I’ve always wondered… why is it called Sloppy Joes? Why not Sloppy Steve or Sloppy Sue? Was the creator of this recipe named Joe? If so, he must’ve been selfish to name a dish after himself!Does anyone else ever get random thoughts like this? No…? Just me? Maybe I just need to stop thinking about food so often!
Growing up, Sloppy Joes were a common dinner item for my family. Most of the time my mom used Manwich or the McCormick Sloppy Joe seasoning to cut down on time, and at the time, I thought nothing of it. But now that I’m more conscious of what goes into my body, I can’t help but think back and cringe at the fact that I used to eat that. Let’s take a look at the nutrition label for Manwich, shall we?
I know it may be a little hard to read, so I’ll just highlight a few of the (not-so-great) features:
- High fructose corn syrup. Not only does this product have high fructose corn syrup, but it’s the second ingredient, meaning it has a lot of it. Double no-no.
- 310 mg of sodium per serving. Now if you think about it, 310 mg doesn’t seem like that much. And it’s not… for one serving. However, how many people use only ONE serving of Manwich when they make Sloppy Joe? No one that I know! In fact, most people use the entire can when making Sloppy Joe, which is actually 10 servings. So if you think about it, that 310 mg of sodium just jumped up to 3,100 mg of sodium in the whole recipe. Now I know that one person isn’t going to eat the whole entire batch of Sloppy Joe, but that’s still a lot of sodium.
- Contains guar gum. You’re probably thinking to yourself, “what is guar gum?” If you’re like most people, you probably have no idea what it is. So if you don’t even know what it is…how in the world did it end up in the food you eat?! Oh and just in case you were curious, guar gum is a food additive that helps to emulsify or thicken food products. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be eating stuff like that… I want to be eating real foods with real ingredients!
- Contains carrot fiber. Upon first glance, one might think, “It contains carrots! That means it’s healthy for me, right?” Not necessarily. In this case, carrot fiber is not what you think it is – it’s actually a food additive. To get carrot fiber, the fiber is extracted from a carrot and processed into a white powdery substance that gets added to foods and meats to help bind it, thicken it, or stabilize the product. So in this case, carrot fiber is just another one of those ingredients that makes you wonder, “why do I need that in my food?” Spoiler alert: you don’t need it.
This is just one product (Manwich), but if you take a look at other Sloppy Joe sauces or seasoning mixes, I’m sure you’ll find pretty similar information. And hopefully, this information has helped you realize that it’s much better for you to make your own Sloppy Joe mix. Don’t worry, it’s not hard at all. In fact, it’s actually fun being able to customize recipes and add flavorings based on your likes. If you haven’t tried it, give it a try. I bet you’ll enjoy making your own Sloppy Joe sauce!
Recently, I’ve been trying to find fun and creative twists on some of my favorite recipes, and my latest victim was Sloppy Joes. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some Sloppy Joe’s, but I wanted to see if I could make it even better! And I think I succeeded in doing that.
This recipe uses both lentils and ground meat, providing a mix of both plant-based and animal-protein. Eventually I want to make Sloppy Joes using only lentils, but I think this was a great way to ease into it. The lentils provide a nice and chewy texture while also contributing a hefty dose of plant-based protein, fiber, and complex carbohydrates.
Normally, I like to eat Sloppy Joes as a sandwich, but this recipe was so great all on its own that it didn’t even need the bread! However, with the leftovers, I decided to make a sandwich using sourdough bread. The verdict? Delicious. Both ways are great, and both ways are ten times better than using Manwich or pre-made Sloppy Joe seasoning!
- 1 cup dry lentils (brown or green)
- 2 TBSP oil
- 1 clove garlic
- ½ of a large white onion, diced
- 1 lb. ground turkey breast
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
- ¼ cup tomato paste
- 3 TBSP apple cider vinegar
- 1 TBSP Worcestershire sauce
- 2 TBSP brown sugar
- 2 tsp. Dijon mustard
- ½ tsp. each: chili powder, cayenne pepper, cumin, garlic powder, salt, black pepper
- ¼ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
- Add the lentils and 5 cups water to a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce to low heat and simmer (covered) for 30 minutes, or until desired texture is reached.
- Add oil to a large skillet and add the diced onions. Sauté a few minutes until browned, and then add garlic. Sauté for another 1-2 minutes, and then add green peppers.
- Once peppers are sautéed, add the ground meat and cook until fully browned.
- Add the remaining ingredients, mix well, and then let simmer for 5-10 minutes or until the sauce has slightly thickened.
- Stir in the cooked lentils, cook for another 1-2 minutes, and then remove from heat.
