Sloppy Joes

Peggy

June 3

It's what's for lunch today, so I thought I'd share my version of this popular meal. Sloppy Joes have always been a comfort food for me and my husband an low-carbed, they still taste great! When I created the original recipe, I just started throwing things into the pot because I wasn't sure what all to add, since I used to use one of those envelope seasoning mixes in 'my former life' to make my Sloppy Joes. Well, I guess I grabbed the right things, because my husband gave these Sloppy Joes two thumbs up and we fix the low-carb version exclusively to this day. They're not too juicy and have a respectable enough carb count to have them on the rare occasion.

Now I didn't exactly use the lowest carb bun recipe I have for these. You can trim the carbs a bit using a lower carb bun than the Einkorn Sandwich Buns I am using tonight. It's what I already had baked and ready to eat. For this reason, I'm providing nutritional info for the meat mixture separately. This would only be suitable for Atkins Induction if you use a Flax bun or a Muffin in a Minute (without sweetener and cinnamon, of course). Ok for Keto Diets on a plan-suitable bun, provided you can fit the carbs into your daily limit. Only Paleo-Primal suitable on a plan acceptable bun and if you use honey instead of the sweetener.

MEAT MIXTURE INGREDIENTS:

2 lb. ground beef

3 oz. onion, chopped

1 6-oz. can tomato paste

1 c. water

¼-½ c. apple cider vinegar (or other vinegar you have)

½ c. red bell pepper, chopped

1 tsp. your favorite sweetener

¼ tsp. sea salt

¼ tsp. black pepper

Dash cayenne pepper

½ tsp. paprika

NOTE: You will need 8 of my 3" Einkorn Sandwich Buns (linked in paragraph above) or 8 buns of your choosing.

DIRECTIONS: Brown the ground beef over high heat in a large non-stick pan (I used a non-stick wok). Add the onion and bell pepper and sauté the two together until meat is browned and veggies are pretty tender. Drain grease off if excessive (I did not have to). Add tomato paste and stir in until evenly distributed. Add water and stir. I suggest adding half the vinegar to start out as you may not like yours as tangy as we do. Stir well. Add all the spices and lower heat to lowest setting. Simmer with a lid on the pot, stirring often to prevent sticking. Only add remaining vinegar if you like things tangy. Low simmer for about 30 minutes for vinegar to develop fully and flavors to co-mingle.

I like to split and toast my buns and spoon the meat mixture over both halves. Your call on whether you toast or not toast. Dip about 2/3 cup meat mixture into each bun or serve open-faced if you prefer.

NUTRITIONAL INFO (Meat Mixture alone): Make 8 portions of meat filling consisting of 2/3 cup each. 1/8 batch contains: (be sure to add in the values for the buns you choose)

246 calories, 15.4 g fat, 5.65 g carbs, 1.23 g fiber, 4.42 g NET CARBS, 22 g protein, 301 mg sodium