Sloppy Joes...and not from a can!

Hey! So Eric and I really wanted Sloppy Joes for dinner tonight. And since I didn't have a can of the Manwich sauce (or however you spell it), I looked for a recipe. I knew that you could make the sauce from scratch. I ended up finding this recipe on www.foodnetwork.com from Rachael Ray. It sounded fast and good, so I made it.

I gotta tell you, Eric is picky sometimes and he agreed with me that this was better than Manwich and we will be making it from scratch from now on. The recipe was simple and it used ingredients I usually have in the pantry.

Here is Rachael Ray's recipe for Sloppy Joes:

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, 1 turn of the pan
• 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
• 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
• Garnish: sliced ripe tomatoes, pickles, Deviled Potato salad, recipe follows

Directions

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. 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. Using a large spoon or ice cream scoop, pile sloppy meat onto toasted, buttered bun bottoms and cover with bun tops. Serve with your favorite sides or sliced tomatoes seasoned with salt and pepper, dill pickles and Deviled Potato Salad. Have plenty of napkins on hand!

Now I did a few things differently and it worked so well. I didn't have any onions or red peppers on hand, so I used onion powder and a seasoning blend I have that is called "Roasted Red Peppers and Garlic". I also just used regular hamburger buns from WalMart. :) You all should really try this one. It is so good!

Oh yeah, and if you are lucky enough to have some of Amy Gattis' homemade bread and butter pickles in your pantry, you are definitely gonna have a good dinner!! They were AWESOME and such a nice addition to the sloppy joes. Just ask the twins! :)