Sloppy Joes and Cornbread

Cooking for myself is great for a lot of reasons. I get to control how healthy and nutritious my food is and I get to pick stuff that I love to eat. Growing up, I really loved sloppy joes. I never got to eat it at home, just occasionally whenever my school cafeteria happened to serve them. There is something I've noticed about the recipe though. A sloppy joe is made as if you took the inside of a hamburger, (onions, ketchup, mustard, and beef), put it in a blender, and then put it back onto a bun. No wonder they taste so good :). Anyhow, if you're going to do sloppy joes, which are quintessentially American, might as well serve it with a slice of cornbread. Some recipes online even suggest serving the sloppy joe mixture over the cornbread! Below are recipes for my take on sloppy joes and for honey butter to serve on your cornbread.

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Sloppy Joes

Serves 5.

1 pound of extra lean ground beef
1 whole green pepper, finely chopped
1/2 a large yellow onion, finely chopped
6 oz can of tomato sauce, no salt added
1 cup of ketchup
2 tbsp. spicy sweet mustard
1/4 tsp. pepper
salt to taste
5 whole wheat hamburger buns

Spray skillet with nonfat cooking spray. Cook green pepper and onion. Add ground beef and break up the beef while cooking until beef is crumbly. While the beef, peppers, and onion are cooking on the stove, combine the remaining ingredients into a large bowl and mix thoroughly. As soon as beef is no longer pink, add the sauce and simmer for 10 minutes.


Cornbread with Honey Butter

1 9x9 inch pan
1 package of Marie Calendar's Original Corn Bread Mix
1 15 oz. can of whole kernel corn
4 tbsp honey
4 tbsp Smart Balance (or butter)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Follow directions on the back of the package for the recipe containing real corn (it tastes better!).

Stir equal parts honey with equal parts smart balance in a separate bowl until fluffy. Voila! Instant honey butter. It is a divine combination :)