Healthier Crockpot Sloppy Joes

Name: Healthier Crockpot Sloppy Joes
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 260 min
Total time: 270 min
Yield: 8 servings
Ingredients: 2 lbs. lean ground beef {I used 90/10}; 1 large onion; 2/3 cup baby carrots; 2 small zucchini; 2 small yellow squash; 1 1/2 cups water; 2 1/2 cups ketchup; 1 1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce; 1/2 tablespoon dried mustard; 1/4 cup brown sugar; 1 tablespoon chili powder; salt & pepper (to taste); 6-8 whole wheat kaiser or hamburger buns; optional toppings: dill pickles (cheddar cheese)

16 · Jan 3, 2016

Well, I don’t know about you crazy kids, but I am THRILLED to have this winter break over and done with. It was a long and unfortunate holiday {read: cranky, whiny, exhausted kids….and large, pregnant, uncomfortable self} that I am thrilled to have survived.

Yeah yeah yeah, Christmas and New Years were awesome, blah blah blah, but I hate not having a routine and my kids seriously can’t handle it either.

Oh, and did I mention we had to pay for a brand new roof too? That was a fun little ~~$%^#$%*@~~ unexpected expense.

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You guys. Paying thousands of dollars for things I don’t use or see daily is like the worst kind of thing to HAVE to pay for. Obviously having a functional roof over our heads is a necessity, but buying one of everything at Nordstrom is so much more fun, riiiight? Or groceries.

I seriously contemplated just selling our house so we could have avoided the whole thing all together…because that’s the logical thing to do. But then my husband reminded me that just because the previous sellers of our house screwed us over with their “new roof” shpeal doesn’t mean we were going to do that to the next homebuyers of our house {….not that we’re selling right now anyways.}

UGH. WHYYYYYYY are we such honest people? Good grief.

But lemme tell you–>banging noises, headaches and zeroed out bank accounts is not my idea of a fun Christmas vacation.

So here’s to 2016!

May it be filled with less money traps, more cash in our pockets and happy wonderful children who never poop, whine or talk back.

I KNOW I KNOW.

……..

It was a nice thought though wasn’t it?

In other news, I’m still large and pregnant which means no healthy eating/dieting resolutions/exercise goals to reach until I have this baby. That’s 24 days away, incase you’re wondering.

All of you worried folk who email me about my unhealthy diet, lack of vegetables and diabetes warnings can all take a breath. I eat relatively healthy and sugar makes me feel sick to my stomach {thanks to this baby in my every present womb}.

This meal I’m posting today is a pretty typical dinner that we eat over at the Lauren’s Latest household. It looks and sounds unhealthy, but it packed with tons of veggies {hello zucchini, carrot and squash} and lean beef. Plus, I took it a step further and served these on whole wheat buns. Oh, and it makes for an awesome crockpot meal too! Once you cook and drain the beef & veggies, the rest is a cake walk. And the longer it cooks, the yummier it gets, as is the case with most crockpot meals. My family gobbled this up and we even had leftovers. Seriously so good!

Anyways, printable recipe below. Enjoy, friends!! May your 2016 be less eventful than our 2015.

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