Sort of... Sloppy Joes

See how pretty my cannelloni turned out? You would NEVER know those ugly little things could come together to become one big beautiful whole!
I still feel like cooking, so I am. I had a pkg of frozen ground beef, and could not face another plate of spaghetti with meat sauce...so I dug out an old recipe for Sloppy Joes. As usual, I made quite a few substitutions, so I have put them in brackets. This recipe is from a Canadian cookbook called LOONEYSPOONS...low fat food made fun. by Janet and Greta Podleski. It is one of my favorite kind of cookbooks because it is filled with stories and fun facts. I think the whole premise hits the weight loss nail on the head: Feel free to eat whatever you want, BUT, have you considered that if you eat this...you could have had this instead. For example:

" You would have to oink out on 17 bananas to consume the unbelievable 17 grams of fat found in 1 cup of eggnog. Which would fill you up more? Go for quality and quantity!"

I think information like that makes you think. You ALWAYS have a choice what to eat.

This recipe has a lot of ingredients, and quite a bit of chopping. It is well worth it. It is really nicely flavoured. Really complex...and is versatile. I ditched the doughy buns, and decided to use it as filling for whole wheat tortillas, with some extras tucked in, like low fat sour cream, salsa, homemade guacamole, and some grated mozzarella cheese. They were FANTASTIC!! And I have enough left over for at least one more supper or a couple of lunches!
Thanks Ladies!!


TIDY JOES
1 pound lean ground turkey or chicken-skinless ( 1 lb lean ground beef )
1 half cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic minced
1 half cup chopped celery ( 2 ribs )
quarter cup grated carrot ( 1 whole carrot )
1 cup cooked Romano or pinto beans, mashed ( 1 19 oz can red kidney beans drained )
1 cup cooked brown or white rice ( brown )
1 cup diced tomato ( 1 whole tomato )
two thirds of a cup of ketchup ( I used some cocktail sauce )
1 half cup green onions ( 1 green onion )
2 jalapeno peppers seeded and minced ( omitted )
2 tbsp white vinegar ( 2 tbsp raspberry vinegar )
1 tbsp each of lite Worcestershire sauce and brown sugar ( I used regular W sauce )
1 and 1 half tsp chili powder
1 teaspoon each ground cumin and prepared mustard ( I used grainy Dijon mustard )
half tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1é4 tsp black pepper ( I just ground some in )
8 hamburger rolls or soft kaisers ( whole wheat tortillas )

Spray a large saucepan with non stick spray ( I used canola oil from a bottle ) Add ground chicken, onions,garlic,celery and carrot. Cook over medium high heat until chicken is browned about 8 minutes. Stir often. Break up any large pieces of chicken with a fork. Drain off any fat.

Stir in remaining ingredients. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and summer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Spoon chicken mixture over bottom half of hamburger or kaiser bun, cover with top half, and enjoy! Makes 8 tidy joes.