Sloppy Joes To Go

We spent a few days tucked away in an adorable little cabin enjoying nature.

As usual, meals were planned at home so we could spend our vacation enjoying the sights while sticking to our budget.

I made a batch of Sloppy Joes at home and froze it for our vacation.

All we had to do was let it thaw and heat it up.

Couldn't be easier!

Jello seems to have become a vacation favorite.

We added Sun Chips and an orange to the plate.

We cured hunger for a few more hours and the clean up was a snap.

So, let's get cooking!

The board of ingredients for these sloppy joes is pretty simple stuff.

I am using a quart of my own canned tomatoes, 

but of course any store bought tomato product works just fine.

• Diced Onion
• Diced Celery
• Mustard
• Ketchup
• Salt and Pepper
• Hot Sauce
• Sugar
• Canned Tomatoes
• Olive Oil
• Ground Beef

Start with some olive oil in the bottom of your dutch oven...or any big pot.

In go the celery and onions.

Give them a pinch of salt and pepper and let them cook until they are soft.

Like this.

Add the ground beef and break it up a bit.

Don't stir the heck out of this while it is cooking.

Leave some larger chunks of beef so your fella has something to bit into.

Fellas like that.

Also, add a pinch of salt and pepper to the beef.

Now that the beef is completely cooked, it's time to start adding flavor.

Add the rest of the ingredients to the beef.

Stir everything together and let it simmer on the stove.

The sauce will thicken up and beef will absorb the flavor.

The joes are ready to eat now.

If you are making them for the freezer they need to be packaged up.

Stick them in the fridge until the meat is cool.

I like to freeze vacation food in a labeled, gallon sized zip lock bag.

I freeze the sloppy joe mix on a cookie sheet.

Sloppy Joes

Ingredients:

1 Cup Diced Onion
1 Cup Diced Celery
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
2 Pounds Ground Beef {90/10}
3/4 Cup Ketchup
1/4 Cup Mustard
3/4 Cup Sugar
Hot Sauce
2 14.5oz Cans of Tomatoes - Diced, Stewed, Whole...Whatever you have will work.

Directions:

1. Add a drizzle of olive oil to a large pot over medium high heat.  Add the onion, celery, salt and pepper and cook stirring occasionally until the veggies are softened.
2.  Add the ground beef to the pot and season with salt and pepper.  Break up the beef, but leave some chunks in the pot.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir.
4.  Bring mixture to a simmer over medium low heat for twenty - forty minutes, uncovered, stirring occasionally.
5. Enjoy! 

For a printer friendly version of this recipe click here.

Budget Buster - Window Cleaner

We had a great holiday weekend and then decided to take off for a little family fun. We took a quick run to Tennessee and enjoyed a few days in beautiful Pigeon Forge. One of the things we were most looking forward to was Cade's Cove. It was beautiful. We saw black bears crossing the road right in front of us and it was amazing and so fun to see.

By the time we got home form our lovely little get away, our car was in need of a little TLC. My dear husband is always a willing volunteer to clean up the car. I love that we get home from a trip and within a hour or two, the car is cleaned up, the kids and I have unpacked and put away the travel gear and we are ready to get back into the swing of things. 




Anyway, this post is about window cleaner. We go through massive amounts of it. Window cleaner is an essential cleaner in our home. My husband uses it in on the cars in the garage, I use it on the windows, mirrors and the glass in the picture frames of every room in the house.When I show you how easy and cheap it is to make yourself, you will be thrilled.  The ingredients are pretty simple and you probably have them in your home already.  You can use any dish detergent you would like.

I picked up a spray bottle at Wal Mart for $1.50.  Add two cups of water. 

Next in is a quarter cup of white vinegar. 

Last in is a drop or two of liquid dish soap.  That's it. 

Add a label and you are all set for some serious cleaning.  See?
BEFORE:

AFTER:

Unpacking and Repacking

We are back from our awesome vacation. We had a great time and we have come home restored and ready to get back to our usual schedule.

We take as many getaways as we possibly can afford. We work really hard and the concentrated family time, relaxation of a weekend away as well as the lifetime of memories we create make a getaway really important for all of us. I will have to admit that sometimes cramming a getaway into a busy schedule can be a bit tricky. A getaway requires researching, planning and packing before you can even leave the driveway.

I quickly discovered that sometimes a rough packing process can start the weekend off on a bad note. I will never forget the time that my husband and kids were so excited to be off for the weekend that they were all sitting in the van ready to go while there was still luggage sitting in the house and the dog had not been walked or delivered to the neighbors house. I was ready to scream.

Now, this may sound silly, but I start packing for our next getaway or vacation as soon as we get home. I repack our toiletries bag so at a moments notice I can grab it and go. I make sure the bag is stocked with all the necessities we would need.

I also clean out the tooth brush holders as soon as we get home.  I clean out the holders with a 50/50 mixture of hydrogen peroxide and water and a bottle brush.  I let the containers soak for a bit to kill any germs.  Than I just clean them out with the bottle brush.  It is easy and simple.

I let the holders air dry on a paper towel. 



Meanwhile a hydrogen peroxide soak for the toothbrushes is a good way to make sure your toothbrush is clean and ready to go for your next trip.  I once read that your toothbrush is the dirtiest thing in your bathroom so I clean our toothbrushes about once a week this way.

Baked Pasta and Meatballs

We are in beautiful Williamsburg, Virginia and we are here to relax and enjoy ourselves this week.

The reenactments in Revolutionary City are amazing. 

Colonial Williamsburg is so educational and beautiful.  Look at this garden.  I am jealous.

Hehe.  I want one of these.  :-) 

While we are wandering around the town and kicking back in our condo, we were on a budget. This is where the freezer bag of sauce and meatballs is going to go a long way to making an amazing dinner in a matter of minutes.  Here is my board of ingredients.  You can use any pasta that you would like, but I found these mini penne pasta shapes and I thought they were great.  
. 

I started a large pot of boiling water and put a colander in the sink to drain the pasta.

A tablespoon of salt for the pasta water is very important.  I brought salt from home.   

Add the salt to your boiling water.

Add the pasta and stir for a few moments.  Cook the pasta according to package directions.

Look at our perfectly cooked al dente pasta.  But wait don't drain it just yet.

Save some of that salty, starchy water before you dump the pasta into the colander.

Drain the pasta and then add it back to the pan you just cooked it in.  Make sure you have turned off the heat though.

Add the thawed bag of Willow Cottage Tomato Sauce to the pasta.

Stir it all up.  It already looks good.

But since we are going to throw this in the oven and bake it, we are going to use a little of that salty water to make sure that there is plenty of moisture in the baked pasta.  Trust me.  Please forgive the picture below.  It just looks yucky...but I was trying to show you that I had added the water. 

Next whip out your pan. 

Add half of your sauced pasta to the pan and spread it out evenly.

Add Willow Cottage Meatballs and spread them out evenly over the pasta. 

Then add a generous layer of cheese.  I am using shredded mozzarella, but you can use what ever you would like.

Add the rest of the sauced pasta.

Finally add another layer of cheese to the pasta and it is ready for the oven.  Bake at 350° for 30 minutes.

And this is what you get.  It is so good.  It took me about fifteen minutes to assemble and it was so delicious. 

I served this with garlic bread and a salade, but the salade did not make it into this picture.  All I can say is that bring a couple of bags of prepared food from home sure made a quick and delicious meal for our vacation.  It was so yummy.  I made a double batch of the following recipe and it made one dinner and two lunches for us.  :-) 

Baked Pasta

Ingredients:

1 Batch of thawed Willow Cottage Tomato Sauce
1 Batch of thawed Willow Cottage Turkey Meatballs
1 Pound Pasta
1 Pound Grated Mozzarella Cheese

Directions:

1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Save 1/2 cup of pasta water before draining the pasta.

2. Drain pasta and put pasta back into the cooking pot. Add the sauce and reserved cooking water from the pasta and mix well. .

3. In a casserole dish add half of the sauced pasta in an even layer. Add the meatballs in an even layer and then add the cheese. Layer the rest of the pasta and a second layer of cheese.

4. Bake the pasta in a 350° oven for thirty minutes or until the pasta is heated through. Serve immediately. Serves 4 generous portions.

For a printer friendly version of this recipe click here.