Yearning for a Childhood Staple

As we meandered through the market about a month ago, it was brought to my attention that John had never had a sloppy joe sandwich!  As a child of the 80's, the sloppy joe sandwich was a pretty regular occurrence on the home menu.  It was one of my most favorite meals.  So it was baffling to hear John say that he had no idea what a sloppy joe actually was.  I knew I had to resolve this issue immediately.  And to me, John never having enjoyed a sloppy joe sandwich was, indeed, an issue!

We ended up buying a can of sloppy joe sauce that day.  I'm not sure how it happened, because when I went to make the sandwiches I read the back of the can and saw a multitude of ingredients I didn't want to ingest.  Alright, I admit, multitude may be overkill.  But the high fructose corn syrup was pretty high up on the ingredient list and I hate that ingredient.  However, that topic is for another day.  Todays' topic is the sloppy joe recipe that I created so I could indulge in a childhood favorite meal and share it with my family without having to sacrifice our healthy lifestyle and diet.

This is definitely a recipe I will make over and over again now that I have found a way to create the flavor I want with good ingredients.  I hope you enjoy this healthy twist on an old favorite!

Sloppy Joes

Makes 6-8 sandwiches; Total Time is roughly 30 minutes

Ingredients:

1lb Ground Beef or Ground Turkey

1 Can Diced Tomatoes, Seasoned with Basil, Oregano, and Garlic

1Tbl Apple Cider Vinegar

2Tbl Worcestershire Sauce

1 1/2Tbl Brown Sugar

2Tbl Tomato Paste

2Tbl Grapeseed Oil

1/2Tbl Butter

1tsp Brown Mustard

1 Small Onion, Chopped

1 Red Bell Pepper, Chopped

Sea Salt

Black Pepper

Directions:

In a large skillet, heat the oil and butter over medium high and add the onion once the butter has melted.  Turn heat down to medium and sauté, covered,  until the onion starts to caramelize (about 8-10 minutes).  Add ground meat and brown.  Once the meat has browned, add the bell pepper.  Sauté, covered, stirring occasionally for five minutes.  Then add the can of diced tomatoes and stir until thoroughly mixed in.  Add the vinegar, worcestershire, sugar, mustard, and tomato paste.  Mix thoroughly and simmer, uncovered, about five minutes.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Serve on lightly toasted burger buns.

Remember the Darkness

I know it's been a while, again.  I find myself thinking about time in all its increments quite a bit lately.  I lost focus and start things that go unfinished to start other things in my spare time.  Spare time being any time that I am not working or traveling to earn my paycheck.

Previously, I discussed celebrating the small things whenever the opportunity should arise.  It's that time of year again, when the weather shifts in mysterious ways and we can never know what to expect.  This brings out a lot of peoples' seasonal depression and finding a reason, however mundane, can help tremendously.  Another thing that can shift a mood in an instant is music.  To me, life is not worth doing without music.

Music has been a constant in my life since I was very little, just as visual arts has been.  I enjoy several genres of music and in the spring I love listening to hard rock and metal with a little Sublime thrown into the mix.  I started with Slipknot early this month and now I have the new Papa Roach album, Crooked Teeth, on repeat in my car.  We've been watching a lot of Breaking Bad, and I can't help but think about Jesse Pinkman when listening to this new album.  It's very emotional and urges me to think about all of the loss and turmoil I've endured throughout life.  Cathartic?  Maybe a little bit, but it's more than that when being confronted by old heart-wrenching memories.  I need to feel them, and some music helps me to face it in a way that I appreciate.  Crash/Love by AFI was paramount to my grieving process when it was released in 2009.  We all have memories that more unpleasant than others.  Mine are different from yours, but we basically share the fundamental emotions these trials induce.

I am a very passionate person, and my emotions rule me.  I'm a scorpio on the cusp with libra.  I've been told on more than one occasion that I am too intense.  However much I feel something, I stay aware that others feel too.  We all feel misery and joy.  Some of us are better at explaining these feelings, or simply sharing them with others than some of our counterparts.  For whatever reason you feel pain and misery or loss, you feel it.  It's okay.  Everyone talks about the grieving process.  But quite simply, we have to process through all of our emotions whether they are good or bad.

There is, in all of us, a darkness.  Sometimes, it gets the better of us.  Other times, we rise against and become better in spite of it.  It's okay to have darkness.  Don't let it consume you or the good in you.  And on occasion, remember it.  For it makes us who we are.

"And now I'm running from the scene

'Cause I was caught up in the crime

It's a loaded memory

Yeah, it kills me every time

And I'm trying not to scream

But it's eating me alive

I'm still haunted by the best years of

The best years of my life"

~Jacoby Shaddix