Sloppy Joe Bake

I got this idea from this blog post, but I modified it for what we already had in the house.  I'm writing this up so that we have it for the future.  You never know when a link will suddenly not work anymore!  However, the original blog post is great. 


For the Sloppy Joe mix:

• 1 can of Manwich 
• 2 lbs hamburger
• 1 cup grated carrots (I had to use the Titan peeler on baby carrots!)
• 1 cup frozen corn

For the Biscuit top:

• 2 cups Gluten Free all purpose baking mix (I used Maple Grove Farms because that is what we had in the house from making pie crust at Thanksgiving)
• 1/3 shortening
• 2/3 milk
• 3 "eggs" = 4 1/2 teaspoons Enr G egg replacer with 6 tablespoons hot water
• 2 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
• big sprinkle of  onion powder (We don't do raw onions in this house).
• sprinkle of chili powder

Directions: (These are a compilation of the three sources I use)

1. Preheat oven to 400.  
2. Grease 9 x 12 casserole dish.  
3. Brown the hamburger.  
4. Add carrots and corn.  Add Manwich mix.  Let cook for several more minutes.  
5. "Fold" or "pinch" shortening into the flour.  I used my hands.  The box said it would be done when it made pea sized crumbs, and that is exactly what happened!
6. Mix in remaining ingredients for the biscuits ("eggs," milk, cheese, onion powder).
7. Pour sloppy joe mix into casserole dish.  
8. Dollop biscuit dough on top.  Sprinkle chili powder on top.  
9. Bake for 18-20 minutes. 

I followed the directions on the can of Manwich and on the back of the box of the flour.  I like how the original post tells you how to make the sloppy joe mix from scratch. 

The original blog post says to use Gluten Free Bisquick.  She said to use diced cold butter.  We didn't have butter or shortening in the house, so I looked them up.  What I found said that shortening will make fluffier baked goods.  Since this was for biscuits, which are supposed to be fluffy, we decided to go with the shortening. 

I was sure I was going to mess this up.  I've messed up way less complicated recipes.  Everything was going okay until the end.  As I put it in the caserole dish, I felt like I hadn't let the liquid cook off in the sloppy joe mix enough and that the dollops of biscuit dough were way too big.  But, it turned out fine!

Mike and I loved it.  The kids (3.5 and 1.5) barely touched it.  But, they won't touch chili either. 

About half of this made enough for our family.  We are freezing the other half.  We'll see how it defrosts in a few weeks.