French Dip Sliders

Wow! Where I have I been all week! To be honest it hasn't been much of a cooking week for me. We have been having leftovers and old recipes, nothing new or fancy. My little guy's birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks so I have been preoccupied trying to plan his party. I'm a big planner, I don't like to wait until the last minute to do things (that is unless you count housework....) so this party has been in the works for awhile. Now it's almost here and my baby boy will be one-year old! So stay tuned for some pics of the big cake smash! But until then, I do have a recipe for you. French Dip Sliders in your crock pot. I adapted the recipe from Our Best Bites that calls for a 2.5 lb roast; I have the tiniest crockpot ever so I scaled down the recipe to fit my pot, but you can always double my recipe if you have a normal sized crock pot. I also made some homemade french bread to use with these, but a store bough baguette cut into slider size would work just as well.

French Dip Sliders
Adapted from: Our Best Bites

1 lb eye of round beef steaks
1 medium onion, sliced
1 package dry onion soup mix
1 can beef broth
1 cup water
salt and pepper, to taste
french bread
sliced provolone or swiss cheese

1. Place beef steaks in the bottom of the crock pot. Add the sliced onions. Sprinkle dry soup mix over beef and onions. Add beef broth, water, and salt and pepper. Mix everything together. Cook in crock pot for 8-10 hours on low. ( You could also cook it 4-5 hours on high and then 3-4 on low.)
2. When meat shreds easily, remove the steaks from the pot and shred all of them. Top french bread with some sliced onions, shredded beef, and a 1/2 slice of provolone or swiss cheese. Ladle soup into bowls for dipping. Serve warm.

Sloppy Joes

Okay, so I know everyone loves their Manwich, but these sloppy joes are way better than anything out of a can. Nice and tomatoe-y with just the right amount of spice. I used lean ground beef, but you could also use ground turkey if you're not into beef. This would be a great dish to double and freeze half for a busy weeknight. We had ours on hamburger buns, but you could serve these on any type of sandwich bread or buns if you're in a pinch. Skip the canned stuff and try this recipe, you will definitely be able to tell a difference!

Sloppy Joes
Adapted from: Nifty Foodie

1tbs butter
1tbs olive oil
1 medium onion , diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic , minced
1 pound lean ground beef
dash cayenne pepper
1 tbs steak seasoning
salt and pepper, to taste
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1/2 cup tomato paste
1/2 cup ketchup
1/3 cup water
1/4 tsp tabasco sauce
hamburger buns

1. Heat oil and butter in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, peppers and garlic and stir until coated with oil. Reduce heat to medium, and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion and peppers are soft, about 10 minutes. Remove vegetables from pan, and set aside.
2. To the pan add the beef, cayenne pepper, steak seasoning, and salt and pepper. Cook the beef over medium heat, breaking up meat with a spoon, until browned. Drain the meat to get rid of any excess grease and return to the pan. Return vegetables to the pan and mix with the meat. Before returning the pan to the heat, add brown sugar, tomato paste, ketchup, water, and tabasco. Return pan to heat. Simmer over medium heat until Sloppy Joe sauce is slightly thicker than ketchup, about 5-8 minutes. Adjust seasonings. Spoon meat mixture onto hamburger buns and serve.