Sloppy Joes from scratch

There are foods that remind me of family gatherings such as potroast,or cheese dip, where all of family would cram into Grandma's dinning room to feast on Sunday food, filling our bellies with goodness and Grandma's home with laughter. Then there are nostalgic foods like "sloppy joes" that remind me of growing up in public school eating the school lunch.

As a kid, I longed for my mother to prepare sloppy joes at home. Funny, mom would prepare dishes like shepard's pie, fried chicken, enchiladas, and other wonderful home-cooked meals from scratch, but of course I wanted to take my "school eating experience" home with me. Growing up, I notice that a lot of people felt that same way, there was an excitement in it. After convincing mom to cook us "sloppy joes" it became a main staple in our household, I figure that mom thought hey...it's cheap, easy and the kids love it, so why not?

Let me just that I do not care for "manwhich" or any other pre-prepared sloppy joe sauce or mix, I usually find them overly salty and sugary. Instead, I prepare my own joe sauce.

Sloppy Joe:

1 lb ground meat (chicken, beef, or turkey)

I used ground turkey

1 large yellow onion finely diced
1 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 small green pepper
salt, pepper to taste (I always use kosher salt or sea salt and fresh ground black pepper)
pinch of ground cinammon, and tsp of brown sugar
1 tsp flour
worcestershire sauce (3 dashes)
1 8oz can crushed tomatoes
1 tablespoon of water

sweat the onion, pepper and garlic, add ground meat and brown (in 1 tablespoon of olive oil). add spices and flour, mix and add water. continue to cook, adding the tomatoes, cover and simmer for 10-15 min until thickened.

Serve on your favorite buns, I used the old fashioned white burger buns from the bakery and served with a side of garlic pickles and organic tator tots.

The drink pictured is Grandma's Sherbert Punch

1 large scoop of lime sherbert for each serving
1/2 cup pineapple juice and 1/2 cup of 7up (for each serving)
blend chilled juice and sherbert with a spoon until smooth, then add chilled 7up

BEST junk food/nostalgic meal EVER!