Day #11 - Dressed Up Sloppy Joes

The Sloppy Joe is one of of those foods you remember LOVING as a kid, but as an adult, you could either take it or leave it. This recipe, will rekindle that long lost childhood love for the Sloppy Joe once again! And it's pretty dang healthy too (if you use ground turkey instead of ground beef). Jim and Kayla devoured dinner tonight!

The thing I LOVE about this recipe, is it freezes and reheats extremely well. The recipe could easily make 6 or 7 Sloppy Joe sandwiches and since it's just the three of us, I put the rest of the mixture in a freezer safe container and stick it in the freezer! Then - some time in the next 6 months, we can enjoy the good old Sloppy Joe once again without the mess of preparing it!

Oh - and we had to run to Target tonight to pick up some treats for Kayla's class tomorrow (she gets to celebrate her half birthday at school since she has a summer birthday). We've been SO good about eating dinner at home so far this month, so we stopped at McDonalds and we each got a very generous sized kiddie cone.....only about 70 calories (a "normal" sized kiddie cone is 45 calories....the lady making our cones was a little too generous, so I'm guessing our cones were about 70 calories). It was totally yummy and totally worth it!

Ingredients:

1 lb lean ground beef (I use ground turkey breast - it's healthier)

Seasoning Salt, To Taste (Seasoning Salt and I don't get along - I use Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper)

1 Medium Onion, Finely Chopped

1/2 Green Bell Pepper, Finely Chopped

4 Cloves of Garlic, Minced

3/4 Cup Ketchup

1 tsp Yellow Mustard

1-1/2 tsp Red Wine Vinegar

3/4 tsp Worcestershire Sauce

3 Tbsp Tomato Paste

1/2 Cup Water (More if necessary to reach desired consistency)

6 Hamburger Buns or Sandwich Rolls

Directions:

Brown ground beef with onion, green pepper and garlic. Season to taste with seasoning salt (or Kosher salt and pepper). Add mustard, ketchup, brown sugar, red wine vinegar and Worcestershire sauce. Combine tomato paste and water and add to hamburger mixture. Add more water if desired. Cover, turn heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve on lightly toasted hamburger buns or sandwich rolls.

Nutritional Information (Approximately for 1 Sandwich Roll and 1/2 Cup Sloppy Joe Mixture):

Total Calories: 290 cal

Total Fat: 4 g

Total Carbs: 32.5 g (all bread)

Total Protein: 33 g