Sloppy Joes

                                                            Recipe from melskitchencafe.com
*Makes 8-12 Sloppy Joes

2 Tbsp canola oil
2 onions, roughly chopped
2 1/2 lbs ground beef (preferably 93% lean  or greater)
2 Tbsp tomato paste
2/3 c smoky BBQ sauce (or whatever BBQ sauce is in your fridge)
1/2 c ketchup
1/4 c Worcestershire sauce
1/4 c soy sauce
Freshly ground black pepper (I just did a dash of black pepper)
8-12 rolls

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the onions and cook, stirring, until they start to turn translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the beef and cook, stirring and breaking up the meat, until it is finely crumbled, the liquid boils off and the meat begins to brown, about 10 minutes. Drain the grease off the meat and onions.  Stir in the tomato paste, and keep stirring until the meat is coated. Add the BBQ sauce, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, and pepper, and bring to a boil. Cook until the sauce is slightly thickened, 4-5 minutes.  You can make the sloppy joe meat up to 2 days in advance and reheat it over low heat or in the microwave.

Wrap the rolls in aluminum foil and warm in the oven for about 10 minutes.  Serve the sloppy joes hot with the warmed rolls.

*Freezable Meal:  The leftover sloppy joe meat can be frozen. Store it in a freezer-safe container and then thaw in the refrigerator prior to serving.  Reheat on medium-low in a saucepan on the stove.

*Note:  When I made these, I wanted to cut down on the meat, so I did a pound of lean ground beef and cooked 1 c of quinoa and added it at the very end.  My husband said he couldn't even tell there was quinoa in it by taste, although it does look a little bit different. See if you can tell from the picture! I also only used about 1/8 c soy sauce. I used Mel's recipe for French Bread Rolls for this recipe and they were delicious.