Sloppy Saturday

Today was a work day. Not working as in photographing, but working as in physical labor. My son starts preschool in a couple weeks, and his preschool is a co-op. One of the great things about a co-op is that the parents run the school. We’re not the teachers, but we all have to spend time in class as a helping parent, as well as do fundraising and administrative type duties. And, we all have to help maintain the school. Today everone spent 3 hours cleaning the school and preparing the playground for the upcoming year. New sand in the sandbox, weeding, gardening, sweeping, painting, spreading mulch, washing, fixing. It was hot. It was hard work, but it was also fun. My son spent most of the time helping spread sand in the sandbox (the perfect job for a 2 year old). Once we finfished, we grabbed a taco for lunch, went home, cleaned up, and tried to take a nap.

So why is it sloppy Saturday? Because we had slopy joes for dinner! Yum! I thought I’d share my recipe for Sloppy Joes, as it’s very very easy, very very fast, and very very good. you’ll never use a powdered mix or can again.

My recipe was adapted from Rachael Ray. It can take as little as 15 minutes to make, but it gets even better the longer you cook it.

SLOPPY JOES

Ingredients
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil (optional)
1 1/4 pounds ground beef or ground turkey (I generally use ground turkey)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon steak seasoning blend (I use McCormick Montreal Steak Seasoning)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 small bell pepper, chopped (I prefer red, but green is cheaper, both work great!)
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 cups tomato sauce (any kind, even leftover homemade or just a plain can of sauce)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
few dashes tobasco (optional)
4 rolls, split and toasted (butter them if you like)

Directions
Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add oil and meat to the pan.  Add the brown sugar and steak seasoning to the meat and mix it together with spatula. Brown the meat. Once browned, add the onion, bell pepper, red wine vinegar, and Worchestershire sauce to the skillet and cook over medium-low heat for 5 minutes, or until the vegetables are softened. Add tomato sauce and tomato paste to pan. Add a few dashes of tobasco if you want (I always do, but I’m spicy). Stir to combine. Reduce heat to simmer and cook Sloppy Joe mixture 5 minutes longer. Using a large spoon (I use an ice cream scoop), pile sloppy meat onto warmed buns. Serve with your favorite sides or sliced tomatoes seasoned with salt and pepper. Have plenty of napkins on hand!