Sloppy Joes

Perhaps one of the best purchases, or worst depending upon how you look at it, was a freezer for the garage.  When we moved into our house we had a pathetic looking, very skinny, side by side refrigerator.  The freezer side was so skinny, David had a hard time getting his beloved frozen pizzas to fit in there (single serving ones too).  When we remodeled the kitchen, we went with a French door model with the freezer on the bottom.  A step up but honestly, as someone who relies heavily on being able to pull meals out of the freezer for the weekdays, it still wasn't enough.

Enter the Freezerator.  David had been coveting this thing from afar for years.  It is actually listed as a garage appliance as it is made specifically for the garage.  The top compartment can be either a refrigerator or a freezer and it boasts a heater so if you do use it as a refrigerator, the contents won't freeze during the Iowa winters.  He finally went ahead and made the purchase when he heard that they were being discontinued.  Best.  Purchase.  Ever.

I went through a spell this Fall where I really wasn't cooking anything.  I was in a cooking funk.  I'd go to the store, buy meat, end up not cooking in and into the freezer it would go.  It got pretty bad around Christmas when I had to convert the top part of said freezer from a refrigerator, because I didn't have room to store my Christmas cookies.  Part of my quest since the beginning of the year has been to cook exclusively from the freezer.  All I've been buying from the grocery store is fresh fruit and vegetables and milk.  It's actually been nice to have $40ish grocery bills for a family of 4!

I pulled a 3 pound package of ground beef out of the freezer on Friday.  Honestly, I have no idea why I purchased a 3 pound package in the first place, but I do know that part of it will be used for a batch of Sloppy Joes.  This is another recipe that come from the cookbook that helped my love my Slow Cooker, The Slow Cooker Revolution.

We really enjoyed this recipe.  Making a panade out of the milk and bread really helps to keep the ground beef soft, especially since I lean towards leaner ground beef that what the recipe calls for.  While there is some prep work involved, I love the fact that I can toss this in the crockpot for 6 - 8 hours and not be tied to the kitchen.  Chop, brown, dump and then be free to referee the arguments all day.  Or maybe catch up on my reading since I upped my Goodreads challenge this year.
                     
Sloppy Joes
Yield:  12 1/2-cup servings

2  slices white bread
1/4 cup whole milk
2 pounds ground beef, 93%
1 tablespoon canola oil
2 small onions -- minced
1 teaspoon chili powder
4 whole garlic cloves -- minced
15 ounces tomato sauce
1 cup ketchup
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce

Mash bread and milk into a paste in large bowl using a fork.  Mix in ground beef, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper using hands.

Heat oil in 12-inch skillet over medium high heat until shimmering.  Add onions, garlic and chili powder and cook until onions are softened and lightly browned, 8 to 10 minutes.

Stir in beef mixture, 1 pound at a time and cook, breaking up any large pieces until no longer pink, about 3 minutes.  Stir in 1 cup tomato sauce, scraping up any browned bits; transfer to slow cooker.

Stir remaining tomato sauce, ketchup, sugar and hot sauce into slow cooker.  Cover and cook until beef is tender, 6 to 8 hours on low or 3 to 5 hours on high.

Let meat mixture settle for 5 minutes, then remove fat from the surface using a large spoon.  Break up any remaining large pieces of beef with spoon.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Spoon mixture onto buns and serve.