Sloppy Joes and Mock Mashed Potatoes

If you have trouble getting veggies into your kids, then this is the meal for you!

This was probably the first time I ever made dinner and had no starch/grain side dish. I wasn't sure how well it would go over, considering this meal is about 65% vegetables. 

Shhhhh, I won't tell if you don't.

When I was making this, it reminded me of a cookbook that I have called Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld. It's full of recipes that she hides vegetables in by pureeing them.

These Clean Sloppy Joes are loaded with veggies and taste! 

This was another recipe from the kids' Mayo Clinic cookbook, but I tweaked it to make it totally clean. 

Brown the meat with onion and green peppers.

From what I understand about clean eating, when it comes to meat it's all your own discretion. The main thing is to watch the fat content. Our family has decided to cut back on red meat...but not cut out. (We like our steak) We have always eaten ground turkey so we use a lot of that and we have added more fish to our menu. I'm also learning that there are plenty of other ways to get protein other than meat, such as beans. As I learn more, I'll share it here. 

For this purpose I used ground turkey. 

Combine all the ingredients, bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes.

I have not ventured into baking my own buns yet, but it is on the to-do list. Since I didn't have any homemade buns, I just bought whole wheat buns. We are still new to the clean eating way of life and it's taking a while to fully get on board. We live on a budget, like most of America, so I have a certain amount for groceries every month. I have been slowly replacing the old with the new every time I get groceries and trying to learn what ingredients I need to have on hand at all times. It is definitely a time-consuming and involved process, but I really am enjoying it! And someday I'll get to those homemade buns. 

For the mock-mashed potatoes there is only one secret. It's not potatoes. 

It's cauliflower. 

Steam Cauliflower until soft and tender.

I know a lot of people have heard of these or have tried them, but we hadn't yet. There are lots of recipes out there for them, but this one that I made was SO good! Cheesy, garlicky, delicious, and so easy to make. 

Mash the cauliflower, then mix in cheese and garlic powder.

Ok, ok, enough with the chit-chat, on to the recipes...right?

Sloppy Joes

• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 medium green pepper, chopped
• 1 zucchini, grated
• 1 lb ground turkey
• 1 15oz can diced tomatoes, no salt added, undrained
• 1 TBSP chili powder
• 1 Tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp minced garlic
• 4 TBSP tomato paste
• pepper to taste

Brown turkey, onion, and green pepper in a skillet. Once fully cooked, drain fat.

Add tomatoes, chili powder, paprika, garlic and pepper. Stir together. Then stir in zucchini. Turn heat to medium, put lid on and bring mixture to a boil.

Once boiling, add tomato paste. Turn heat to low and let simmer for 5 minutes. Stir and serve.

Mock-Mashed Potatoes

I made this recipe to feed 4.

• 1 head Cauliflower, steamed until soft
• 1 cup Non-fat Cottage Cheese
• 1 cup shredded Romano cheese (or Parmesean or Asiago)
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder

Steam cauliflower until it is soft. If you are serving this with the sloppy joes, you can do this while your meat mixture is coming to a boil.

Mash cauliflower in a bowl. Add cottage cheese, Romano cheese, and garlic. stir/mash together. 

I sprinkled some dried parsley on top for looks. It made it look more like potatoes!

Here is the Original Recipe. This says that if you blend everything in a kitchen appliance the consistency is more runny. That's why I just mashed it with a potato masher. We like ours lumpy. 

The Sloppy Joes and Cauliflower were all we had for dinner that night, and it was plenty. It was all so tasty and filling that we were happy to just have seconds. 

And the best part? No one felt like they HAD to eat their vegetables.