Sloppy Joes

Growing up, I loved Sloppy Joes. My Mother didn't fix them, but my school did, and that was one of the few good things they made that tasted good, or so I thought! When I was older and wanted a Sloppy Joe, I would buy a can of sauce from the grocery store and proceed to make them that way. And I continued doing it this way until a couple of years ago, when my daughter and I got tired of the taste of the can of sauce and wanted something fresher. So I began looking for a recipe. I found one on rachaelray.com that sounded interesting, but I changed it around some, so I guess you could say that it is loosely based on her recipe. I now like Sloppy Joes again!

This a kid friendly recipe, but you can easily spice it up more if your family likes it that way.



Sloppy Joes



1 &1/2 pounds lean ground beef or ground turkey

1/2 onion, diced

1/2 red or green bell pepper, diced

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, or 1 large garlic clove, minced

2 Tablespoons brown sugar

1 &1/2 T. worcestershire sauce

16 oz. tomato sauce

2 T. ketchup

pinch of cayenne pepper

salt and pepper to taste

In a large skillet, brown the meat with the onion and bell pepper until meat is thoroughly cooked. Drain fat if any. Add the rest of the ingredients, along with salt and pepper and bring to a simmer. Simmer for about 15 min to let sauce cook down and the favors to combine. Taste to see if you need to adjust the seasonings any. Serve on buns and enjoy!