Super Bowl Recipe Rescues

The Super Bowl is less than a week away. I’ve had many women come up to me at the gym who are concerned about what to serve at their hubby’s party that will please the guys and not undo all of their hard work in the gym. No fear my friends, I’ll be posting nothing but recipes  this week that will make the guys feel like they are eating “man food” while ensuring that you don’t have to go to the gym the next day with an exercise to do list longer than your arm to work it all off!

Today’s recipe is a healthy and different twist on  traditional sloppy joes. I was in the middle of making sloppy joes one night for the kids when I realized I didn’t have chili sauce in the pantry like I thought I did. I had already chopped the onion and green pepper and had put them in the pan to brown with the turkey, so I had to regroup fairly quickly. I looked through the fridge and pantry quickly and had to change gears only slightly. I didn’t say a word to the kids, made it look like I had created this masterpiece before them on purpose, all planned out and everything. THEY LOVED THEM!!! I even earned a “Mom, you’re the best” that night! Total bonus!

Pizza Joes

• 1 1/2 lbs. 97% fat free ground turkey breast
• 1 1/2  medium onions, chopped
• 1 1/2  medium green peppers, chopped
• 1  (14 oz.) jar of pizza sauce
• 60-70 slices of turkey pepperoni, quartered
• 1 can medium olives, sliced
• 1 can diced tomatoes, drained  (Italian style)
• 3/4 tsp. basil
• 1/2 tsp. oregano
• 1/2 tsp. fennel seeds
• 8 Tbs. shredded mozzarella cheese
• 8 whole wheat hamburger buns

Place ground turkey in a skillet over medium heat, add chopped onion and pepper and cook until meat is no longer pink and begins to brown. Stir in the pizza sauce, drained tomatoes, olives  and the quartered pepperoni as well as the basil, oregano and fennel seeds. Simmer over low heat about 10-12 minutes or until mixture thickens slightly.

Place  the bottom of the 8 hamburger buns on a cookie sheet and spoon mixture  onto each bun until mixture is evenly distributed. Sprinkle each with 1 Tbs. of the shredded mozzarella and place underneath a preheated  broiler for about 1 minute or until cheese is melted. Remove from oven and top with the remaining top half of each bun. Serve immediately.

You may not earn a “Mom, you’re the best” but hearing one of your hubby’s friends say, “Dude, these joes are tasty!   You’re wife is the bomb!” might be just as nice! And who knows, maybe with ten to twelve men in the house you can get at least one of them to take out the garbage?!