Loosemeat Sandwich (including 40 minute bun recipe)

So one of my mother's favorite meals is sloppy joes, my least favorite meal is sloppy joes. Guess who won that war? Okay, so it might have been close to a tie, but maybe I pulled a little ahead after she "forced" me to eat it and I threw it all back up across her kitchen table. Yep, what memories. haha! My poor mother.
My children and husband love the sloppy joe, but I think I have only brought myself to make them once. We have finally came to an agreement and I am willing to make them this tasty little sandwich.

Loosemeat Sandwich

1 lb ground beef or ground sirloin
2 tsp salt
1 onion, chopped
1 Tbsp yellow mustard
1 Tbsp vinegar
1 Tbsp sugar
water

Salt bottom of skillet. Brown ground beef and start crumbling it with the back of a wooden spoon. You want the meat to end up being cooked into small crumbles.
Add chopped onion while browning meat.
When meat is browned, add mustard, vinegar, and sugar.
Add enough water to barely cover meat in pan.
Simmer until water is cooked out (about 15-20 minutes)
Serve on rolls/buns with mustard and pickles.

40 Minute Hamburger Buns

2 Tbsp active dry yeast
1 C warm water, plus
2 Tbsp warm water
1/3 C oil
1/4 C sugar
1 egg
1 tsp salt
3-3 1/2 C flour

In a mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water.
Add oil and sugar and allow to sit for 5 minutes.
Add egg, salt, and flour to form a soft dough.
Kneed on a floured surface for 3-5 minutes until dough is smooth.
Divide into 12 pieces and roll into balls.
Place on greased pan, cover, and let rest for 10 minutes.
Bake at 425* for 8-12 minutes or until golden brown.

Sorry, it's a bit early for Christmas decor, but I couldn't find a Thanksgiving template I liked. Of course, some of that might be due to the fact that I have zero time to really give the new template thing a good search.

I've been slacking on my blog and on my pictures this month. I was taken down by a mere cold 2 weeks ago and am still struggling to get over the sinus and ear infection it left me with. I actually went to the doctor for the ear infection (I know what a shocker) because it was draining. The doctor dared to tell me that it just doesn't happen that way. Ears do not drain like a runny nose. I suggested he look at my ear and change his opinion. So, after exclaiming over my enormous amount of scar tissue (I guess he assumed I was lying about having tubes in my ears on 3 separate occasions) he proclaimed I had an ear infection. Ta-Da! And this is why I save the entertainment of the doctor's office for times when I am just needing a laugh.

Well, I did get on here to write a very disturbing story about my MasMonster, so I better get to it. Tonight I sent Mason to the bathroom to, well, to potty so we wouldn't be having any accidents in the middle of the night. He proceeds into the bathroom, Jamie is standing watch at the door to make sure he goes because he tried to tell me he didn't need to go. As he is standing there he watches as the plastic lizard Mason is chewing on falls into the toilet. He yells for me (trying to pass the buck) and I tell him to make the judgment call on whether to fish the lizard out or not. I just know I want no part of it. So he goes in search of something to pull this lizard out of the urine soaked toilet. He comes back to find Mason with his sleeve pulled up and arm deep in the toilet retrieving his toy. Ew! Ew! Ew!

Jamie scrubs Mason and the toy up, but I'm still not sure I want it kept. Well, Jamie tucks Mason in and I'm standing on the side of the bed waiting to read Mason a story when I notice Mason chewing on something... Yes, you know what it is.... it is the lizard!!

Between work and these boys of mine, I'm pooped... at least that wasn't in the toilet, well, at the time of the drop....

Navajo Tacos

Thanks to the reminder from our friends of the existence of Navajo Tacos, I went in search of a great scone recipe. I think I have found it with this one. For those that are not dealing with soy allergies, an easier solution would be to flatten refrigerated biscuits and fry. And don't forget to sweeten the extra scones with either honey butter or a butter, cinnamon and sugar mixture!

Scones:
2 1/2 C warm water
1 1/2 tsp yeast
1/4 C sugar
1/2 tsp salt
8 tsp oil
6 C flour

Combine first 3 ingredients and let rest 5 minutes.
Add remaining ingredients, but add flour a little at a time until dough is no longer sticky ( I usually use the whole 6 cups)
Allow to rise 1 hour. (I find throwing it into a 100* oven works really well for this... remember to turn off oven once it has reached this temperature)
Break off pieces of dough that are about the size of an egg and "flatten out" with hands to around 1/4-1/2 inch thickness.
Deep fry until golden brown on both sides.

At this point you have some options, meaning, what to top them with...
2 cans chili (homemade is once again our friend here)
lettuce
onion
cheese
beans (black, chili, or pinto)
diced tomato
cheese
sour cream
guacamole
salsa

**A quick solution I usually use is to brown a lb ground beef and diced onions, then add a can of diced tomatoes (mexican flavored), spices, and black beans into a pan and top our tacos with this.

Halloween 2009
Jamison the Vampire, Mason the Bumblebee, and
Trae the Master Chief



















Mason stripped out of his costume and couldn't even
make it to his bedroom because he was so worn out.













Halloween this year was a nightmare. Of course, isn't that the point of Halloween, to bring all our nightmares to the forefront of our minds? This year, Halloween awakened us sunny and beautiful... How deceitful it was.
I got the kids going, and started working on Jamison's vampire cape. We had searched and searched earlier in the week for a costume, but everywhere we went we ran into the same scenario of vampire costumes being sold out. No worries, Mom is here to save the day. We ran to the fabric store and purchased satin and fleece to make a warm, but realistic vampire cape.
So of course, I had no time to work on it during the week, it seems whenever I pulled it out I would immediately have dogs and our cat, or the kids rolling all over my work area, but I would have it done for him to go trick-or-treating later that day. So I cut, and I ironed, and I sewed, until it was done and ready to go.
Item one done and on to the next thing on my list... hemming Trae's costume. His costume sagged all the way down to his knees and so I thought I would use some of that no-sew tape to hem up the waist a bit for him. Can I tell you how useless this tape is?? Or maybe it was user error? Or maybe it didn't like the costume material, but regardless, the tape did not work. Luckily, I had my trusty sewing machine out and went to work.
Finally it was time for some fun. Time to get the pumpkins out and start carving. We had planned to do this days before, but life kept getting in the way and we just didn't have time. We had a great time, even though we were a bit rushed.
After this activity the boys were ready to get into their costumes. Jamison sat ready for his vampire teeth to be placed on his teeth. We mixed the putty and applied as directed, but it wouldn't stick. No worries, we had more, mixed the rest up and applied, but still no luck. Okay, not to stress because I have my handy hot glue gun at the ready. No one was burned during this process, but a lot of tears were shed because not even the hot glue would make these vampire teeth stick to his teeth. So he was forced to reapply his make-up for the 4th time that evening and go toothless.
At this point, I'm afraid I got a bit impatient with my lovely husband and he decided it would be wise to go to the store for some items that I had asked him to purchase several hours before. So while he ran to the store, I made the pizza dough and pre-baked it so it would be ready to put the toppings on later that evening at Jason and Aimee's.
When Jamie arrived home, the boys and I decided to make a run to a few of the neighbors'. Not 5 minutes later, I witness Jamison falling flat on his face, skinning his knees and hands. Poor kid. At this point, we decide to blow this joint and head to Jason and Aimee's to hang out.
It's amazing what good friends can do to lift your mood! We ended up having a fabulous time there and even got the kids out to do a bit of trick-or treating.