Not-from-a-can Sloppy Joes

This is a recipe my wife makes for us when we want some quick grub! Most of the ingredients are usually in most kitchens. Fast, delicious, and able to be customized to your liking. Note that the only real prep you'll need is to dice up the green bell pepper.

Here are the ingredients that you'll need:

Burger buns

1 1/2 pounds of lean ground beef

1 cup of Ketchup

BBQ sauce, whichever brand you prefer/ have on hand

1 heaping tablespoon of Tomato paste

Half of a Green Bell Pepper, diced finely

1 teaspoon Garlic powder

Spices (I.E. Salt, Black Pepper, Celery Salt, Crushed Red Pepper Flakes...) *optional*

Sliced Cheese *optional*

First, take the ground beef and place it in a large sauce pan at medium heat with a little bit of oil. Brown the meat until all of it has crumbled and pinkness is gone.

Turn off the stove and drain the liquid from the pan. Return to stove, turn your burner back on to medium, and add the garlic powder and your diced green bell pepper. At this point, you may also add salt, black pepper or any other spices you like!

Now add in the tomato paste and ketchup. Set the burner on low. Stir the ketchup and tomato paste into the beef/pepper mixture until combined.

With the ketchup and paste mixed it, it's time to add some BBQ sauce! There aren't any real measurements for the sauce, just start with a little first. At this point, you may also add more ketchup, spices, or BBQ sauce to your liking.

Finally, assemble your sandwich! You can toast your buns, or not. You can add cheese, or not. The choice is yours! (However, the hot sloppy joe mixture will melt the cheese and make it even more sloppy; not a bad choice!) Enjoy!