“We haven’t had this in awhile!” LeeLee exclaimed upon coming home from work and peering into the kitchen, eyeing the sloppy Joes simmering on the stovetop. And he’s right – though it’s one of our perennial favorites, we really haven’t given sloppy Joes their due as of late. After mowing down nearly a full pan tonight, I wonder why it’s been placed on the proverbial back burner of late? Who knows. But after tonight’s successful, quick, and tasty dinner, I can already visualize its resurgence this summer!
I put the water on to boil for the mac and “chreese” – one of my favorite boxed vegan mac and cheese products. (I’m all for making my own from scratch, but some nights simply aren’t conducive to it!) As it heated up, I coated a pan with cooking spray and tossed a bag of vegetarian burger crumbles in, flipping the stovetop dial to Medium. To the crumbles I added garlic powder, onion powder, sliced canned mushrooms, and a jar of pizza sauce, stirred everything together, and moved on with my life.
Finally, the water had heated up and I added my box of macaroni, bringing it back to a hearty boil. As the pasta softened, I steamed a bag of mixed vegetables in the microwave (how easy is that? But so tasty!), and by the time the noodles were fully cooked, the veggies were heated through and the sloppy Joe mix had become incredibly flavorful. To the mac and chreese I added some almond milk and the flavor packet, stirred everything together over low heat, and just like that, dinner was ready.
Sadly, we don’t have any leftovers for tomorrow, but for two good reasons – we both came home from work hungry, and the dinner was just that tasty! We loved our sloppy Joes, served atop hamburger onion rolls, and the macaroni and veggies both served as great complements to the main event.
So why DON’T we make this meal more often? Who knows? Rest assured I’ll make up for lost time this summer.
:)