Everyone has Sloppy Joes on Valentine’s Day right? No? Just us? Hmm, who would have thought… cause they say love to us .. okay, that was laying it on a bit thick, but we do love them and we love each other, so it just seems fitting. I have made sloppy joes for years with the canned stuff, and I am not knocking that at all, but a few years ago I set out to make my own, homemade version of this American classic… Sloppy Joes have been around since the late 19th century and began being printed in cookbooks in the early 20th century, does anyone else love Wikipedia?

I made this one day, I can recall it was a rainy day and I just started throwing stuff in a pot, which has actually resulted in some of my better recipes…but that first batch? Yeah not so good… so I tried again, toned it down a bit and wrote down what I was doing so I could remember it next time… had no idea I would eventually be blogging these recipes for you …. its fun and easy and most of all … it’s a crockpot recipe!! Win Win!

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef , turkey or pork ( up to you )

1 bell pepper

1/2 med onion

1 cup diced roasted peppers

1 teaspoon coarse black pepper

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon Badia® Complete Seasoning

1 tablespoon dried Italian Seasoning

2 tsp salt ( or to taste)

1 tablespoon fresh Thyme

1 tablespoon fresh or dried parsley

1/4 cup brown sugar

1  cup ketchup

1 cup tomato sauce

1 cup beef broth or water

3 tsp corn starch mixed well in 2 tablespoons water

Buns

I know that looks like a lot of ingredients, but it really isn’t, just breaking down all the herbs and seasonings makes it appear like so much more.

Let’s get cooking:

Brown the meat in a skillet and drain the fat and add it to the crockpot on LOW heat.

Add ALL of the herbs and  seasonings to the meat and stir well.

Dice the peppers, roasted pepper and onions and add to the crockpot.

NOTE:  These are the peppers that I use all the time, I always have them in the fridge. I get mine at Sams Club® but almost all grocery stores have a jarred version. I tried using just regular diced pimentos… they are already small and they cooked away. I like these better, cause I can make them chunky.

Next , add the broth, ketchup, tomato sauce and brown sugar.

Stir well and cook on low heat for 3 hours, after the 3 hours, mix the corn starch and water and slowly stir in the pot. Leave the lid off … WHAT THE WHAT? yup off… for one hour….

Serve on toasted buns and enjoy!