Sloppy Joe Mac "Slops"

This is a quick and easy, healthy dinner your kids are sure to love (even my picky 35-year old loves it ;) ...actually, he's the one who came up with it)! One of the first meals Brian cooked for me was his rendition of sloppy joes on macaroni. Since I do almost all of the cooking, Brian was extremely protective over the making of "his" dinner and wouldn't allow me to do much more than watch, shooing me away when my hands got twitchy and instinctively reached for the spatula. I managed to exercise some self-control the first couple of times he made it, but with a bit more persistence and a lot of stealth ninja moves, I managed to completely hijack the making of slops (and healthified and spicified it)! This recipe is my rendition of his rendition of sloppy joe mac.

Serves 4

• 1 small onion
• 1 small zucchini
• 1/2 bell pepper
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1 1/2 lbs extra lean ground beef
• 454 gr macaroni (sneak in whole wheat if possible)
• 1 can tomato soup
• 1 can vegetable tomato soup
• 1 pkg sloppy joe seasoning
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• 1 tsp ground pepper
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp dried parsley 
• 1 tsp extra hot red chili powder
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/2 cup water, or as needed

Start by dicing the onion, zucchini and pepper. Feel free to incorporate any of your favorite veggies, or whatever you have kickin around in the fridge, into the mix. 

Measure out the frozen peas and corn and set aside to thaw.  

Place extra lean ground beef directly on a frying pan that has a lid (to be used later). Do NOT add oil to pan. Cook over med-high heat until beef is no longer pink. Drain all excess oil from pan. 

Add both cans of soup and all the seasoning to the beef, stirring to mix well. Add all of the vegetables, along with half a cup of water, and stir again to mix. Reduce heat to low, cover and let simmer for 20min. Stir occasional to avoid sticking to the bottom. Add small amounts of water as needed if it looks dry. 

Bring water to boil in a large pot. Cook macaroni per package instructions. Strain. 

Serve sloppy joe mix on top of macaroni, under macaroni, or mixed into macaroni!