Childhood Favorite for Grown-Ups

February 12, 2018

Days like today, I need to thank my son for my delicious lunch. No, he didn't cook it for me. He was my inspiration though. My boy loves sloppy joes. Like, loves loves them. It is usually the meal he requests on his birthday every year. I found a recipe (Pioneer Woman) so that I could make them from scratch instead of popping open a can. That way he still gets the childhood favorite but I know exactly what is in them and don't have to feel bad about giving in to him. I've made these for years now and they are always a big hit. Today I took it a step further and man, it was so good! I'll get to that in a minute. First, comes the sloppy joe.

I started with 1 pound of local ground beef. Add about 1/3 cup of chopped onion, 1/2 of a bell pepper chopped (I've used every color), and a clove of garlic minced.

Cook over medium heat until the beef is cooked through and the veggies are tender.

Now it's time to add the sauce ingredients. Add 3/4 cup ketchup, 1/2 cup water, 1 tablespoon brown sugar, 1 teaspoon chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon mustard, dash of cayenne pepper, 1 tablespoon of tomato paste, and salt to taste. In a separate bowl, add a dash of Worcestershire sauce. I prefer to use Black Pepper Essential Oil from Young Living's Vitality line instead of traditional black pepper. This essential oil is strong so I just dip a toothpick into the bottle and then swirl the toothpick into the Worcestershire sauce. I did two toothpick dips (clean toothpick each time). Then add the Worcestershire sauce to the rest of the mixture. If you aren't using essential oil, just add enough black pepper to taste. Bring to a simmer and let it cook down to the desired consistency. It usually just takes a few minutes.

You are now ready to have the best sloppy joe! But hold up. Do you want to take it one step further? The answer is yes. Yes, you do. I decided to turn my sloppy joe into a sloppy joe grilled cheese. I used swiss cheese and it was delicious!

Here's a tip for the tomato paste. The small can will have way more than you will need. I separate the rest of the can into tablespoon increments and freeze them. Then when my son requests sloppy joes it is as easy as popping one out of the freezer and it melts right into the sauce.

*I can only speak to the safety of ingesting Young Living's Vitality line of essential oils.