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• 3/4 lb italian sausage, taken out of the casing
• 1 onion, diced fine
• 1 yellow or orange bell pepper, diced fine
• 3 tsp of minced garlic
• 3 tsp tomato paste
• 3/4 cup dry white wine
• 2 cans diced tomatoes with the juice
• crushed red pepper to taste
• handful of chopped parsley
• Whole Grain penne noodles, cooked al dente

1. Brown the sausage for about 5 minutes
2. Add onion and pepper to saute pan and cook till tender, about another 2-3 minutes.  
3. Add garlic and tomato paste and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. 
4. Add wine to deglaze the pan.  Then turn heat to high and cook off most of the wine.  
5. Add diced tomatoes with juice and simmer till the sauce has thickened. 
6. Serve over a warm bowl of noodles and pair with a nice crisp green salad.  

Love Sloppy Joes but don't dare give them to your kids because of all the messy sauce? I agree! So, here's our favorite sloppy joe dish - still lots of great taste but with a much more manageable sauce level.  The kids can easily pick up their buns to scarf it down and you don't have to watch Fido licking all the sauce off of the chairs and floor afterwards. And, for an extra perk, I add finely diced green peppers for an extra surprise veggie serving - my kids have never known the difference!

* Note, we love ground beef in our house but you can easily swap out ground turkey for a leaner recipe

SLOPPY JOES

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1/4 green pepper, diced
• 1/2 small onion, diced
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp yellow mustard
• pepper to taste

1. Add ground beef, green pepper and onion to a non-stick skillet and cook until beef is browned.
2. Mix in the remaining ingredients.  Simmer for 25-30 minutes, stirring occassionally.
3. Serve on a whole wheat bun with your favorite side dishes.

Bon Appetit!