Try These Sloppy Joes Out On Your Family

Many of us recently observed Take Our Daughters to Work Day.

My 13-year-old accompanied me to the newspaper office, and I gave her an assignment: Write a review of my cooking.

Without further ado, here are Julia’s comments:

My Mom’s Cooking by Julia Dobler.

My family is a guinea pig for my mom’s new recipes. Nine out of 10 times the new recipes she cooks are disgusting, from the fish tacos to the soggy “prize-winning” casseroles. You never know what to expect with the new stuff.

The embarrassing thing is when she does it while I have a friend over. The weird food, such as the prune juice cookies, makes me look weird.

The thing I like about my mom’s cooking is when she makes homemade meals that have nothing to do with her articles for the newspaper.

The end.

Well, what can I say? Out of the mouths of babes (and teenagers) comes the truth. In my own defense, I will say this: There are many recipes that look great on paper, but don’t turn out very well. I’ll often try three or four recipes for this column before settling on one that I hope you’ll like, too. My family gets to try them all, the good and the not so good.

Julia, by the way, picked out two recipes to test for today’s column. One, a cheese “calzone” using pita bread, sounded interesting, but it was the gooiest mess that you’ve ever seen. (Now she understands.) The second was acceptable, after the onions were removed.

“It’s fine,” said Julia, eating her sloppy Joe with satisfaction. “It’s actually something I can eat.”

Thanks for your honest words, Julia.

Sloppy Joes

Adapted from “Weight Watchers Favorite Recipes” (New American Library, 1986).

2 teaspoons oil

2 cups chopped celery

1-1/3 cups chopped green bell pepper

3/4 pound ground turkey

8 ounces canned red kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1 cup tomato puree

2 tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar

4 hamburger buns, halved and toasted

In nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add celery and bell pepper and saute, stirring occasionally. Add turkey and cook 3-5 minutes. Stir in tomato puree and brown sugar and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10-12 minutes.

To serve, spoon half the turkey mixture onto bottom half of each bun and top with the remaining half.

Yield: 4 servings.

Nutrition information per serving: 469 calories, 26 grams protein, 14 grams fat (27 percent fat calories), 62 grams carbohydrate, 56 milligrams cholesterol, 850 milligrams sodium.

Note: Saute 1-1/3 cups chopped onion with the green pepper if you desire.

, DataTimes MEMO: The goal of Five and Fifteen is to find recipes where you can do the shopping in five minutes and the cooking in 15. Merri Lou Dobler, a registered dietitian and Spokane resident, welcomes ideas from readers. Write to Five and Fifteen, Features Department, The Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210.

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