Healthy sloppy joes

Healthy and sloppy joes are not something you see in the same sentence... but they are when you use really lean meat and sneak in lots of veggies... I added red & green pepper, zucchini, red onion to my meat, then slow simmered the sauce & meat together..YUM  Use what you have.  If you have chopped frozen veggies (I have seen them small diced for soups or fajitas in the frozen section by all means use them) or you can get them pre chopped on the salad bar, or if you have another color pepper use that.  I have even sometimes finely grated carrots in this mixture... any way I can sneak some more veggies into my boys I will do...

 My family likes the sloppy joes more on the BBQ side and less on the tomato side so I use tomato soup, ketchup etc.  I make these with extra lean ground beef, but have made them with ground turkey & ground chicken too.. good and super easy.

  My hubby who like stuff on the hot side likes these topped with cheese, diced onion & jalapenos.. but the kiddos on the other hand, not so much... make these for your family today, so good and easy....



Healthy Sloppy Joes

1 lb. extra lean ground beef (or can use ground turkey or chicken)
1 T olive oil
1 small onion, diced fine
1 small red & green pepper seeded,diced very small
1 small zucchini, seeds & ends removed, diced very small
1 clove garlic, minced
1 can tomato soup
1/2 cup ketchup
2 T mustard
3 T brown sugar
1 t worchester sauce
1 t red wine (optional)

Seasonings of your choice (I used salt & pepper, chili powder, paprika, cumin, garlic & onion powder, Mrs. Dash, couple of dashes of cayenne pepper)
Hamburger buns for serving
condiments (mustard, chopped onion, cheese, jalapenos) optional


In large pan, place olive oil, heat over medium high heat.  Add onion, peppers, zucchini (salt & pepper)and cook for 2-3 minutes until vegetables are starting to soften.  Add ground beef & garlic, sprinkle with salt & pepper, and start breaking up and cooking until meat is no longer pink.  Drain meat if necessary (usually not necessary since your using lean meat).  Add remaining ingredients, bringing meat to a simmer , turn heat down cover and simmer until hot and vegetables are really soft. Turn off heat, taste and adjust seasonings if necessary.  Serve with buns and condiments of your choice.. Enjoy