Happy Friday friends!
I hope you enjoyed following us on our trip across country (catch it here, here, here, and here if you missed out!), but now its time to finally get back into the normal swing of things.
My first priority when we moved in was getting the kitchen set-up and functional as soon as possible. I knew from the pictures I’d seen that it was going to be the tiniest kitchen we’ve ever had with barely any counter space, so I came prepared to to turn it a space that would work for both our daily and blogging needs.
Though the kitchen lacks counter space, the adjacent laundry room has tons of storage and wall space, so we set up a few racks inside for a nice pantry/laundry combo–maybe not the ideal solution, but it works. We also ended up purchasing the kitchen cart below to create a little extra counter space for prep work.
Of course, when we went to make our first somewhat-from-scratch dinner (can you guess what it was? I’ll give you a hint–refried beans were definitely involved!), we realized only one burner worked! Luckily it was one of the larger ones in the front, but still–how do you cook with just one burner?? It’s possible, but let me just say that it takes a lot longer to cook dinner! I feel like we’re living with a hot plate!
Despite our lack of kitchen essentials, we still managed to cook some decent meals for you, one of them being these (one pan) Spicy Jalapeno Sloppy Joes. We had been totally drained from moving, so a quick, dare I say comfort food meal was definitely in order. These turned out soo good, definitely different than the other Joes we’ve made it the past. Plus, they were the first meal created using Blacksburg Farmer’s Market finds!
Hopefully our stove will be fixed soon!
Spicy Jalapeno Sloppy Joes
Serves 4
Ingredients:
4 sourdough rolls
1 package ground turkey
1/2 onion, chopped
1 small jalapeno, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
3/4 can tomato paste
1 teaspoon whole grain mustard
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 cup water
1/2 cup ketchup
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
salt
pepper
Steps:
Heat olive oil in large pan over medium heat. Add turkey meat and cook, stirring constantly and breaking up into smaller pieces with spatula, until turkey is cooked all the way through.
Add onions, peppers, and garlic. Saute until onions become translucent, about 2-3 minutes.
Add tomato paste and water, and mix to combine. Simmer for 5 minutes.
Stir in vinegar, ketchup, mustard, and salt and pepper to taste.
Toast rolls, add sloppy joe mixture, and enjoy!
Time: 25 minutes
