Sloppy Jo's

Hey kids....Happy Saturday! I'm so happy it's the weekend. For everyone, this entire week really seemed to just.....completely suck. So...hey, we all made it. We're alive. Yay!

Before I get to the important stuff (aka the food), has anyone out there ever gotten a black "henna" tattoo? Either home or abroad?? Let me tell you...if you have, I'm sorry. And if you haven't...DON'T!!! For serials. This is no joke. I thought I'd have a little flower for 2-3 weeks, and now I have steroids to take for 2 weeks. Basically, I had the allergic reaction from Hell. Not fun. So please, be safe. If you must get that fun henna tattoo while on vacay, make sure it's real henna. Which. Is. Never. Black. Spread the word.

Ok...jumping down off my soapbox. But yea..that was some dramatic ish this week. Really freaked me out. When your dermatologist, within 1 minute of seeing the problem tells you to drop your pants for a shot in the ass...you know it's serious. Ok...moving on.

Aside from the dermatologic crisis this week, it's just been a stressful week. Mike was feeling it too, and the Insanity workouts were both helping and not helping. Meaning, neither of us wanted to get off our fat asses and actually work out. But we did. And every time, we were glad we did. However, I wanted to make some comfort food for Mike and I for dinner. Of course, needed it to be slightly healthful..so I ended up making Sloppy Jo's Thursday night. Here's the breakdown, plus some pretty pictures from the NEW camera Mike bought me because he is the best man/boyfriend/friend/person in the universe.

Sloppy Jo's
Serves 2 (with enough leftovers for 2 more sammies)

Ingredients:
1lb. lean ground beef
1/4 chopped onion (which I was out of, but if you have it, add it!)
1/2 cup chopped bell peppers (I use the Melange a Trois from TJ's)
3/4 cup ketchup
1 teaspoon mustard
3 teaspoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon granulated garlic (or if you're Mike & I, closer to a tablespoon)
1 dash Worcestershire sauce
Salt & Pepper to taste
3 Hamburger buns (2 for Mike, 1 for me)

Begin by adding the frozen bell peppers to a dry saute pan and warming them through.
When the peppers are warmed, toss in the ground beef and begin to break it up with your spatula.
Depending on how lean your meat is, you will either need to drain off the fat or not.

The bell peppers and meat will release
a lot of liquid, so drain it!

Once the meat is cooked through, set it back on low heat and mix up the sauce. 

Combine the ketchup, mustard, garlic, worcestershire and brown sugar in a bowl and mix well.

Turn the heat under the meat back up to medium and add the sauce.

Yes, my spatula is pink.
And says love on it. It's cute!!!

Then mix the sauce in with the meat and heat thoroughly.

Heat until the sauce begins to bubble.

While the sauce is mixing in with the meat, you may want to toast your hamburger buns. That is, if you like toasted buns. Ha. Ha. Toasted buns. Ok, it's early and I'm silly. 

Pile some of the delicious meat mixture onto a bun and devour. Remember, it's called Sloppy Jo's...so make a mess!!!

As you can see, I served ours with some steamed
Haricots Verts from TJ's and a simple salad..
the feta being on Mikes', mine was plain.

So again, very simple, delicious, comfort food. By the way...for any of you out there hating on me for using the frozen bell peppers from TJ's...it's like, $2 for the bag, which will last for 5 or 6 meals, when these days you're lucky to get 1 or 2 whole peppers for that price in the produce section of any market. Remember, I'm cooking on a budget here. And honestly, I don't think I'm missing any flavor by using the frozen. And if you treat them right, you don't miss out on any texture either. So there.

So now I'm off to enjoy the weekend. Oh, today is the first double Insanity day. We have 2 routines to run through. The hardest one, and a 17 minute one focusing on abs. FUN! But yea, it'll be worth it.

I think I can. I think I can. I think...I can....!