Family-Pleasing Sloppy Joes
My kids like to play a little game while I'm fixing dinner in the kitchen. I call it "phone booth," and the goal of the game is to get all four of us crammed into a three-foot space. Bonus points are given each time I accidentally back into them, whack them with a utensil, or splash them with water.
Oh, wait.
It's not a game.
It's my life.
So.
I still love cooking, but I try to cut back on the adventure of "game time" as much as possible. Even the thought of opening a box of frozen pizza ("Mom! What's that?" "Gimme a pepperoni!" "Me too!" "More!" "His piece is bigger!") and sticking it in the oven ("Can I help, Mom?" "No!" "Stand back!" "Hot!" "I said, 'HOT!'" "Keep away!" "Where's the timer?" "WHO TOOK MY TIMER?!") sounds exhausting.
These days I go for what's easy.
Not too hard to see why.
I like this sloppy joe recipe because it uses items from the pantry, goes together in a snap, and tastes good to young taste buds. When I serve it to the kids, I usually skip the bread part and let them eat just the meat with a spoon. A spoon that usually ends up looking a whole lot like their fingers--followed closely by--a napkin that closely resembles a shirt.
I digress.
Family-Pleasing Sloppy Joes
2 pounds ground turkey (or beef)
1 large onion
1 1/4 cups ketchup
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground mustard
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
8 sandwich buns, split
In a Dutch oven, cook turkey (or beef) and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Add the ketchup, water, brown sugar, vinegar, salt, mustard, and chili powder. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 35-40 minutes* or until heated through. Spoon about 1/2 cup meat mixture onto each bun. 8 servings.
*Just enough time to cook some fries in the oven.
Source
More recipes over at The Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap, Ann's Food on Friday, and Saturday Stirrings.
Oh, wait.
It's not a game.
It's my life.
So.
I still love cooking, but I try to cut back on the adventure of "game time" as much as possible. Even the thought of opening a box of frozen pizza ("Mom! What's that?" "Gimme a pepperoni!" "Me too!" "More!" "His piece is bigger!") and sticking it in the oven ("Can I help, Mom?" "No!" "Stand back!" "Hot!" "I said, 'HOT!'" "Keep away!" "Where's the timer?" "WHO TOOK MY TIMER?!") sounds exhausting.
These days I go for what's easy.
Not too hard to see why.
I like this sloppy joe recipe because it uses items from the pantry, goes together in a snap, and tastes good to young taste buds. When I serve it to the kids, I usually skip the bread part and let them eat just the meat with a spoon. A spoon that usually ends up looking a whole lot like their fingers--followed closely by--a napkin that closely resembles a shirt.
I digress.
Family-Pleasing Sloppy Joes
2 pounds ground turkey (or beef)
1 large onion
1 1/4 cups ketchup
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground mustard
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
8 sandwich buns, split
In a Dutch oven, cook turkey (or beef) and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Add the ketchup, water, brown sugar, vinegar, salt, mustard, and chili powder. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 35-40 minutes* or until heated through. Spoon about 1/2 cup meat mixture onto each bun. 8 servings.
*Just enough time to cook some fries in the oven.
Source
More recipes over at The Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap, Ann's Food on Friday, and Saturday Stirrings.
7 comments:
Cracked me up about the timer. I bought TWO additional timers to stick on the oven hood. Which didn't help anything. Now I just scream, "Where are my TIMERZZZZZ!?! I have three timerzzz - WHERE. ARE. THEY?!?"
I realized while reading this that I have never ever made Sloppy Joes.
Imagine!
But the kids love spaghetti sauce with meat and taco meat. So I think they will be game to try it.
And easy/quick/ingredients-on-hand sounds perfect.
Thanks for your great recipes and participating in FoF!
The timer comment got me crackin' up too! :) That and the 'phone booth' game happen at our house all the time.
You're a riot. Keep on postin'! :)
God bless!
This sounds exactly like my house. Thanks for the recipe; it's on the menu for lunch today.
Many Blessings,
Holly@aiminghigh
www.homeschoolblogger.com/aiminghigh
Enjoyed your commentary and I have been thinking about sloppy joes all week! Haven't made them in years. Yum.
My sloppy jo sauce comes in a can, so I'm game to try a recipe out and see how we like it instead. We have a small kitchen and using eat at a diningroom table. However, if it's everyone for themselves night, my husband and I will go into our small alcove and end up with our two big teens stuffed in there with us as well as the animals. Hey we're eating together right?
I can so relate to the "phone booth" thing. I actually started cooking dinner during the kids' naptime about a year ago after almost falling off the edge of sanity during dinner preparation every night. I find that I can cook so much faster, and without stress. I just don't make anything that says "serve immediately." Of course, I don't really get to enjoy doing something fun while they nap, but for me it beats having to do the dinner dance.
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