Sweet and Tangy Sloppy Joe's

Mmmm....sloppy joe's!  One of my favorite go to meals.  It's simple and the kids love it!  That means no "I don't like (insert type of food) ____" or "do I have to eat all of my veggies?".  One thing is I can always count on my three year old to tell me dinner smells good or that it is beautiful.  Those are his favorite phrases right now.  It makes you feel great until he puts on his favorite (worn out) pj's and says "mom! my jammies are beautiful!".  Oh well what do you do???

I am sure I will get compliments about my beautiful dinner tonight, but it is definitely not a pretty dish.  But then again if it was it wouldn't be sloppy joe's ;)  Before I get to the recipe let me tell you this is not Manwich style. I despise Manwich.  It's salty and the flavor isn't the best in my opinion.  This is more of a sweet sloppy joe that I have been eating since I was a kid.  In fact the first time I made it for my husband (who was a big Manwich fan...yuck!) he was skeptical, but now he is converted to the best sloppy joe's ever.

Once you realize how easy it is and that most of the items are in your pantry I bet you won't resort to the can anymore!  Maybe that's my goal today to convert all the can dumping folks into good old homemade sloppy joe makers ;)

Sweet and Tangy Sloppy Joe's
1 lb ground beef (or any other ground meat you like)
salt and pepper to taste
1 small onion, diced
1 small bell pepper, diced (I used half a red and a green to use up what I had.  You can leave out if you wish)
3/4 cup ketchup
1 tsp mustard (I use yellow, but use what you like)
1 TBS worcestershire sauce
1 TBS vinegar
1 TBS minced garlic (remember I LOVE garlic so cut this down if you are not a huge fan like myself)
1/4 cup brown sugar

• Saute the onion and peppers in a hot skillet until just tender, about 3 minutes
• Add garlic and cook 1 minute until fragrant
• Add ground beef, season with salt and pepper, and brown
• Drain ground beef and return to skillet
• Add the remaining ingredients and mix well cooking over medium-low heat for 15 minutes

There you have it...dinner in no time and not from a can!  It's not the healthiest, but if you use all natural no salt added ketchup without high fructose corn syrup that is better ;)  Spoon the mixture into buns and top with cheese if you wish or do like I did when I was a kid and eat with tortilla chips...YUM!  Both are yummy combinations :)

Below is the nutritional value per serving (no bun or cheese).  This recipe yields approximately 8 servings.

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 111 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories 171 Calories from Fat 32

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 3.6g 6%

Saturated Fat 1.4g 7%

Trans Fat 0.0g

Cholesterol 50mg 17%

Sodium 71mg 3%

Total Carbohydrates 15.6g 5%

Sugars 11.6g

Protein 17.5g

Vitamin A 6% • Vitamin C 21% Calcium 2% • Iron 11%

Nutrition Grade A-

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

Nutritional Analysis

Good points

• Low in sodium
• High in selenium
• High in vitamin B12
• High in vitamin C
• High in zinc

Bad points

• High in sugar

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