Turkey Sloppy Joes

I have to admit. I'm in a slump with this cooking business. I just cannot find my groove with it and it is frustrating the hell out of me. I think it's because it's like starting from scratch. Dedicating the time to find all new recipes, try them out, adjust my budget accordingly, etc. It's not that I don't want to do it, but let's face it, the holidays have had me busy slammed. So trying to juggle it all...just wasn't working.

So finally the day after Christmas, I reevaluated how I was going about this and what I was going to do about it. And even though I hated sloppy joes as a kid. Decided I'd give them a whirl another time around. And you know what, not so bad.

Here's my spin on Turkey Sloppy Joes.

Turkey Sloppy Joes

Serves 8

Ingredients:

1 pkg McCormick sloppy joe seasoning mix 

1 lb ground turkey

1 (6oz) can tomato paste

1 1/4 cup water

buns

Substitutions: You may substitute 1 (15oz) can of tomato sauce for the paste and water

Directions:

Brown meat in skillet. Drain fat.

Stir in seasoning, tomato paste and water.

Bring to a boil. Reduce and simmer for 10 mins, stirring occasionally.

Serve with buns

Alternative servings:

According to the McCormick website, you can serve this in hot dog buns or tortillas. 

You can also use it as a topping for pizza, cornbread, pasta or rice.

Mama Heada thoughts:

I mentioned before and I'll say it again, I never liked sloppy joes growing up. Something about them freaked me out. So when I found a bunch of different ideas for them online, my first thoughts were, oh no, no way. But they actually looked yummy. And there are a lot of different great recipes out there on how to make them more homemade without the seasoning packet but let's face it. Sometimes we are in a time rut and need to get dinner on the table because we have a hungry, hardworking husband on his way home from work and a screaming toddler tugging at our leg. Is this a picture of my house? Not at all. ;) jk. This is what my house looks like on a daily basis.

I had everything I needed and it took me less than 20 mins to fix it up and serve with a bowl of salad and a roasted cauliflower. I placed about 1/2 of the turkey mixture on Oroweat Honey Wheat sandwich thins and we were good to go. M and Miss B enjoyed their meat mixture over a bowl of hot rice. And you know what? It was actually good. Albeit it was a little plain (we are trying to eliminate as much salt as possible from our diets), it was good and light but filling. One of the more filling meals we've had actually. I was impressed. Next time I think I'll add some garlic, yellow peppers and onion to it to give it some variety. But all in all, it was yummy. Like, really yummy. Like the kind of yummy when I actually eat leftovers. And I NEVER like to eat leftovers.

And the best part? According to myfitnesspal.com, for half a cup of McCormick ground turkey sloppy joes mix, this is the nutritional values:

Calories	122	Sodium	521 mg
Total Fat	3 g	Potassium	0 mg
Saturated	0 g	Total Carbs	4 g
Polyunsaturated	0 g	Dietary Fiber	0 g
Monounsaturated	0 g	Sugars	3 g
Trans	0 g	Protein	17 g
Cholesterol	28 mg
Vitamin A	3%	Calcium	1%
Vitamin C	3%	Iron	3%

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

Say what?!?! My kind of meal! Add in another 100 calories for the Oroweat sandwich thins and you have a sloppy joe for less than 250 calories! And did I mention it was yummy? :) Another one for the new cookbook!

Please note that the nutritional values listed on here are courtesy of myfitnesspal.com and are used as a guideline. Values may or may not be completely accurate.