Coca-Cola Sloppy Joes

Unseasonably warm temperatures and college football meant it was another good day for using the crock pot.  Using ingredients that I had on hand, I decided to throw together some sloppy joes using Coke that I had in the refrigerator instead of brown sugar.  I stirred in a tablespoon of flour into the ground beef mixture to thicken up the joes.

Coca-Cola Sloppy Joes

1# extra lean ground beef
1/4 cup onions, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/3 cup red bell pepper, diced
1 tbsp flour
3/4 cup ketchup
1/2 cup Coca-Cola
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/4 tsp salt

Brown the ground beef (drain if you do not use extra lean).  When almost cooked through, add in onions, garlic and red peppers until it's no longer pink.  Stir in flour and cook for another minute.  In your crock pot, (or you can just add these ingredients to your frying pan) stir together Coke, ketchup, vinegar, Worcestershire and seasonings.  Mix in the ground beef mixture and set on low for a couple hours until you're ready to serve.