Southwestern Sloppy Joes from Prep Ahead Meals From Scratch

We just finished eating the Southwestern Sloppy Joes from our good friend Alea Milham’s brand new cookbook, Prep Ahead Meals From Scratch.  I am super excited to share not only this simple recipe with you but also some reasons you too will love her new cookbook!

Southwestern Sloppy Joes From Prep Ahead Meals From Scratch

Alea has been blogging over at Premeditated Leftovers for several years, and as a military spouse, she knew how hard it is to not only make ends meet but also provide her family with a great nutritious meal.  She quickly learned that having simple ingredients ready to throw together made it a lot easier to make a meal in a hurry while keeping it healthy.

This cookbook is more than just a bunch of recipes.  It is truly a guide to taking back dinner time for your family.  Alea guides you through 6 chapters that include not only recipes but basic tips for how to prep ahead to make creating meals easier.  She includes the classic meats like chicken, beef, and pork as well as vegetables, starches and her own unique blends of pantry staple items like seasoning mixes.  All of her recipes are designed to be quick meals, as well as easy to create with what you already have on hand.

Her method of cooking things in advance and freezing in portion sizes makes it easy to create a meal fast on a busy night.  Yet, this method is not like the freezer meals we have shared with you in the past.  It is all about cooking core ingredients to build recipes around.  Roasting chicken, cooking rice or dry beans in advance and then putting into freezer containers is just the beginning of what she offers along with amazing delicious recipes.

We tried her recipe for Southwestern Sloppy Joes and loved how fast it came together. You can easily us her methods for cooking ground meat and beans in advance to make this healthy and fast to assemble!  We chose some gluten-free buns, but you can use any hamburger or slider bun you prefer!

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Southwestern Sloppy Joes from Prep Ahead Meals From Scratch

Southwestern Sloppy Joes from Prep Ahead Meals From Scratch

Servings 4

Author Alea Milham

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp. 15 ml olive oil
• 1/2 cup 80 g diced onion
• 1/3 cup 50 g diced bell pepper
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1 cup 245 g cooked ground beef
• 1 cup 350 g cooked pinto beans, kidney beans or black beans
• 3/4 cup 180 g tomato sauce
• 1 tbsp 8 g Taco Seasoning Mix
• 4 buns hamburger buns
• slices Sliced cheddar cheese optional
• Shredded lettuce optional
• Tomato slices optional

Instructions

1. Heat the olive oil in a skillet. Add the onion, bell pepper and garlic. Saute until the onion is tender, approximately 5 minutes.
2. Add the ground beef, beans, tomato sauce and taco seasoning. Stir well. Cook over medium heat until the ground beef is heated through.
3. Serve on hamburger buns, topped with the cheese, lettuce and tomato.

We love this simple and delicious recipe, and are sure you will too!  Don’t wait to grab your own copy of this awesome new cookbook, Prep Ahead Meals From Scratch by Alea Milham available on Amazon today!  This cookbook would make a great gift idea for a busy Mom or someone who works.  I hope you enjoy it as much I as do!  If you are looking for a Mother’s Day gift idea this is it!  I give it two thumbs up!

Melissa Jennings

Melissa is a soccer mom who has been married to her best friend for 21 years. She loves sharing recipes, travel reviews and tips that focus on helping busy families make memories.