January 5th: Sloppy Joes & Slaw

I have been planning meals a month in advance for almost 10 years. I started in 2004, stuck in hospital, mooning over a pretty food spread in Chatelaine and waxing poetic about the food I could be cooking and eating if not knocking on death's door, etc. With some ebbs and flows over the years, ebbs especially in the immediate post-baby timeframes, I have more or less been an avid meal planner ever since. In that 10-year timeframe, I have always used my Milk Calendar as my planning tool. Alas.

Normally I have two Milk Calendars delivered to my door in the fall: one with my Chatelaine subscription, and one with my Ottawa Citizen subscription. Well, either I missed them this past fall, or they weren't sent; I don't know which. What to do? I have switched allegiances. I don't remember where it came from, but I found a Foodland Ontario calendar kicking about my kitchen, so yesterday I made use of it and planned out my meals for January, with a few blanks here and there. Always best to allow for contingencies.

For tonight's meal, I put the Foodland Ontario recipe for January to use:

Turkey Joe with Kaleidoscope Slaw

Ingredients

Joes

2 tsp (10 mL) canola oil

1 lb (500 g) extra-lean ground turkey or chicken

2 cups (500 mL) diced sweet potato

1 onion, chopped

19 oz (540 mL) stewed tomatoes

1/4 cup (50 mL) barbecue sauce

1/2 cup (125 mL) shredded Cheddar cheese

4 onion buns or whole wheat Kaiser buns, toasted

Slaw

1 1/2 tbsp (37 mL) canola oil

2 tbsp (25 mL) cider vinegar

1 tbsp (15 mL) maple syrup

1 1/2 tsp (7 mL) Dijon mustard

1/4 tsp (1 mL) each salt and pepper

2 cups (500 mL) each shredded green and red cabbage

1 cup (250 mL) grated carrot

Preparation

In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add turkey, sweet potato and onion; cook, breaking up meat with wooden spoon, for 5 minutes or until browned.

Stir in tomatoes; bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer, stirring occasionally, for  7 minutes or until sweet potatoes are tender-crisp and half of the liquid has evaporated.

Stir in barbecue sauce; simmer for 1 minute or until heated through. Remove from heat. Stir in half of the cheese. Spoon turkey mixture over buns; sprinkle with remaining cheese. Serve Kaleidoscope Slaw on the side.

Kaleidoscope Slaw: In serving bowl, whisk together oil, vinegar, maple syrup, mustard, salt and pepper. Add green and red cabbage and carrot; toss to coat. Set aside.

Tips: Omit the buns and serve the turkey mixture over baked potatoes. If the stewed tomatoes are large, crush with a fork. Kick up the heat and add hot sauce or use a spicy barbecue sauce.

I served the sloppy joes with baked potatoes, as suggested. Mine were a bit on the runny side because I used a can of whole tomatoes, which is larger than the can of stewed tomatoes called for. We ate it like chill, with cheese, sour cream and green onions on top. It was yummy; I likely won't make it again. The slaw was pretty and good but unlikely to happen again either.