Comfort Food

Ages and ages ago, or so it seems, a friend and i purchased a box of organic beef which we divvied up. I've pretty much consumed most of the cuts, all except for a roast and two brown paper wrapped bundles of ground beef which i've been wondering what to do with. Mind you, its been more than a year since i've eaten any ground meat (yup....i haven't had a meat burger in more than a year), but i've decided to make an exception for good organic meat. I have to say i was pleasantly surprised with my bundle of organic ground beef, it didn't have that gross distinctive meaty smell but was almost kind of odorless and clean smelling; there was almost no fat at all to drain; and it tasted almost sweet. Delicious.

Out of nowhere the other day, the brilliant idea to make Sloppy Joes came to me. To be honest, i haven't had a lot of experience with Sloppy Joes. We had it for lunch or supper when i was younger a few times, and i remember the spices coming from a packet which you add to cooked ground beef. So off to the grocery store i went....and when i read the labels on those Sloppy Joe packets, all of them contained hydrogenated oils!! Ugh. Hydrogenated fat with a side of saturated fat? You need that like you need a hole in the head. ...so instead i decided to make it from scratch. I tweaked the spices to suit my taste, of course, so you might want to do the same for yours....and i added about a cup of water and simmered it for 20 min. or so.

And oh boy! This one's going to be a staple in my kitchen....its so darned good! I think next time i might try it with tuna instead of the beef and see how that turns out :).

SLOPPY JOE'S

1 pound lean ground beef
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried mustard
3/4 cup ketchup
3 teaspoons brown sugar
worcestershire sauce
salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste

1. In a medium skillet over medium heat, brown the ground beef, onion, and green pepper; drain off liquids.
2. Stir in the garlic powder, mustard, ketchup, and brown sugar; mix thoroughly. Reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.