Sloppy Joes and Fake French Fries

I have always loved sloppy joes, just not the ones that come out of a can or a packaged powder. My mom recently made a batch that was so good and I found out she made them from scratch. This is a variation of that recipe and what I can tell you is that it's all about continual taste tests and adjustments while cooking.

The second item I made last night was my fake french fries. I make these all the time, but thought I'd post these here too.

This was a super-easy and quick dinner!

Mrs. Owens' Sloppy Joes

Ingredients

• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1/2 large onion, chopped finely
• 1/3 green pepper, chopped finely
• 1 to 1.5 cups Ketchup
• 1/3 cup yellow mustard
• 1/4 cup Heinz 57 sauce
• 2 Tblsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 Tblsp white vinegar (really any vinegar is fine)
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• Salt/pepper to taste

1. Saute onion and pepper until tender, set aside
2. Brown ground beef in deep/large skillet, drain, then return to skillet or a sauce pan
3. Put everything else in and simmer on low. At this point for me, I also thought it needed about 1/4 cup water, but later realized I didn't really need the water after all. Your call but I think it helped mine from sticking to the pan. Once everything is mixed up and has heated up it's done.

Fake French Fries

Ingredients

• 4-5 Red potatoes chopped (I cube them into 1/4"-1/2" squares - no need to peel them)
• Penzeys Spices Brady Street Cheese Sprinkle (Named after the well-known Italian street on Milwaukee's East side.)

-OR-

• Seasoned salt (if using seasoned salt don't need to use additional salt)
• Salt and pepper

1. Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper* (or aluminum foil, see *note at bottom)
2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
3. Place chopped potatoes onto cookie sheet. Spray lightly with olive oil (or canola)
4. Sprinkle on seasonings lightly over potatoes
5. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until potatoes are a little baked on the outside. The easiest thing to do is just to take one out and split it open to see if the potato is cooked. My oven tends to be a little fast too.

*Note: I can't say enough about parchment paper. I probably use it 4-5 days a week. It's soooo much better than aluminum foil and you can even RE-USE it a time or too. Plus nothing sticks to it, ever. If you're not familiar with it you can pick it up at any grocery store next to the aluminum foil.