Healthy Recipe: Crockpot Sloppy Joe's (Milk and Soy free)

This is a favorite the whole family will eat! I puree the red, yellow and orange peppers so they are not "obvious" to my four year old who has issues with food textures. I also finely chop the carrots, which end up resembling the meat. If I have sweet potato puree or cauliflower puree on hand, I add a half cup to a cup (depending upon the size of the batch). Most times, I make a double batch: 1 lb of lean ground beef and 1 lb of turkey (double all of the other ingredients).

HEALTHY SLOPPY JOE'S


Ingredients

1 tbsp Olive Oil
1/2 cup Chopped red onion (or yellow, if preferred)
1/2 cup Chopped celery
2 cloves Garlic, minced + 1 clove minced for cooking hamburger
1 lb Ground turkey or beef
1/2 cup Sweet potato puree or cauliflower puree
1/2 cup Butternut squash puree
1/2 cup Shredded carrots
1/2 cup Minced red, yellow, orange peppers (steam or lightly sautee, then puree)
1/2 cup Beef broth
1/4 cup Tomato paste
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce (for soy allergies, we use A-1 Steak sauce; watch the imitations, they often have some pretty nasty ingredients)
1/2 tsp. Crushed dried red pepper
1/4 tsp. Dried oregano
1/2 tsp. Ground cumin
1/2 tsp Salt
1/8 tsp Black pepper

8 Whole grain hamburger or hot-dog buns  (we love Rudi's because they have no high fructose corn syrup or preservatives)

Preparation

1. Coat a nonstick skillet w/ cooking spray and set it over medium-high heat. When the skillet is hot, add the oil. Add the onion, celery and garlic, and cook until the onion starts to soften (3-4 minutes)

2. Add the meat, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, cook until no longer pink.

3. In a crockpot, add the browned meat and all other ingredients, mix. Set it on low and let it simmer for 3-4 hours.

Spoon over buns and serve.