As much as I love having my husband home at dinner time, it’s nice to be able to make things that I know he doesn’t like to eat…sloppy joe’s is one of them. This is my go-to recipe for sloppy joe’s that I first tried out five years ago. It is the only recipe I can remember trying, because I knew my search was over for a  good ‘ol kid friendly, nostalgic meal. It’s really easy to put together and requires ingredients that I almost always have on hand. Little Man M always enjoys this, and S will eat some meat and the bun on the side – she’s my picky eater. Speaking of “buns”, the one’s pictured are the leftover buns I froze several weeks ago. The batch made eight buns and they were so much better than store bought that there was no way I was going to toss the remaining three. They, along with any other breads I have frozen, taste unchanged after hibernating in my freezer. The next time we have hamburgers, I will be sure to make them again and share it with you.  Oh, sorry about the lack of pictures – my kitchen is so dark that sometimes I have to use the flash on my camera – natural light is always 10x’s better! Thanks for reading, enjoy.

( brown sugar not pictured – oops!)

Sloppy Joe Ingredients – adapted from Rachel Ray

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, 1 turn of the pan
• 1 1/4 pounds ground beef sirloin
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon steak seasoning blend, such as McCormick brand Montreal Seasoning
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 small red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 cups tomato sauce
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 4 crusty rolls, split, toasted, and lightly buttered
• Garnish: sliced ripe tomatoes and pickles

Directions –

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add oil and meat to the pan. Spread the meat around the pan and begin to break it up. Combine brown sugar and steak seasoning. Add sugar and spice mixture to the skillet and combine. When the meat has browned, add onion and red peppers to the skillet. Reduce heat to medium and cook onions, peppers, red wine vinegar and Worcestershire sauce with meat for 5 minutes. Add tomato sauce and paste to pan. Stir to combine. Reduce heat to simmer and cook Sloppy Joe mixture 5 minutes longer. Using a large spoon or ice cream scoop, pile sloppy meat onto toasted, buttered bun bottoms and cover with bun tops. Serve with your favorite sides or sliced tomatoes seasoned with salt and pepper. Have plenty of napkins on hand!