#350: Magic Meat Sloppy Joes

I stumbled upon this blog and couldn't help but stop to take a look at some of their recipes just based on their blog name.  (Freezer Chicks).  When I went to Sam's Club the other day to get some chicken, I figured I might as well pick up a 5lb pack of ground turkey too.  Big mistake...I'm too tired to want to make anything with it!  But I figured I better just suck it up and start making ground beef meals because I pretty much have our dinner covered for the next 6 weeks now and this just helps fill in some gaps.  Anyway, I came across something called "Magic Meat." Intrigued?  I was!  I was even more intrigued when I realized you make this easy ground beef "filling" and can use it in several different recipes, just changed up a bit.  So I got down to it and started making the "magic meat."  (Brian's odd sense of humor is going to love this one!  Oh, I can hear the comments now).

Well this got about 3.5 stars from our family.  We all thought it was a little too sweet for sloppy joes and tasted more like a spaghetti meat sauce than sloppy j's.  Brian also thought there were too many tomatoes...didn't notice the peppers though!  (Score!)  We have another half batch in the freezer, and will eat it when the time comes on the menu, but this isn't something that I would probably make again.

Magic Meat:
Serving size: this amount of recipe makes enough for 3 recipes. The sauce can be frozen for up to 3 months.

1 T olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
4 gloves garlic, minced
3 pounds lean ground beef or ground turkey
1 t dried basil
1 t dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
3 (28 ounce) cans diced tomatoes
1 (14 ounce) can tomato sauce

Heat the oil in a large stock pot over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and saute for 3 minutes, until soft. Add, beef and cook 5-7 minutes, until browned all over, breaking up the meat as it cooks. Stir in basil, oregano and red pepper flakes.

Add diced tomatoes and tomato sauce; bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low; simmer 10-15 minutes. Remove from heat; set aside. Cool; freeze.

Sloppy Joes:
1 1/2 cups of pre-made Magic Meat (see recipe above)
1/2 cup frozen corn kernels (I omitted, Brian would die if I put corn in his sloppy joes)
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped (I used about 1/3 of a yellow one)
1/2 cup ketchup (I used about 1/4 c because I didn't think it needed it)
1 T Dijon mustard
1 T chili powder
2 t dried basil
1/8 t cayenne pepper (I omitted)
4 Kaiser rolls, halved

Spoon meat sauce into a large saucepan. Add corn, green pepper, ketchup, Dijon, chili powder, basil, and cayenne pepper.  Bring mixture to a simmer. Cook 5-7 minutes, until green pepper is soft & mixture is heated through. Spoon mixture onto rolls and serve hot.