Me, My Friends, and Food

All my friends and I do when we get together is EAT. Maybe it is just that we love food so much or possibly when we get together our inner-fatties unleash themselves and devour everything. Regardless, if we all get together...there will probably be some mass consumption going on.

This past Saturday, I made a glorious vegetarian dinner for us all (: and my friends brought some dessert.

This is the Pillsbury version, my friends and I ate too fast
to get a picture of what I created....ops!

I made a vegetarian spin-off of Grand's UnSloppy Joes from Pillsbury! When I say "spin-off" I mean I got the idea while wasting in front of the TV watching commercials and seeing an ad about unsloppy joes and thinking...I MUST TRY A VEGETARIAN VERSION OF THIS. SO basically, if you follow the recipe, you won't get the same thing I made, regardless of the meat-free-ness.


I took The Mom's sloppy joe recipe and substituted the meat for MorningStar's crumbles.
(Which has 75% less FAT than ground meat and is cholesterol free but tastes just as good as meat)

The Mom's Recipe:

Ingredients:

"The Holy Trinity"

AKA

1/2 onion

1 green pepper

1-2 stalks celery 

( I didn't have celery :( )

1 can condensed tomato soup

Salsa to taste

Meat-less crumbles

HOW TO:

1. Saute the "Holy Trinity" (The Mom always put these three ingredients in practically everything and Emeril Lagasse called in the Holy Trinity once during a show...it stuck with her.)

2. Add the Meatless crumbles.

3. Fold in the tomato soup

4. add the Salsa

5. Voila! You have  your vegetarian sloppy joe insides.

THE "UNSLOPPY" JOES:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees!

2. Put parchment paper on cookie sheet (This is essential, otherwise the joes will stick to the sheet..its a mess. I forgot to do this for the first batch. Tragic mistake.)

3. Press Grand's roles into 6 inch discs. 

4. Put about 2-3 spoonfuls of sloppy joe into the middle of the disc. 

5. OPTIONAL STEP: Put some cheese all up in there. Its good. I would recommend it.

6. Fold the Grand's disc into a half circle and pinch it closed. (I used a fork to make the edges pretty!)

7. I would suggest flipping the disc over and putting the side you had on the bottom while folding on the top on the cookie sheet. Because the sloppy joe insides are still warm, it thins out the dough a bit and it might tear when you try to take it off the cookie sheet if you don't flip it over.

8. Cook for 10 minutes. The recipe says 9-14 minutes. 10 worked for me. 

9. EAT IT! The "unsloppy" part doesn't always remain unsloppy....I suggest bringing a fork with you.

The difference between these and regular sloppy joes is definitely the Grand's discs. Even spread out, they are flaky and buttery. I want to make more and eat them all up myself. I'm not greedy, you wouldn't want to share these either!!

ALSO! My friend Kim (Shout out! Woot Woot!) also made really delicious red velvet oreo brownie truffle bars. They are just as delicious as they sound and perfect for Valentines Day!!

This picture is also from the website, but they looked fairly similar. If we wouldn't have sucked up every last one I would've taken a picture. 

You get the idea...they're as good as they look!

"Diabetes" Bars

WARNING: If you are looking for a healthy treat, you won't find it in this entry.

Once you look at this recipe, you will understand the title of this blog entry. But do not fear, these bars are worth every sugary bite. They are so delicious that you cannot help but say, YOLO! and eat ten more bars. I explained exactly what this creation included to my coworker (and friend) and he said, "Oh my gosh. Those are little chunks of diabetes."

I followed the recipe almost exactly, but I did use parchment paper instead of wax paper for the bottom of the pan. What makes these bars so great is the extra butter in the cookie part. It makes more of a chewy-brownie-like cookie experience. That way it's a chewy treat instead of a brick, no one wants that... Another tip: the brownies take longer than you think to bake all the way through. Take them out when they are still a little bit gooey. Also! Wait until they are completely cooled to cut them. They cut A LOT easier than I thought they would! There is nothing else you need to know. Just make these. Maybe even warm them and make a sundae out of it. DO IT. YOU WILL NOT REGRET THIS! YUM!