Tag Archives: lunch

Crock Pot Italian Sloppy Joe

Turkey sausage, peppers and onions slow cooked in the crock pot with crushed tomatoes and spices for an easy weeknight meal. Serve this on a roll with baby spinach and melted cheese if desired for a sloppy yet delicious sandwich.

This is good stuff! We all gave it a thumbs up, and I will surely be making this again. Next time I may even serve this over spaghetti squash or pasta.

For those of you on Weight Watchers, the filling alone is 4 points plus, with the bun and cheese it comes to 8 for a filling complete meal; perfect for lunch or dinner. This is easy, inexpensive and perfect for football; you can double the recipe for more servings. If you want to do this on the stove top, simply simmer in a heavy pot for 30 minutes.

For a more traditional Sloppy Joe, made on the stove, try my Skinny Sloppy Joe Recipe! And for those of you who don’t have access to turkey or chicken sausage, you can easily make your own with this recipe, homemade turkey sausage.

I’ve been getting so many emails asking me what slow cooker I use, I’ve had many bad experiences with crock pots cooking to hot and turning out strange tasting food… but my current Slow Cooker, the Hamilton Beach Set and Forget 6 Quart Slow Cooker is great and I’ve had good results each time. I’m sure there may be others that are just as good, but I can only vouch for this one.

Zuzu’s Notes: We serve ours on Sandwich Thins, which brings the Old Weight Watchers Points to 5pts per sandwich

Crock Pot Italian Sloppy Joe
Skinnytaste.com
Servings: 6 • Size: 1 sandwich • Old Points: 6 pts • Weight Watchers Points+: 8 pts*
Calories: 316 • Fat: 11.4 g • Protein: 27 g • Carb: 27.4 g • Fiber: 14 g • Sugar: 7.6 g
Sodium: 461.5 mg (without the salt)

*without cheese: 6 pts plus • filling only: 4 pts plus

Ingredients:

1 lb Italian turkey sausage, removed from casing
1/2 cup chopped onions
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 red bell pepper, chopped in 1/2-inch pieces
1 green bell pepper, chopped in 1/2-inch pieces
1 1/3 cups crushed tomatoes (Tutorosso)
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
salt and fresh cracked pepper, to taste

For serving:

6 whole wheat 100 calorie potato rolls**
6 slices reduced fat provolone (Sargento)
1 cup baby spinach

Directions:

In a medium non-stick skillet, cook the sausage over medium-high heat, breaking up as it cooks into small bits until cooked through, about 5-6 minutes. Add onions and garlic, and cook another 2 minutes. Transfer to the slow cooker and add the bell peppers, crushed tomatoes, rosemary and fresh cracked pepper.
Cover and cook on low 4 hours. Makes 3 1/2 cups.

To serve, place heaping 1/2 cup of meat on a roll and if desired, top with cheese and baby spinach.

Makes 6 servings.

**Use gluten-free bread to make this gluten-free.

Easy Polenta with Tomato Sauce

My entire family loves this recipe. A quick baked polenta topped with red sauce. Very easy to make and great the next day too (and the day after that!) Top with additional Parmesan cheese if you like.

Easy Polenta with Tomato Sauce
AllRecipes.com
Servings: 6; Old Points 6 pts per serving; Calories: 270; Total Fat: 9g, Cholesterol: 23mg, Sodium: 631mg, Total Carbs: 34.2g, Dietary Fiber: 3.1g, Protein: 12.2g

Ingredients:

2 cups milk
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup Parmesan cheese
2 cups spaghetti sauce, or your favorite recipe

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9 inch square baking dish.

In a large pot, combine the milk and chicken stock. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. When it is at a rolling boil, gradually whisk in the cornmeal, making sure there are no lumps. Reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring constantly until thick, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the Parmesan cheese.

Pour the polenta into the prepared baking dish, and spread spaghetti sauce over the top.

Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until sauce is bubbling.