Sloppy Joes. Completely unpretentious but really freaking awesome.

You ever learn to crochet?

I have. Several times. We'll....TRIED to learn. And you know

what, I'm terrible at it. I've bought magazines, how-to books,

watched tutorials on youtube and had several people try to sit

down and try to teach me step by step. I had a hair laying across

my backside a few months back and decided I needed a hobby. I

tried counted cross stitch and ended up throwing the whole mess
across the room over the inability to count and make tiny little

squares. Then, I decided that maybe I should try crocheting.

Again. After I couldn't get it the first time. I've put it down again

for the umpteenth time in.....three days and thought maybe I should

do something constructive instead of glaring at my yarn and

crochet hook and calling it foul names.

Yes, I did that. No, I'm not proud of it but gosh darn it, it's the truth.

So, anyway......yeah.

I've finally decided on my first recipe to go over with you. It's not

SUPER healthy but you can make a couple changes like I have to make it

a little better and kind of mask the changes you've made for the people

you love in your life. (If your family is anything like mine, you've got to

work to prove that vegetables and things like ground turkey and spices

are a good addition to food. It'll take some work but lemme tell you,

remind them that you love them and they will eventually fall in line.

A couple times of "eat what I cook or you go hungry" will make it go

a little quicker, trust me. If not, the Evil Eye works real well, too.)

Sloppy Joes aren't everyone's bag. They WEREN'T mine. The

canned sauce or the packet of seasoning just weren't for me. That's

putting it nicely. I made this recipe:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Ruby-Drive-Sloppy-Joes/Detail.aspx<

and I was converted. According to my husband, it was close

enough for him to the sauce but it was like a step up. My kids even

liked it.....and I HID VEGGIES IN IT. Shhhhhh. Don't tell. You

may say that it's not for you, but try it. You might find that you

actually like Sloppy Joes, only it's redefined the food for you. So,

for those of you who like bargains, pay attention. First

thing in the morning is usually when you find the best deals on meat.

Marked down meat does not always mean bad or rotten. Use your

bestjudgement....if it looks okay, then you're probably alright. If

you feel comfortable, call your local store and find out when they

mark down their meat. There's no shame in it. You aren't the first

person to do this. This morning, I paid $20 and got two weeks worth

of ground beef, ground turkey, BLSL chicken thighs, and pork

chops.....all for being their early. If you don't like that, maybe a

cost club is the way to go? Buying into a membership

like Costco is always a good thing to have just for meat. I find

that if I buy the large packages of ground beef or BLSL chicken

breasts, I can portion them out into ziploc bags and pull out the

right amount I need for my meal. (Great thing about Costco is

they sell the Foster Farms BLSL chicken breasts already vaccuum

packed in little packages....usually six or eight to a package. Two

of those breasts are big enough to use in one meal,

stretched out with vegetables and pasta.) It's really all about
what your budget can bend to. Try out what feels good to you.

I have a point.

I have a 1.5 package of extra lean ground beef that I bought marked

down from my local grocery store this morning. Take that and

brown it real nice and once it's cooked, drain it real good and set

it aside in a warmer or something so it's not just sitting there.

Chop up a couple carrots, a couple peppers, fresh garlic, a big onion

and if you're feeling adventurous, maybe grate some zucchini or

have a bunch of spinach ready to throw onto the Joes at the last.

It's all about what you have on hand. (Eye your

grocery store's ads for the week. It's really not all that expensive

to get the paper in your area on the days when they circulate their

weekly ads. Here, I usually see them on Wednesday and Sunday.

If you can, try to buy from your local produce stand. Usually the

produce can be a better quality, sometimes comes from your local

growers and is more reasonable in getting what you need for less

than you're paying at your grocery store. Find out where they are

and do a walk-thru. Dosen't really cost anything to look and you

can take notes. An informed shopper is the ruler of all. I think you

might even qualify for a tee-shirt.) Saute the veggies together in a

large skillet with a little oil, whatever you have is fine. Once they've

started to look "done", throw in the beef and mix it together.

Now, what I usually do is use half ketchup, half chili sauce.

Or even partial BBQ sauce. I'm one of those people who thinks the

flavor of hot ketchup is gag-worthy. You may not feel this way,

and that's okay. I still like you. I buy my ketchup in the BIG tubs

either from Costco or my local discount grocery store. Depending on

where I am financially for that month. BBQ sauce comes from the

same place. Chili sauce usually dosen't cost all much either to make

or buy so depending on how much time I have, I'll do either.

Same with BBQ sauce. There are some great recipes on this site,

all very simple that most ingredients are pretty cheap to acquire

and really make a fabulous product. I like to make my own salsa: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Ds-Famous-Salsa/Detail.aspx

because it's really freakin' simple and once you try homemade,

the jarred stuff just dosen't cut it anymore. I use that in this recipe.

I don't add the brown sugar. I feel that the ketchup is sweet enough

on it's own and my kids don't really need the added sugar. It's all

a personal preferance. You get excited over it, add it. This recipe

dosen't need much else....I like to add a little liquid smoke but I

love the stuff. If I could have it with ice cream, I probably would.

That's also pretty cheap to buy and good to have on hand when

you make your own sauces at home. With all of this said, if you

have a big family and you do use the amount of ground beef

I do and add in another healthy amount of chopped veggies, you

might want to double the sauce. Or at least make a recipe and a half

of the sauce part. Heck, the leftovers are just as good so you might as

well make extra. If you can't eat it all, it freezes well. Any kind of

veggies you want to throw in, go for it. I'm sure you could add corn

and have it come out well. Or use ground turkey. I've done it. You

could even use half black beans. Beans are always cheap and make

a great filler for almost any meal. Add a bit of shredded cheese on

top and a side salad, you've got a great filling meal. I've made

homemade jo-jo's or sweet potato fries and they make a good

side for this main dish as well. Potatoes cost next to nothing and

tossing them with a few choice spices and a little oil and baking

them.....really simple and just super comforting. I don't know if

I was able to help you in any way. I feel like I've been sitting here

rambling on about nothing for a half hour. If I was able to help,

lemme know. So at least I'll know if I was on the right track.

Now, I'm going to try to go back to trying to learn to crochet.

Pray for me.