Sloppy Joes, Such Messy Goodness!

As we get more and more away from instant or processed foods, it was time to give Sloppy Joe's a go. How hard could it be? Seasonings, tomato sauce, some onions and garlic... easy peasy. So I just decided to throw caution to the wind and mix together some flavors I thought we would like (and check it out, I wrote down actual measurements that I used while I experimented!). So start out with one medium onion, chopped. I generally use a sweet onion and for right now Vidalia's are still available so that is my onion of choice.



In a big pot with two Tablespoons of oil (I used veg for this), sweat out the onions. That means just lightly cook them until they start to soften but do not brown.


Add two cloves of chopped garlic.


My mom will tell you that garlic has no place in Sloppy Joe's, but she'd be wrong. Garlic has a place in every dish I make.

When the onions and garlic smelling good and look softened. Then add your meat. I used a pound of ground turkey. But if you want beef, by all means, use beef.


Cook and crumble your meat. If you have trouble doing this use the little trick I learned from Rachael Ray, use a potato masher to crumble your meat. It works great!

Once the meat is all cooked, drain out any oil in the bottom of the pan and then add one cup of ketchup and 1/4 cup of yellow mustard.


Let's discuss ketchup for a moment shall we? In my opinion, there is no other ketchup to be had but Heinz. Heinz is the one true ketchup. Hunt's you say? No. Absolutely not. Stokey's? Oh get real! It's Heinz and only Heinz. But if you want to use tainted ketchup, by all means, don't let me stop you. It's your funeral.

To that add two Tablespoons of molasses. Why molasses you ask? Well knowing that some recipes call for brown sugar, I decided that I didn't need too much more sweetness but I wanted the color that it would add. So molasses did the trick. Now it's time for seasonings. One and 1/2 Tablespoons of Cumin.


Yes, that's how I measure it. One teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and two teaspoons of paprika. I also added a dash of cayenne. Just a dash. I don't like things too hot. Stir it well and then let it cook for at least 20-30 minutes on a low heat, stirring occasionally.

To serve I like to heat my rolls up in and melt some cheddar cheese on the bun. And then pile on the slop!


They were delish! Good bye Manwich, nice knowing ya.