Cake Pops

A good friend of mine brought us the cutest bouquet of cake pops for Valentine's Day this year. She was in a hurry so as she was climbing in her car I yelled out the door, "how did you come up with these creations?" She said, "BAKERELLA!!!" So immediatly I went to my computer to look up this Bakerella. So cute!!! Of course my balls didn't turn out nearly as perfect as hers do, but I love the idea and there's so many ways you could decorate.

I made these cake pops for London's first bday. She got a little cake of her own and then the rest of us enjoyed these little tasty treats. The recipe is really very simple, but the entire process is a little time consuming. I think it's completely worth it!

Sloppy Joes

This is my mom's Sloppy Joe recipe; it's the best! I love to chop the veggies a little on the chunky side and sometimes saute them aside from the ground beef so they don't become overcooked. I like that little extra crunch in my sandwich.

INGREDIENTS
2 lbs. lean ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
1 bottle (12 oz.) chili sauce
1 can (6 oz.) tomato paste
3 T. brown sugar
2 T. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp. pepper
Hamburger buns

DIRECTIONS
In a large skillet, cook ground beef, onions, celery and bell pepper over medium heat until beef is thoroughly cooked, stirring frequently. Drain.

In 3 to 4 quart slow cooker, combine ground beef mixture and all remaining ingredients except buns. Mix well.

Cover; cook on low setting 4 to 6 hours.

Stir; spoon beef mixture into buns.

(If I'm in a hurry I just skip the slow cooker section and after browning my beef and veggies in a skillet, add the remaining ingredients to the skillet and simmer on low until thoroughly heated.)

Hawaiian BBQ Chicken Sandwich

In the summer we like to grill up chicken on the grill and make this yummy chicken sandwich. My mom mixed things up a little by cooking the chicken in a crock-pot, shredding it and adding the bbq sauce. We love it this way a whole lot better! More sauce for your chicken :)

INGREDIENTS
3 Chicken Breasts
1 bottle favorite BBQ sauce (we like sweet and spicy)
Hamburger buns
red onion, thinly sliced
fresh pineapple sliced in rings (canned pineapple works too)
favorite sliced cheese (we like pepperjack or mozzerella)

DIRECTIONS
Place chicken breasts in a crock pot and cook on high 4-5 hrs or low 7-8 hrs. Using a fork pull chicken apart until it is loosely shredded. Add bottle of bbq sauce and mix well. Continue heating chicken until warmed.

Lightly butter hamburger buns and broil in oven until browned. We like to fire up the grill to heat up our pineapple and get those nice little grill marks on each side but warming them up in the microwave is OK too. Assemble your chicken burger and enjoy!