{ Turkey Sloppy Joes }

Yippee skippee--it's still snowing!!

After taking a break for the night, fluffy white flakes have been coming down steadily all morning. There are a couple inches on the ground here, with more predicted for tomorrow. The local school district is closed today, and kids are out sledding on the golf course behind our condo complex. It's just dreamy. {Especially since I have nowhere else I have to be, and we're good on groceries for the rest of the week.} This morning, in an unexpected burst of baker-ism--brought on, I think, by the enforced domesticity of the snow and no car--I spontaneously made raspberry muffins, and last night, I curled up on the couch and did some knitting while listening to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer from Books Should Be Free. I only recently discovered this treasure trove of thousands of free audiobooks--what an amazing resource! I'm not a fast reader, and if I can do something like knit or iron or clean the bathroom while someone reads to me, I'm on it! Unfortunately I think that's the only way I'm going to make significant progress on the list of books I want to consume.

This snowy, housebound weather has me thinking of warm, cozy foods: freshly baked muffins, hot tea, sloppy joes...and I have the perfect sloppy joes recipe to share with you. Recently my mom gave me a gift subscription to Taste of Home's Healthy Cooking magazine. It's the second time she's done so, and I am continuing to find it a treasure trove of great recipes. Since I've been nauseous for the better part of the last ten weeks, especially with any kind of food preparation, and especially especially with meat, I'm on the lookout for easy recipes with a lot of protein. Did you know that a pregnant woman is supposed to consume at least 90 grams of protein per day, and that poor protein intake may be linked to development of toxemia and pre-eclampsia? Yikes! So I was really happy to find this recipe for turkey sloppy joes that looked easy and delicious. And let me tell you--it definitely is! Tangy, with a bit of a bite, and slightly sweet, this is much more flavorful than I expected sloppy joes to be.

Turkey Sloppy Joes

source

Serves 8

~ 1 lb lean ground turkey

~ 1 small onion, chopped

~ 1/2 cup chopped celery

~ 1/4 cup chopped green pepper

~ 1 can {10 3/4 oz} reduced-sodium condensed tomato soup, undiluted

~ 1/2 cup ketchup

~ 2 Tbsp. prepared mustard

~ 1 Tbsp. brown sugar

~ 1/4 tsp. pepper

~ 8 hamburger buns, split

In a large skillet coated with cooking spray, cook the turkey, onion, celery and green pepper over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the soup, ketchup, mustard, brown sugar and pepper. Transfer to a 3-qt. slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours. Serve on buns.

 The only modification I made was to use an entire bell pepper {red, since it was much cheaper than green}. The extra veggie content didn't deter even Mike from wolfing down his dinner. I hope you all enjoy these sloppy joes as much as we are!