Sloppy Joes

If you have kids, you know the scene. Little Johnny comes home from school and lets you know that his big project is dues tomorrow. A papier-mache volcano or something. Off to the craft store you go.

Same thing happens to me. Only I don't have kids...it's my other half who arrives needing some kind of food to take to work for a pot-luck.

This time it was for a "tailgate party." He knew that potluck stalwarts like queso, mini-meatballs and veggies with dip were already claimed. We settled on Sloppy Joes as his contribution. (I'll leave out the part where he suggested we buy some ground beef and mix it up with canned Manwich sauce. That's a little too Sandra Lee for me.) After a little online recipe research and trip to the grocery (I made him come with me), we whipped a batch of this yummy mixture.

Loaded in a Crock Pot to reheat and accompanied by mini-rolls and a little shredded mozzarella cheese, it was the hit of the lunch.

I'll definitely make it again. Maybe even with ground turkey and turkey sausage to make it a bit healthier. The sauce ingredients provide plenty of great flavor so the extra fat isn't needed.


Sloppy Joes
Adapted from Southern Living.
Makes 8- 10 main course servings. More if you're serving them "slider" size.

1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
1 (16-oz.) package ground pork sausage
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 medium-size green bell pepper, chopped
1 (8-oz.) can tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 tablespoons yellow mustard
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic pepper
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
8 hamburger buns, toasted

Brown beef and sausage in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat, stirring 10 minutes or until beef and sausage crumble and are no longer pink. Add onion and green pepper and saute for another 5 minutes. Drain well.

Return meat mixture to pan. Stir in tomato sauce and next 10 ingredients. Stir to combine and simmer, stirring occasionally for 30-40 minutes.

(As with most sauces\, this is even better if you refrigerate overnight and then reheat the next evening for dinner. The flavors have a chance to REALLY meld that way.)

Note: To freeze leftover Sloppy Joe mixture, let cool completely. Place in zip-top plastic freezer bags; lay bags flat, and stack in freezer. Freeze up to 1 month. Thaw overnight in the fridge, or defrost in the microwave.