I don't know about you but our family gets into dinner ruts. Not that this is entirely a bad thing. Most of my usual dinners I can cook blindfolded. Or with a two year old and two huge Labradors tearing the house apart or totally underfoot. There are bonuses. But I am also an adventurous eater and like variety. So after eating pasta at least two nights a week (one leftovers) for about as long as I can remember, the last thing I wanted to make with the ground turkey breast sitting in my fridge was some more pasta bolognese.

A little pat on my own back, I also think I'm pretty good at looking at the random mishmash of ingredients in the fridge and coming up with something to make, and I also don't mind combining a number of recipes or working from none at all. I'm not scared to try new things or come up with my own creation. So last night I took that ground turkey and made some delicious sloppy joes, that just so happen to be pretty healthy too!

Clean Turkey Sloppy Joes

1 pound organic ground turkey breast (or regular ground turkey)
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
fresh garlic (I used 4 or 5 cloves, crushed but I love garlic.....if you don't you may want to back this off to 1 clove!)
1/2 tsp onion powder (I would have preferred to use 1 fresh onion, but somehow I didn't have one on hand)
1 can organic diced tomatoes (I used one with green chilis)
1 can organic tomato sauce (the pureed tomato kind, no sugar or anything else added)
1/2 to 1 tsp ground cumin
hot sauce to taste (I used garlic hot sauce and used about a tablespoon, maybe more and it was nice and spicy)
Worcestershire sauce, about 1 tbsp (This is really the only non-clean ingredient in here, although it's not too bad....some added sugar. You could eliminate it and use a tad more vinegar.)
1 tbsp red wine vinegar (Again, adjust to your taste and add more if you think it needs it. I mainly used the vinegar to cut some of the sugar flavor from the tomatoes and peppers without adding salt.)

Start by browning the turkey over medium heat. While browning chop the peppers and onion (if you have a fresh one) and peel the garlic. When the turkey is almost done but still a touch pink, add the peppers and onion. The sooner you add the veggies they more mushy they will be. The later you add them the firmer they will be. It's up to you as to how much texture you like in your sloppy joes. I don't like mine smooth (I don't like the veggies to turn to mush) but I also like them cooked through. After they have cooked for a few minutes and are starting to become fragrant (I cook by nose a lot), add the crushed garlic into the pan (you can also mince it but I hate mincing garlic so a crusher is vital to my cooking).

Side note about cooking with garlic, I always crush it about 10 minutes before I need to add it to what I'm cooking. This allows a chemical reaction to take place that releases enzymes in the garlic that have all the good health properties and benefits.

Cook for another minute and add the tomato sauce and diced tomatoes (I drained most of the way before adding). Add all the spices and sauces (onion powder if you don't have a fresh one, cumin, hot sauce, Worcestershire, vinegar). Turn the heat down to medium low and let it simmer, stirring frequently. The flavors will meld and the sauce will thicken. Cook until it is the sloppiness you prefer. I don't like mine runny so I cooked it until the sauce had thickened quite a bit.

Serve on whole wheat hamburger or hot dog rolls, or over brown rice, quinoa, or just eat it with a spoon. I topped some lettuce with it today to make a salad for lunch and it was delicious!

I normally have two theories about cleaning a house. They can be found below.

An organized house I need to function, but a clean house...well I don't mind not having a clean house. I'd rather snuggle, play, run, swim, do pretty much anything with my kiddos than clean the house. Although my big guy is a huge fan of cleaning so I am probably wasting a helper.

Normally my cleaning has more to do with making a plan for cleaning and organizing cleaning. In fact, this is usually how I clean our house.

This weekend, however, I am reclaiming the normalcy of our lives. No more vacation or business trips for the foreseeable future. Time for family bbqs (as in just the four of us eating hot dogs), perhaps a day trip to the beach here and there, and lots of time at the pool.

It also means I have no more excuses for having a dirty house. In fact, I want a clean house to enjoy for the rest of the summer. (Read: I want a clean us to get dirty the rest of the summer.) So this is my plan, because we all know I must have a plan, and preferably quite a few check lists. This weekend I am opening the windows and going after the obvious dirt. As in when you walk up to our front door and you see precious fingerprints all over the door and then we walk in and see dust balls in the corner. That’s the kind of obvious dirt I’m going after. I’m doing a quick and dirty cleaning of the house so to speak. Then starting this week I’m going to do a 31 day cleaning challenge where you don’t clean more than 15 minutes each day. I plan/hope to devote 30 minutes each day to cleaning…not sure when yet but it’s going to happen. 15 minutes will be stuff I already do, I hope. Dishes in the dishwasher, clean sink, making the bed, with a few additions to include a wipe down of the bathroom . The other 15 minutes will be spent doing something big, like wiping down all the baseboards in the house. Apparently you really can clean a house in one month by giving just 15 minutes a day and that’s my plan. I’ll be following a few cleaning geniuses, specifically www.cleanmama.net and www.theflylady.com. Have you ever tried to just set a timer for 15 minutes to get something done? It’s amazing how much you can actually get done in 15 minutes if you know you only have 15 minutes.

But all of that is what I’m doing next week. What I’m doing this weekend is just clean the house. The big things, floors, windows, furniture. Nothing too indepth, just leaving the rooms cleaner than when I started. I am also approaching this a little differently than I’ve done in the past. I have always had this “dust the whole house approach.” This time around, in order to feel a little more accomplished, a little faster, and hopefully take advantage of distracted kiddos in one room. (Assuming I get distracted kiddos who are playing.) I’m going to start with the living room (I hope) and clean it. Get a nice clean living room before moving on to the next room. This is also my chance to try out my mobile cleaning supplies. I got myself a caddy a few months ago and I have weaned my cleaning supplies down to two types of cleaning supplies. Honest Company and homemade. Once I give them both a go I’ll let you know how the work. I’ll also let you know how my whole weekend of clean approach works. The goal is normalcy and perhaps a little peacefulness. I won't make it to the beach this weekend but with a clean-ish house by Sunday night and perhaps a "clean" margarita in hand I can feel as relaxed as after a day at the beach.

(As I was re-reading this post I realized perhaps I can start using my timer tomorrow. Can I clean each room in 15 minutes or less? The answer is YES! So that’s my new goal. Living room in 15 minutes. I can do it.)

Wish me luck!