Sloppy Steak Dinner

I don't cook when Ryan is gone.  As much as I enjoy cooking, I don't see the point when it is only me eating.  Luckily, I have found a reasonable cottage cheese, and at least one meal a day consists of cottage cheese, cucumbers, and tomatoes.  I was thinking about this earlier today.  How did I survive without cottage cheese?  I have yet to have a popcorn and wine dinner, but I still have a week left. :)

This dinner was cooked prior to Ryan's departure, I believe the weekend before.  I had the urge to make sloppy joes, but I wasn't in the mood for my go-to recipe.  I decided to do some research and found a new recipe which used steak seasoning as one of the ingredients.  It sounded good, and I had steak seasoning in the cabinet (brought from the States).  I wasn't in the mood to make buns, nor did I want to have to trek all over the city looking for acceptable buns, so I decided to play up the "steak" dinner and served the sloppy joe mix over baked potatoes.  AND, since a steak is not complete without the sautéed mushroom and onions, I added those to the meal too.  A nice side salad, and the sloppy steak dinner was complete.

Mushrooms and onions ready for the stove. 

Prepping potatoes for the oven. 

Sauce components.  The recipe only called for red bell pepper and onions, but in my constant attempt to add more veggies, I added orange and yellow bell peppers and shredded carrots.  

So excited to have baked potatoes!  I finally found a decent sized, baking potato.  

  I always keep fresh veggies cleaned and chopped in our refrigerator.  This evening I decided to just set all the containers out, and make a salad bar. 

Love all the colors.  

Your dinner is served.  Highly recommend this tasty meal.  

I have found my new favorite sloppy joe recipe.  The recipe was a more well-rounded flavor, not your typical spicy/sweet combination, I like to say it had more "depth" to it.  Our dinner table will see this recipe again.

I have said it before, and I'll say it again.  I need to develop an expat wive's cookbook.  Maybe with all the pictures I am taking, I will actually get around to creating it some day.  :)  I have been doing a lot of photo books on Shutterfly recently, hmmm.....this may be my winter in Novo project.  :)