Sometimes, I pretend I’m on a cooking show.

Oh, c’mon.  You know you do it too.

Cooking is one of my favourite things to do, and there’s nothing I enjoy more than puttering around my kitchen, talking to myself as though I’m a real-life world-famous chef on a cooking show.  Giving directions to my “audience”.

Now you’re going to want to use your sharpest knife for this, and be sure to chop up the onion as finely as you can.

I even sometimes do this with Kraft Dinner.  It depends on your preference how much milk and margarine you add.  Some like it really soupy, so in that case you’ll add extra milk.  I personally like it thickened up, so I minimize the milk and margarine to give it a nice, creamy consistency.

Oh, I can turn anything into a cooking show.

Ever since Lena at Mom2MemphisAndRuby posted about Diet Coke Sloppy Joes, I knew I wanted to try it.  Lena got the recipe here, but I added a few little twists of my own.  This was DELICIOUS, so I wanted to share it with you!

What you’ll need:

16oz extra lean ground beef (or whatever you use. You could also use ground turkey, but as you know, I’m still trying to develop a “taste” for it and I just couldn’t risk using it in sloppy joes!)
1 cup Diet Coke  (or Diet Pepsi.  I’m a Diet Pepsi girl.)
2/3 cup ketchup
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp mustard

I also added a bunch of fresh garlic, onion, peppers, and carrots in an effort to get my veggies in, of course!

Directions:

If you’re using the onions, garlic, carrots, peppers, or any other veggies, go ahead and cook them in a bit of oil (I used Extra Virgin Olive Oil) to soften them up first.

Brown ground beef & drain.  Add to the veggies, if you’re using them.

Add the rest of the ingredients and stir well.

Cook on low-medium 30 minutes or so uncovered so sauce can thicken.

This picture may not do it justice, but trust me.  SO GOOD.  Best Sloppy Joes I’ve ever tasted!  I ate mine open-faced on a piece of Country Harvest Ancient Grain toast instead of a bun, but I would also eat it again on it’s own without bread.  (Trying to cut bread out as much as possible.)  I paired it with the Swiss Chard I had sauteed in olive oil and garlic the night before.  Looks gross, but also quite yummy.  At least for “healthy food”.  It would also be great with a side salad or baked potato wedges.

Number of servings = 4
WW points = 6

So thanks for dropping by Jill’s Grill (this is the name of my fake diner/restaurant/chipstand/whatever – thanks to my friend Susie for coining that one for me!!) 

Be sure to come back next week when we’ll be cooking something else…who knows, might just be the good ol’ KD!!  (Actually, I’m not even joking.  I bought a box of the “Smart” KD.   I may have to do a review.  I’m not convinced that KD can be healthy.)