I love cooking and it is therapeutic for me. I prefer cooking from scratch as much as possible. I used to be a better cook before than I am now. The reason is when “D” came into my life I had to adjust my cooking to American spice level. ”D” did not like most of the Indian food in the beginning. The result is my dishes turned to be something different from what I want them to taste like. It was frustrating at times, but slowly I mastered the twists. It also helps that D’s palette got acclimatized to Indian tastes. “D” loves Indian food now and eats most of the curries. He can even eat rice and curry the whole week and still crave for it. Now, that is called improvement. 
I make American food too that we both like but there are some meats I still can’t eat. I cook him American (meats I do not eat) food when I make an Indian dish that I love and he is not warmed up to it yet. I usually cook three times a week.Twice a week I make American/ Indian dish we both like. Once a week I make our individual favorites. This works out perfect for us.
I thought maybe I can post some of my recipes both Indian and American that would be helpful for my readers if they want to try different recipes. The other day I was cooking Okra/ Ladies finger curry. This is my favorite, and I can eat okra everyday for rest of my life. It is one of those curries “D” does not like yet so, I made him Sloppy Joes. I have recently tasted Sloppy Joes after I cooked them for 2.5 years. 
I liked it, but when I realized that I am eating a cow, I became nauseous. I guess I need to warm up to the idea more.
INGREDIENTS:
One pound ground beef (I microwaved the frozen meat and so the brown edges), Cooking spray or oil to fry onions (I usually use olive oil. Ran out of it yesterday so the spray), one medium sized onion, 2 tb spoons sugar, 1/2 t spoon salt, ground pepper to taste,2 drops of mustard (D does not like too much mustard), Ketchup till you feel it is moist (will explain later). You can also add Bell peppers/ Capsicum if you like.
minced garlic/ garlic powder – 2 tb spoons (forgot to add it in the ingredients picture)
All purpose flour/ maida- 3 tb spoons (another item I forgot to include in the ingredient picture)
DIRECTIONS
Cut the onions to a size of your liking. D prefers small- medium sized.
Spray a skillet and heat it
After skillet is hot enough, add onions. I cook the onions before adding meat because D likes his onions to be well cooked. He will not eat if onions have raw texture. He is picky but getting better now. 
You can also add Bell peppers/ Capsicum at this point.
After adding onions add 1 tb spoon of garlic, 1/2 t spoon salt and pepper to taste. Cook onions until they get a golden brown color.
After the onions are cooked add meat and crumble it into small pieces using a spatula. The smaller the better.
After the meat is browned (It will take around 5 min or less if the meat is fresh or defrosted). It is the time to drain the extra grease. This is one step I hate. I used 80% lean meat so, did not have much to drain.
Now it is time to add the rest of the ingredients. 2 tb spoons sugar, 3 tb spoons flour, 2 drops of mustard, Ketchup as much as you want/ till it looks moist.
Mix all the ingredients and add 1-2 cups of water to avoid sticking to the bottom of the pan. Ketchup and flour make it sticky when heated. Water also acts as a medium for the flavors to percolate into the meat. At least that is what I feel.
Cook on medium heat for 10-15 min or until the water evaporates. This helps to cook the flour and remove the raw flour taste. D never did this step before but he likes it more after I started doing this. Then it is time to turn of the stove and dig in.
I serve it with regular bread and Doritos. “D” prefers regular bread over hamburger buns, because that is what he is used to.
This is the Sloppy Joe’s recipe that “D” loves since he is a child. I think that it is quite different from traditional Sloppy Joe recipe. This is a recipe from D’s family friend. she passed away recently but her recipe lives.
I personally prefer a little more spice in there after all I am an Indian but D likes it as is. So, I do not tweak it. I think if you are a person who prefers sweet more than spice, you will probably like this.
Try it and let me know what you think.
-R
