Tried it Thursday

In an effort to be more consistent with my blogging (see: less lazy) I'm going to commit to a "Tried it Thursday" post every week.  Here I will share a recipe, product, activity or find that I have tried and let you know what I think. 

Today, I give you Rachel Ray's Super Sloppy Joes!

I've been trying to get away from using the packaged seasoning mixes when I cook.  It's mostly because of the sodium content and all those preservatives; oh, and because homemade tastes SO much better.  You see, I haven't always been in to cooking.  It's a fairly new passion of mine.  So, I used to think a package of Manwich on some browned ground beef equaled gourmet "homemade". 

I found this recipe online after a quick "ground beef meals" Google search.  I had some in the freezer and I did not want to run to the store before dinner.  I was very excited to find I had all (well, most) of the rest of these ingredients in my kitchen!

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

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 (I used red onion)

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***

*I didn't have the steak seasoning so I just seasoned with a bit of black pepper and seasoned salt.
**I'm lucky enough to have tomato sauce that my mom canned from her garden on hand, but the store bought kind will work too.
***Regular hamburger buns in the toaster work just fine!

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 (or whatever seasoning you are using). 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.

This recipe made enough for my husband to have seconds and leftovers the next day. 

I made my mom's potato salad as a side.  It's one of those recipes that has never been written down, so all of these measurements are approximate and can be adjusted for your taste:

2 large potatoes, chopped and boiled until soft

1/2 cup Miracle Whip

1 tablespoon yellow mustard

1/4 cup sweet relish

2 hard boiled eggs, diced

pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients and enjoy!  I usually do a potato/person and adjust other ingredients accordingly.

I got two thumbs up from husband on this one and it was actually pretty quick and easy.  It will definitely be a repeat at our house!

XOXO Y'all!

Morgan