I need to work on my food photography. I love taking pictures but it takes time and the right lighting. Trying to take a picture of a meal that I am also trying to get onto E’s plate is next to a disaster. Usually by the time the food is ready there is a mountain of toys, dish towels and a random shoe in the kitchen with me and I don’t even look at the living room because somehow all the toy bins exploded. Anyways I’ll keep working at getting some better pictures. Practice makes perfect!

This recipe is a mash up of a few recipes, I’ve adjusted it to our preference, including adding some greens. It’s not what I would call a “messy” sloppy joe. We aren’t a saucy family, not in the sense that we like things to be dripping (we do have a fair amount of sass though 😉). It’s so hard to find a balance between too dry and just right. So sometimes I have to add more liquid during the cook time.

I don’t have picky eaters in my house. More just selective eaters. Sometimes they eat everything and sometimes they just want toast. I expect this with a toddler but when it’s my husband…well anyways this recipe is hit and miss. E usually likes it, if he’s not having one of his “I’ll only eat fruits, vegetables and bread” kind of days. I quite like it, it’s easy to make and heats up as a leftover, so it’ll stay on my rotation of meals. Plus it’s an excuse to eat bread, and what a wonderful excuse that is!

If you’re looking for an easy meal, give this one a whirl!

Sloppy Joes

• 1lb lean ground turkey or beef
• 1/2 TBSP dried minced onion
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1/2 cup tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup fresh spinach, chopped
• 1 TBSP Dijon mustard
• 1 TBSP brown sugar
• 1 TBSP Worcestershire sauce
• 1 TBSP lemon juice
• 1 tsp paprika
• Buns
• Sliced cheese

Directions:

• Place a skillet on medium-high heat. Add meat and cook. Stir to crumble.
• Once meat is cooked, drain any excess fat. Then add onion and cook a few more minutes.
• Add the remaining ingredients, (minus the cheese & bread) stirring them to combine. Reduce heat to simmer and cook for 20-30 minutes.
• Serve on buns or bread. Top with thinly sliced cheese.

Notes:

• I throw some oil in the pan before cooking ground turkey (this isn’t necessary for beef) and don’t need to drain it.
• The cook time varies. As I said this isn’t very saucy and can dry out. So add extra ketchup or tomato sauce as necessary and reduce cook time if need be.
• I can’t stand onion so use dry onion. If you want fresh, chop up one small white onion and put it in with the meat once it’s cooked.
• Red pepper would also be a great addition, chopped up and added when you add the onion!