Andrew's Joe

My son Andrew LOVES sloppy joes.  We learned that he couldn't get enough of them while on vacation. My dad thought it would be a great meal through the week for lunch; no one anticipated Andrew eating so much.  My dad used canned sloppy joe products to make them.

I wanted to take advantage of Andrew's love of a food, but make it healthier for our family.  You may or may not choose to add the beans to your sloppy joes; we are trying to increase fiber and protein in our diets so this is an easy way for me to do so.

While the kids will eat the meal on whole grain buns each night, John and I prefer to switch it up. Last night, we ate our leftovers over baked zucchini.  You could enjoy it over quinoa, pasta, or on lettuce leaves. 

INGREDIENTS:

Imagine black beans and tomato sauce

• Onion, chopped
• Bell pepper, chopped (I used red so it blended in more)
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 pound ground turkey
• 1 can black beans, rinsed (optional)
• 1 T olive oil or cooking spray
• salt
• tomato sauce
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 t hot pepper sauce
• 2 t maple syrup 

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat oil in large skillet.  Add onion and bell pepper. Cook 4 minutes. Add garlic. Stir and cook an additional minute.  Set aside mixture in bowl.
2. Brown turkey in the same skillet.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Add mixture back to skillet, tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, pepper sauce, and syrup. Mix well. Reduce heat. Allow to thicken over medium-low heat for 15 minutes.

DIFFICULTY: Easy

TIME: 25 minutes

SOURCE: Adapted from Fixate

Fresh Fridge Pickles

I like cucumbers.  My daughter LOVES them.  My husband won't touch them.  My son can't even stand to be in the same room as them.  Very rarely does a food cause such a divide in our house.

We've had a decent amount of cucumbers come our way this summer, and with only two of us eating them, I was definitely tiring of the chopped-on-salad variety and ready for something new.  This easy pickle recipe almost seemed too good to be true.  With so few ingredients, there was certainly no harm in trying.  I absolutely loved them, and so did my neighbors who helped taste test with me. They were so good that I made a second batch.

Note: This recipe uses and yields 2 quart-sized mason jars.  I halved the recipe based on the number of cucumbers I had.

INGREDIENTS:

• 8-10 pickling cucumbers or 5-6 regular cucumbers
• 6 cloves of garlic, cut in half
• 2 cups seasoned rice vinegar*
• large bunch of fresh dill, washed.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Wash and trim ends off cucumbers and cut into ⅛ inch slices.
2. Put garlic slices in each mason jar and fill halfway up with cucumbers.
3. Stuff a large handful of dill into jars.
4. Add the rest of the cucumber and pour 1 cup of seasoned rice vinegar into each jar.
5. Tightly put the lid on the jar and shake 2-3 times to blend the flavors.
6. Place in fridge for 1 hour, shake again. The salt in the seasoned rice vinegar with draw out the cucumber juice so the jar will be full of liquid in a few hours. After about 2-3 hours, they taste pretty good, however they are far superior if left overnight.

*Please note: Seasoned Rice vinegar has both salt and sugar in it. If you prefer a more savory taste, use white vinegar instead and add 2 teaspoons of kosher or sea salt to each jar.

We may have eaten a few before this picture was taken...oops.

Difficulty: easy
Time: 10 minutes prep, 3+ hours resting time
Source: http://nancynewcomer.com/2014/09/01/fresh-easy-fridge-pickles/