[Happygrl]

The shells were pretty good. It was odd to my mind to mix Italian and Mexican. But once I got over that, I liked them. I have six in the freezer, so I'll report back in a couple weeks on how they froze.

Today I put some Sloppy Joe meat up in the freezer (recipe below). I like to have individual servings of sandwich meat but I don't want to waste the ziploc bags for that. So my tip: Fill each cup of a regular size muffin tin with the meat. Freeze the tin. Once frozen, remove the meat "muffins" and freeze in a large freezer Ziploc. One "muffin" is the perfect size for a sandwich bun. I usually thaw each one for about 30 seconds in the microwave and then finish heating on the stove top but you can do it all in the microwave or all on the stove. This also works with taco beef/chicken (one muffin fills a hard shell or a small tortilla), meatloaf, etc. (Pictures of meat 'muffins' can be found in this post.)

Freezer Sloppy Joes
* 1 pound lean ground beef
* 1/4 cup chopped onion
* 1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper (I use a red bell pepper or omit entirely)
* 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
* 1 teaspoon prepared yellow mustard (I use a pinch of dry mustard instead)
* 3/4 cup ketchup
* 3 teaspoons brown sugar
* salt to taste
* ground black pepper to taste

1. In a medium skillet over medium heat, brown the ground beef, onion, and bell pepper; drain off liquids.
2. Stir in the garlic powder, mustard, ketchup, and brown sugar; mix thoroughly. Reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.