Tasty Tuesday: National Sloppy Joe Day

TASTY TUESDAY, March 16, 2021. . . . . .NATIONAL SLOPPY JOE DAY is coming up on Thursday, March 18th! Something I learned a long time ago having a family of 6 to cook for on a limited budget, is that serving protein can be expensive.  I also learned a long time ago that serving smaller portions of the actual meat protein along with other ingredients is not only efficient but also extremely delicious, healthy, and greatly accepted by my eaters.

Sloppy Joes is one of those dishes. They look like a ton of food, are filling, delicious to look at (we eat with our eyes first!), and delicious to eat! They are also quick to make, so are great for a weeknight dinner or a weekend lunch. This recipe is awesome! Please try them. It’s flexible so you could use any ground meat, even pork. But beef, bison, turkey, chicken, or a vegan element work great. The spices and vegetables give it the flavor; meat gives it the protein. Spice level is up to you.

Along with sloppy joes, I like a side dish, either bagged chips, or French fries or you can make your own potato chips. (Did you know?  Just slice the potato extra thin and fry quickly in hot oil.  Watch them so they don’t burn. I prefer them over bagged potato chips.)  Chips can be a little pricy but when I buy russet potatoes in a 5-pound bag, even not on sale, I pay from $0.20 to $0.40 cents a pound and if I buy potatoes in the bulk section, I pay from $0.79 to $0.99 a pound.  Another great savings.  And I use my vegetable oil for frying more than once.

Please ENJOY! MMMMMM, GOOD ????

SLOPPY JOES

This recipe may be doubled, tripled, or cut in half.

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef (or other ground meat)

1 Tablespoon diced green pepper

1 Tablespoon diced red pepper (or other color pepper)

¼ onion, diced

½-2/3 cup ketchup

2 teaspoon ground garlic/pepper mix

2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Salt

2 Tablespoon light brown sugar

½ teaspoon chili powder (or more)

½ teaspoon dry mustard

1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

Hot sauce (optional)

1 teaspoon butter

Instructions

In a large pan or Dutch oven brown the meat. If fat, drain.

Add the peppers, onion, spices, ketchup, mustard, and 1/8-1/4 cup water. Simmer, stirring to combine. Add the brown sugar, stir. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir occasionally. Taste and adjust to your taste. Simmer another 5 minutes or until consistency is what you want. I keep the lid off the last 3-5 minutes to tighten up the mixture. Add the butter for richness.

I use hamburger buns, but any buns work well.  I butter them and brown the insides of the buns on a griddle. I have enough mustard inside the mixture so don’t need any on the buns, but certainly could. And I prefer to eat the dill pickles on the side. Fill the bottom bun with amount desired, place top bun on top. TOTALLY ENJOY! ????

CHEF’S NOTES:

Kids of all ages love these.  Use ingredients they enjoy. It’s ok to be creative. (Maybe try shredded carrots?)  Just taste before serving and adjust any seasonings for those being served.

For one or two of you, do what I do – use 1/8-1/4 pound meat and adjust the ingredients to fit. This makes 2 Sloppy Joes as shown in the picture. This mixture is also tasty (any day of the week) on a russet baked potato with butter and sour cream.  Be creative.  I’m not fond of leftovers, so I try to make any leftovers into a new dish.

You can use fresh garlic, but I seldom have fresh when I cook for just me. 

One of the easiest recipes ever and the flavor is “out of this world!”

Bon Appetite’ with Love,

To download this recipe, click here.