Sloppy Joes To Go

We spent a few days tucked away in an adorable little cabin enjoying nature.

As usual, meals were planned at home so we could spend our vacation enjoying the sights while sticking to our budget.

I made a batch of Sloppy Joes at home and froze it for our vacation.

All we had to do was let it thaw and heat it up.

Couldn't be easier!

Jello seems to have become a vacation favorite.

We added Sun Chips and an orange to the plate.

We cured hunger for a few more hours and the clean up was a snap.

So, let's get cooking!

The board of ingredients for these sloppy joes is pretty simple stuff.

I am using a quart of my own canned tomatoes, 

but of course any store bought tomato product works just fine.

• Diced Onion
• Diced Celery
• Mustard
• Ketchup
• Salt and Pepper
• Hot Sauce
• Sugar
• Canned Tomatoes
• Olive Oil
• Ground Beef

Start with some olive oil in the bottom of your dutch oven...or any big pot.

In go the celery and onions.

Give them a pinch of salt and pepper and let them cook until they are soft.

Like this.

Add the ground beef and break it up a bit.

Don't stir the heck out of this while it is cooking.

Leave some larger chunks of beef so your fella has something to bit into.

Fellas like that.

Also, add a pinch of salt and pepper to the beef.

Now that the beef is completely cooked, it's time to start adding flavor.

Add the rest of the ingredients to the beef.

Stir everything together and let it simmer on the stove.

The sauce will thicken up and beef will absorb the flavor.

The joes are ready to eat now.

If you are making them for the freezer they need to be packaged up.

Stick them in the fridge until the meat is cool.

I like to freeze vacation food in a labeled, gallon sized zip lock bag.

I freeze the sloppy joe mix on a cookie sheet.

Sloppy Joes

Ingredients:

1 Cup Diced Onion
1 Cup Diced Celery
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
2 Pounds Ground Beef {90/10}
3/4 Cup Ketchup
1/4 Cup Mustard
3/4 Cup Sugar
Hot Sauce
2 14.5oz Cans of Tomatoes - Diced, Stewed, Whole...Whatever you have will work.

Directions:

1. Add a drizzle of olive oil to a large pot over medium high heat.  Add the onion, celery, salt and pepper and cook stirring occasionally until the veggies are softened.
2.  Add the ground beef to the pot and season with salt and pepper.  Break up the beef, but leave some chunks in the pot.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir.
4.  Bring mixture to a simmer over medium low heat for twenty - forty minutes, uncovered, stirring occasionally.
5. Enjoy! 

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