Sloppy Joe Lettuce Cups

I wanted sloppy joes for dinner.  I didn't have enough time to make them.  I normally make my sauce from scratch, and it's an all day simmering process.  It is delicious.  I don't use any "prepared" anything.  From the tomatoes to the green pepper, it is from scratch.  (Okay, sometimes I use canned tomatoes, but that's it!)

This time, I had about an hour to make dinner and so I needed to use some helps.  However, those helps, like BBQ sauce and Ketchup are loaded with sugar.  So I decided to compromise.  I added extra veggies to the mixture and ate it in lettuce cups instead of on bread or in buns.  I may not go back to buns.  Lettuce cups do not gets soggy or mushy.  They add a nice healthy sounding crunch, and they allow the filling to be the star. 

After my first cup, I was afraid that I wouldn't be satisfied.  It tasted good, but I just felt the loss of the bread.  After the 2nd lettuce cup, I was stuffed and happy.  This is a taste transition, but it was a really fast transition.  :)

Here is the recipe.

They look good, right?  Yeah! They're good.

Dice this.  Make sure you add the carrots.  You can shred them instead of the julienne  cut that I used. Shredding hides the carrots from husbands and children better.  You can also use a yellow onion instead of red.  I just use what I have.  Normally I would add green pepper too, but I was out.

Fry up with 1 lb of ground beef or ground turkey.

add a tsp. minced garlic, 1 1/2 - 2 tsp. chili powder, 1 tsp (or less) celery salt, and a sprinkling of basil leaves. Cook meat thoroughly and drain.

 

Okay- here are my cheats, a can of tomato soup, some BBQ sauce and mustard.  Most recipes call for powdered mustard.  I never have it.  So I always just use my trusty French's mustard.  I've never had any complaints.  You are going to add the entire can of soup, 2-3 TBL mustard, and enough BBQ sauce to make things good and wet. Add these to your cooked meat and stir over medium heat until everything is combined and warmed.  

Serve in your favorite sturdy lettuce leaves, (washed, of course). I used Romaine. Not bad for less than an hour. :)