Freezer Meal - Super Sloppy Joe

I think we can all agree that there are three tasks we dread doing everyday.

1. Getting out of our warm comfy bed after the alarm clock wakes us from being sound asleep.

2. Trying to decide what you're going to have for dinner when you're on your way home from work.

3. And then when you think dinner was your biggest task, you realize there is a pile of dishes in the sink.

I can't be the only one who cooks dinner and uses just about every pan in the kitchen, right? Then when dinner is finished, I'm exhausted from the day and just want to enjoy my time with my family. I found a solution to those busy nights!

I spend each Sunday afternoon meal prepping. Usually Saturday mornings before the rest of the family wakes up, I sit down and visit some of my favorite social media pages to get inspiration for next weeks meals. Once I have written down on my calendar what I plan to have each night, I then make a grocery list of all items needed for each recipe. I then go through my cabinets and fridge to see which items I already have. This is a good time to make sure those ingredients aren't expired either! I cross out the items I already have and then I have my list! Sometimes I even rewrite it so it's more organized... yes, I'm my mother's daughter.

One of my favorite go-to recipes is called Super Sloppy Joe!

Yes, it's super sloppy, but man it's delicious.

You can make this recipe in bulk, and then separate the mixture into gallon freezer bags based on your family's size.

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Super Sloppy Joes

Ingredients:

1# Grateful Graze ground beef

1/4 onion, diced

1/2 red bell pepper, diced

1 Tbsp Montreal steak seasoning

1/4 cup brown sugar or 2 Tbsp honey

1 Tbsp red wine vinegar

1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

2 cups tomato sauce

2 Tbsp tomato paste

Directions:

Preheat a medium sized skillet. Add ground beef and brown. About half way through the browning stage, add the onions, peppers and Montreal steak seasoning. Continue to stir occasionally. After 2-3 minutes, add the brown sugar. Once the meat is mostly cooked, add the remaining ingredients; red wine vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, tomato sauce, and tomato paste. Allow to simmer for 5-10 minutes while stirring occasionally. At this point, you can let the mixture cool slightly before serving over some buns or cool completely and then place in freezer gallon bags to pull out on a busy night.

To reheat:

Simply place the bag in the refrigerator the morning before you plan to reheat.

If you didn't plan this far ahead, don't worry!

You can also place the bag in a bowl of warm water for about 10-15 minutes. This will be just enough to separate the meat from the bag so you can then place the meat into a skillet to further warm.