Most days, I wake up with an idea of how the day should go. You'd think I'd know better by now. But nope. It is with blind optimism that I enter each day with a "plan", though over and over again I am reminded that life is a chaotic, unpredictable thing. I can't even blame this entirely on having a child because some of the things that throw the day off track have nothing to do with him. {Though most of them do. I think I'll keep him anyway.}
This week has been no different. But let's pretend that things went perfectly, okay? Let's pretend that I posted this recipe yesterday as I had intended. Let's pretend that my A/C didn't shut down and turn my house into a sweat box. Let's pretend that the maintenance man didn't have to stop by TWICE to fix it, and then tell me that there was a good chance the utility closet may flood.
Let's also imagine that I, being a responsible and logical renter, heeded the warning issued to me upon moving in and maintained said closet free of anything important, because it isn't a storage closet after all. That I hadn't stuffed the closet full with Christmas decor {that never went up last year since I'd just had a baby and all} and that I most certainly did NOT use it as a place to store my photography backgrounds.
Because if I did do any of that, it would mean that I'd be forced to haul all that junk out in the evening hours when I was so tired I could curl up and snooze IN the utility closet without batting an eye, putting myself in the precarious position of potentially drowning in the flood that never actually happened. I thank the maintenance man for being cautious just the same.
We're still pretending here, so let's just imagine that all those Sterilite boxes of Christmas stuff weren't piled in a corner in my living room, beckoning to my 9 month old to scale them like Mount Kilimanjaro. Because that means that, in moving things out of his reach, I wouldn't have accidentally dropped one of the boxes -- the one filled with GLASS ornaments, of course -- creating hundreds of red and gold shards of glass that needed vacuuming. Oh well, we had too many anyway.
Can we also pretend that I didn't wake up with a pounding headache that wouldn't quit? And that I actually got the recipe I planned to share cooked, photographed and posted? Not that my child screamed incessantly while I stood at the stove because he didn't feel like being penned up in his Pack 'n Play, or that I accidentally flung pineapple pieces all over the floor. Whatever. I got it done and that's what counts.
Since we're assuming all went smoothly, that would mean that I was able to publish the post while the baby napped and then got to sit down and eat something healthy. Not that the moment I sat at the computer, I was roused by a crash that made me think my child had turned into a pole vaulter and sprung himself over the side of his crib. Or that that I stress-ate mini Oreos that I bought for a baking project. Because that was not part of the plan. {On a positive note, I discovered that adrenaline gives me the ability to sprint at Usain Bolt-like speeds. Good to know.}
Life. Is. Sloppy. But it's also delightful. Much like these:
Truth be told we probably eat some version of a sloppy joe at least once a week. It's quick to prepare and you can add anything you want to it -- the perfect refrigerator clean out kind of meal. Sometimes I cook it up Cuban picadillo style. Other times I make it with an Asian flair. At times, it's Greek.
But today... today we're giving it a "Hawaiian" twist, because it's Friday and I need to pretend I'm on on island sipping a Mai Tai. Who's with me?
A little sweet, a little savory and a touch of smoky thrown in for good measure, it's the balance that you crave in your life. Or at the very least, in your mouth. And as it turns out, it's a fantastic thing to dig into this weekend while you enjoy the return of college football. We win.
Let's make peace with "messy" and dig in!
Hawaiian Style Turkey Sloppy Joes
1 small yellow onion, diced
1/2 cup diced pineapple, fresh or frozen
1 pound ground turkey meat
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/3 cup ketchup
1/4 cup tamari or soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1 large clove garlic, minced or grated
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 cup water
2 green onions, chopped (divided)
4 Sweet burger buns, such as King's Hawaiian
1. Heat about a tablespoon of oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and pineapple and cook until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.
2. Scoot the onion and pineapple mixture over to one side of the pan and add the ground turkey meat to the empty side. Cook, breaking up the meat, until no longer pink {I like to use a potato masher for this job}. Stir everything together.
3. Sprinkle the mixture with smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder and ground ginger and mix to combine.
4. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together ketchup, tamari or soy sauce, sesame oil and garlic. In Pour into ground turkey mixture and stir to coat. Cook for about a minute or two.
5. {Use the same bowl for this step and save yourself some dishwashing} Whisk together corn starch with about 1/4 cup water until there are no lumps. Pour into the skillet and stir throughout the mixture -- this will thicken up the sauce. {Note: If it gets too thick, add a little more water to get desired consistency.}
6. Add 1 chopped green onion and cook for another minute or so. Scoop onto sweet Hawaiian burger buns and garnish with extra green onion if desired.
Serve while hot and messy, with lots of napkins! :)
