Saturday, October 31, 2015

Easy Sloppy Joes - Low Carb & "From Scratch"

Happy Halloween! This morning began as a sunny day but quickly clouded over early in the afternoon. We are expecting rain tomorrow...lots of rain; up to 4 inches. We are ready for trick-or-treaters and they have already begun arriving since it's dark out now. While Halloween is my least favorite "holiday", I never get tired of seeing the little ones and school aged kids. We are blessed to live in a neighborhood full of really good kids.

We sort of took it easy today and decided to run our errands tomorrow instead. I was in the mood for Sloppy Joe's for dinner this evening. I just happened to have a package of Maverick Ranch grass-fed ground beef in the fridge and the only item I needed to send hubby out to pick up at the store was a Poblano pepper. I had all the ingredients needed otherwise. While he ran to the store, I made a batch of my Sesame Seed Sandwich Buns and popped them into the oven. I love them because it takes 5 to 10 minutes to mix them together and about 20 minutes to bake them, so in 30 minutes you have fresh low carb, grain free sandwich buns that actually taste like REAL BREAD!

The Sloppy Joe's turned out great. In the past, I've used chicken stock instead of water to simmer the meat in, but tonight I used water for my liquid. If you've never made Sloppy Joe's from scratch before, you will be surprised at how easy they are to make. Kick the "can" of "Manwich" to the curb and instead make a "REALwich" where you can control the seasoning and avoid the added junk and high fructose corn syrup, etc. I like to give mine a little kick with a couple dashes of cayenne pepper. I snapped a few photos and included the easy peasy recipe below. Enjoy!





GGC Sloppy Joes

INGREDIENTS:


1 pound ground beef (I used 91% grass-fed beef)

1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
1/3 cup finely diced red bell pepper
1/3 cup finely diced Poblano pepper (or green bell pepper)
1/3 cup finely diced onion
3 ounces tomato paste (half of a small 6-oz can)
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon black pepper, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Few dashes Cayenne pepper, optional
1 cup water (or chicken broth)
1 tablespoon Swerve sweetener (or sweetener equivalent to 1 tablespoon sugar)
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

DIRECTIONS:

Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a 2-quart saucepan or 10-inch skillet. Brown ground beef, breaking it into small pieces as it cooks. While the beef is browning, add the peppers and onions and continue cooking until beef is cooked and peppers and onions are softened.


Stir in tomato paste, chili powder, salt, pepper, garlic powder, cayenne, and water or broth. Add sweetener and vinegar and bring to a light boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered on low heat for approximately 30 minutes or until most of the liquid has reduced and the sauce is thickened. Once the sauce is reduced to desired thickness, taste and adjust for seasoning. Serves 3 to 4.

*Note: Be careful not to over season or salt your meat mixture until after it has reduced as the flavors become more intense and concentrated as it reduces and thickens. 

            

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Am i seeing things? It looks like a corner of white cheese poking out the bottom of that sandwich? Yet I do not see cheese listed as one of your ingredients? Inquiring minds want to know! Must be a Turkish version?

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

It is a slice of white cheddar cheese. It's not part of the recipe but rather an optional "add-on"...I mentioned it in the actual post! It's actually quite American! ;-)

The Hand Lady said...

GGC
Where are you?
I look for you everyday,,,, I don't know how to contact you other then here.
I sure hope you are OK,,,, not ill or anything.
I made your last post The Sloppy Joe's so good made fresh and not out of a can.
I miss you as I know many others do too
Linda from Baltimore

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi Linda,

I've actually been sidelined by very painful dental issues and haven't been cooking, much less eating much of anything.

I've had an abscessed (and cracked) tooth. I went for a root canal just this afternoon and unfortunately near the end of the procedure when they actually fill the roots, etc. they had to stop. They said the medication they put in the roots first before packing it just ran through and out because of the infection (which I've been taking antibiotics for 1 week already). They had to close it up (after over an hour in the chair), put me on different antibiotics and then now wait another 2 weeks for the inflammation and infection to heal so they can finish it. This has now been stretched out until the end of November. Supposedly I will have pain relief in a couple of days but can only chew on one side and have to be careful not to fracture the now "empty tooth".

Thanks so much for being concerned. I need to post something on my blog (I posted a few days ago on Facebook why I've been missing but know now everyone does Facebook). I hope to be posting again this week. Glad you enjoyed the Sloppy Joe recipe and thanks again for the concern. :-)

Alice said...

Hi GGC,

I was just coming here to check and see if there might have been something in the comments on you absence. I, too, was worried and concerned, and now so very sorry that you have been through so much trouble with your tooth. I hope the antibiotics kick in and you do get pain relief very soon. Thank you for your reply to Linda here. (My next stop was to be your FB page!)

God bless you, sweet lady.

Alice B.

Darlene said...

I, too have been checking daily and wondering about you! Lots of thoughts are with you~feel better soon!

BTW, made your chocolate pecan pie this morning; it's still in the oven, but looks & smells delish! (my first-ever pecan pie)

Anonymous said...

Has anyone figured out the carbs

Anonymous said...

9.4 net carbs about. Not terrible but I'd save this for dinner rather than lunch.