
In a medium bowl, combine the diced tomatoes, diced pepper tops and tomato sauce. Put about a cup of the sauce mixture in the bottom of a crockpot and place your peppers upright in the sauce.
Add 1/3 of your ground beef mixture into the sauce left in the bowl. Stir in 1 cup of uncooked white rice. Mix well. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon the mixture into and over your pepper cups in the crockpot. Refrigerate overnight and in the morning check that there is at least still an inch of standing liquid in the bottom of the crockpot. If not, add just enough water to increase the liquid level to 1 inch, and then cook on low heat for 9-10 hours until the rice is thoroughly cooked and the peppers start to fall apart. Sprinkle with cheese mixture just before serving.
Sloppy Joes
1 tsp brown sugar
2/3-3/4 cup ketchup
2 tsps Worcestershire Sauce (about 5 good shakes)
1 dash of hot sauce
2 stalks celery, minced
1/3-1/2 cup of water
Salt and pepper to taste
Start with your remaining 2/3 of beef mixture in a saucepan over low heat. Add all other ingredients and simmer for 10-15 minutes until heated through (vary your amount of ketchup and water based upon how thick you like your sloppy joes). You can also use some of your diced pepper tops from the stuffed peppers if you so choose. Season with salt and pepper.
Allow mixture to cool and then refrigerate for up to three days. You can reheat these either in a microwave safe container or in a saucepan over medium low heat. Serve over hamburger buns or rolls with pickles and chips.
Amy L. Schubert is a 15-year veteran of the hospitality industry and has worked in every aspect of bar and restaurant operations. A graduate of Marquette University (B.A.-Writing Intensive English, 1997) and UW-Milwaukee (M.A.-Rhetoric, Composition, and Professional Writing, 2001), Amy still occasionally moonlights as a guest bartender and she mixes a mean martini.
The restaurant business seems to be in Amy’s blood, and she prides herself in researching and experimenting with culinary combinations and cooking techniques in her own kitchen as well as in friends’ restaurants. Both she and her husband, Scott, are avid cooks and “wine heads,” and love to entertain friends, family and neighbors as frequently as possible.
Amy and Scott live with their boys, Alex and Nick, in Bay View, where they are all very active in the community. Amy finds great pleasure in sharing her knowledge and passions for food and writing in her contributions to OnMilwaukee.com.
