Sloppy Joes and Tater Puffs

I am behind on my posts so I'm going to post two this morning to catch up. So first off, we're halfway through the week! Oh praise be! I hope your week is treating you well thus far and if it isn't, well there's only 2 more days to get through not counting today so keep moving forward!


The weather in Raleigh went from a gorgeous 83 degrees on Sunday (yes you read that correctly, 83 degrees in early February, welcome to the South), to highs in the high 40s. To combat this alarming and abrupt change, I wanted to make a dish that was comforting a warm. I settled on a childhood classic: Sloppy Joes.


I remember eating Sloppy Joes as a kid but these were no canned mess, they were 100% homemade with all the fresh flavors to prove it so you better believe I was going to make these puppies from scratch. I consulted my go-to kitchen guru: Food Network.


This recipe was adapted from Rachael Ray's recipe which you can find here.


Sloppy Joes

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 1/4 lb ground beef
1/4 C brown sugar
1 Tbsp steak seasoning
1 onion, chopped
1 1/2 green bell peppers, seeded and chopped
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 C tomato sauce (I mistakenly only grabbed 8 oz of sauce at Aldi so I improvised with leftover marinara from Papa Murphy's cheesy bread and filled the remainder in with tomato basil marinara)
2 Tbsp tomato paste
One or two dashes of hot sauce, optional
4 crusty rolls for serving.


Brown ground beef in a skillet with the olive oil over medium-high. Mix together brown sugar and steak seasoning and add to the beef.


After the beef is fully browned, reduce the heat to medium and sauté the onions and peppers, adding in the vinegar and Worcestershire. Cook for 5 minutes.


Add the tomato sauce and paste and simmer the mixture for 5 minutes and there you have it! Sloppy Joes. This recipe was easy-peasy and the first bite immediately took me back to my childhood happily munching on these delicious sandwiches without care. Ah, these are truly great. Another win for Mrs. Ray!


I served these sandwiches with another childhood classic: TATER PUFFS!


You may be wondering why isn't she calling them "tots"? Well, my dear readers Nate and I discovered that "Tater Tots" is a term trademarked by the Ore-Ida company. Haven't you ever wondered why the generic brand tots have cute little euphemisms like "puffs", "gems" or "rounds"? Well, now you know why and can impress your friends and colleagues with your new tater-centric knowledge. I didn't make these puffs, I pulled them from a supermarket shelf and followed the package instructions but they became an excellent vehicle for the sloppy filling that escaped the buns.