Sloppy Joes (Aimee’s version)

I know sloppy joes are pretty simple, but until about 2 1/2 weeks ago I had never made them before. I looked up probably 6 different Sloppy Joe recipes and then made sure to ask my mom what she put in hers. Although her text message consisted of onion, ground beef, tomato sauce, mustard, BBQ sauce, brown sugar. No amounts. So I took the average of the amounts from other recipes. And magically the amounts from Mom’s version turned out almost identical to mine. But I added a couple extra things that she didn’t add. And I think it turned out pretty great.  So here’s my version of Sloppy Joes. (You could probably cut the recipe in half because this made quite a bit of meat — together there were 5 sandwiches eaten and more than that much got frozen)

1 medium onion, diced
1 medium green pepper, diced
1 1/2 TBS garlic
2 lbs ground beef
8 oz tomato sauce
1 TBS mustard
1/2 cup bbq sauce
1/2 cup bacon bits
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup ketchup
hamburger buns

1. Saute onion, green pepper and garlic in a large pan over medium heat.
2. In another pan brown the ground beef.
3. Once ground beef is browned add it to the sauteed onion, pepper and garlic.
4. Add tomato sauce, mustard, BBQ sauce, bacon bits, brown sugar and ketchup.
5. Simmer for 10 -15 minutes until flavors are blended and sauce is the right consistency.
6. Top bottom half of burger bun with meaty blend, and cover with second half of bun.
7. Enjoy. 

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