Sunday, July 27, 2014

Sunday Surprise: Low Sodium Sloppy Joes!

Greetings Pinstrosipeeps!

Hope you're well this fine Sunday afternoon. Today, I've got a a recipe and a Pin Spin for you. Rob (my darling boyfriend) has to keep to a strict low sodium diet due to a couple of health issues. As something of a foodie, this was devastating for him initially; he was completely convinced that he would have to suffer through boring salads everyday for the rest of his life. 

Confession time: I have been somewhat disappointed with the low sodium recipe options available on Pinterest. Often, I found that recipes that were tagged as "low sodium" were either 1. Not "low sodium" enough, or 2. Not low sodium at all. After finding so many "fake out" recipes, I kind of gave up on Pinterest for the low sodium stuff, especially since we have found a number of cool websites on the interwebs; our favorites being Low Sodium Cooking and Sodium Girl. I highly recommend either of this websites if you're looking for some new low sodium recipes. Seriously, yum!

Since Rob's formerly beloved Manwich is no longer on the table (seriously, there was more sodium in one can of that stuff than Rob can eat in an entire day), we had to figure out what kind of sloppy joes he could eat. Secretly, Rob was convinced that low sodium sloppy joes would be a total flop, but he played nice while I researched a recipe. 

I settled on Low Sodium Cooking's Sloppy Joe Recipe. I whipped it up before Rob got home one evening (surprise surprise) and after tasting them, boy had Rob's tune changed. 

I gotta tell you, we were both pretty impressed with how it came out. Even considering that the original recipe is cooked in a crock pot, and we just did it on the stove. 

We've made some adjustments to the recipe in the few times that we've made it since, and now, I think it's about PERFECT. Seriously, Rob sings SNL's Sloppy Joe tune every time I make them. Now, I will tell you, these sloppy joes are on the saucy side. If you don't like a lot of excess sauce, you may want to cut back on the ketchup a smidge.

I shan't make you wait any longer-- let's get crackin' with this recipe:

Ingredients:

  • 1 package of ground turkey -- the Jennie-O ones are about a pound and a quarter
  • 1/3 of white onion, chopped (or, you can add more you your liking, I kind of eyeball it every time I make this recipe)
  • 1 - 14 oz bottle of no salt ketchup
  • 1 tablespoon white vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • 1 tablespoon Low Sodium Worcestershire Sauce
  • 1 tablespoon classic yellow mustard
  • 1 tablespoon honey mustard
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

All of the wet ingredients

The dry ingredients

See? I only used a bit of onion. Based on your taste, I'm sure plenty more could be added.

Instructions:
1. Put ground turkey in pan and cook until it is no longer pink.

2. Chop onion (I use a Ninja food processor) and add it to the turkey while it cooks. 

Turkey and onion

3. While the turkey/onion is cooking, mix up your ingredients.

Ingredients in a bowl

Got a little mix action going on here

4. When the turkey is fully cooked, drain the excess oil, then return it to the stove

5. Turn the burner down to Low and add the sauce to the turkey and onion.

Here we go!

6. Mix the turkey into the sauce completely and allow it to simmer for 20 minutes until your hungry significant other starts eating it out of the pan.

If our computers had smell-o-vision, y'all would be lovin' this right now.
I always cover the pan, just in case. Also, I like to think it keeps Rob from picking at it (it doesn't).

8. Serve and enjoy. I find that this makes about 4 to 5 servings, depending on how much sloppy joe you put on your sandwich.

Seriously, hope you guys find this to be totally tasty. I bet no one would know they were low sodium if you didn't tell them. Shhhhh... it will be our little secret. 

But wait, there's more! Have you all seen this pin?

http://picturetherecipe.com/index.php/tips-and-tricks/storing-ground-meat/

Well, I attempted it for the sloppy joes. I would recommend until they've cooked down completely (I'm impatient and didn't wait), because the sauce is more likely to stay where you put it. It was a bit of a fight, at first, because the sauce just wanted to do what it wanted. But, I made it work:




Ultimately, I had to place a chopstick in the freezer with the bag to keep the main seam. See here:


But, otherwise, this worked great! I had to bend the bag a little bit to break the pieces off, but the bag didn't tear, so everything seemed a-okay.


Rob even took one for lunch!
Have a wonderful weekend everyone! If you have any low sodium recipes, definitely let me know!
Much love, from my kitchen to yours,
Rachel

3 comments:

  1. Sounds delish! I made the switch to ground turkey last year and now I use it exclusively in place of ground beef. It's really good. The ground breast is expensive but I get the 93% lean and it's just as good.

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  2. For the freeze and divide option, I'd freeze it partially, then mark the lines and continue freezing.

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  3. If someone has to exclude all added sodium, you can sub out the two mustards with mustard powder, the honey and a little vinegar or water. Start with only a teaspoon of mustard powder, add the honey and enough vinegar/water to make the two tablespoons. I like the taste of mixing my own mustard better than prepared, especially in that I can adjust the tang.

    Be careful with the mustard, though. It can be really hot if not careful.

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