Flashback to 1978...Dinner is served!

I remember when I was the weeone's age that one of my favorite meals that mom would make for dinner was Sloppy Joe's. I think she would buy the canned sauce and mix it with ground beef. It was such deliciousness to me as a kid. I would really look forward to the night we'd have Sloppy Joes for dinner. So, you can imagine how excited I was when I found out that Ellie Krieger had a Sloppy Joe recipe in The Food You Crave. I was even more excited when the weeone thought it would make a good addition to this week's menu.

This was a pretty quick meal. I started by browning the ground meat along with diced onions. Next I got the kitchen smelling divine by adding a heavy dose of minced garlic, diced jalapeno, as well as diced red bell pepper. Once the veggies were slightly softened, in went pinto beans, tomato sauce, tomato paste, molasses, Worcestershire sauce, dry mustard, salt and pepper. The aroma coming from the pan was amazing....I was starting to think these would fill my craving perfectly! The addition of the pinto beans was such a simple thing, but such a great thing. These were a hit for me, but also for the weeone - who, by the way, found out about the "sloppy" part of the title! This will be a definite repeater for us. It makes enough to serve 8 sandwiches, so we froze a couple containers full to have at a later date!

Sloppy Joes
Ellie Krieger
The Food You Crave

Serves 8 sandwiches

• 1 pound extra-lean ground beef
  
• 1 onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 jalapeno, minced
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 1 can small red beans or pinto beans, preferably low sodium drained and rinsed
• 1 1/2 cups no-salt-added tomato sauce
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon molasses
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon mustard powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 8 whole-wheat burger buns

Brown the meat and the onion in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat for 5 minutes, breaking up the meat into crumbles as it cooks. Pour the drippings out of the pan and discard. Add the garlic, jalapeno, and red pepper and cook 5 minutes more, stirring occasionally. Stir in the rest of the ingredients, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 5 minutes more. Place a half-cup scoop of the mixture onto each bun and serve.

Nutritional Information per Serving

Calories 248, Carbohydrates 37 grams,Total Fat4 grams, Saturated Fat 1.1 gram, Protein 18 grams, Fiber 7 grams, Sodium 535 milligrams