How To Get Rid Of The Spins

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My mom cooked dinner. (In case you missed it, there was a discussion some weeks ago when my mom refused to be bullied in her own kitchen into preparing food for the family.) I think this was a special case, born out of extreme hunger. For reasons any Weight-Watchers follower will understand (weigh-in night), my mom had nearly starved herself all day. When she got home at 5:30 and found me elbow-deep in Easter-egg dye, she pulled out all the ingredients for a healthier version of sloppy Joes and got cooking.

It's another recipe from the Shortcuts cookbook she picked up at a meeting, and I'm really starting to like that book. All the recipes have pretty short ingredients lists and three steps or fewer. Dinner was ready in about 15 minutes, which is pretty important when you're trying to convince a starving dieter that cooking dinner is a better idea than the drive-through window.

This is not an entirely faithful rendition of the recipe in the book, so I won't presume to know the points; we used more ground beef and more vegetables and a different kind of cheese than the recipe instructed. She started by browning a pound of ground beef, then threw in a 16-oz bag of frozen peas and carrots, a 6-oz can of tomato paste, 1 1/3 cups water and a sloppy Joe seasoning packet. Let it all bubble together while I helped assemble and toast the buns: 2 whole wheat rolls, split, each half covered in sprinkle cheese (which I'm really growing to DISlike; it melts like plastic and kind of smells like it, too) and broiled until the edges are toasted and the cheese melts. Top with the meat mixture and eat with a knife and fork. Kind of takes the "sloppy" out of it, I know, but this way you're only eating half a bun.

I'm going to try the leftover meat mixture stirred into my son's Spider Man macaroni and cheese. Meaty mac should be good, right?

I like the idea of having a bunch of browned meat ready to go; this recipe starts with a ground beef base that would be good in tacos, chili or pasta sauce. I've also included another recipe for a new spin on sloppy Joes and a sandwich idea (from a no-cook recipes story) that has nothing in common with the traditional Joe but the name.

Chili on the Half-Shell

Two-Bean Sloppy Joes

Smokey Joe Clubs

Do you have any old favorites you've altered so they're healthier? Tell us about them in the comments. — Kim Walker

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