Scrumptious Sloppy Joes

I've been trying to use less pre-made mixes (too much sodium, etc.) and to find homemade versions of simple recipes. I tweaked a bunch of different sloppy joe recipes to make this one, and it really is scrumptious.

Ingredients:

2 lbs lean ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
2 celery ribs with leaves, chopped
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes (pureed in the blender)
4 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon ground mustard

Directions:

Puree the chopped onion and chopped celery in the blender or food processor so that you don't have large chunks of vegetables (I added about a 1/4 of water to the blender so that mixed smoothly).

Pour onion and celery mixture into a large nonstick skillet and heat through to get rid of some of the water and to soften the vegetables. Add the two pounds of ground beef and cook until the meat is brown. Drain.

Puree the can of crushed tomatoes in the blender to get rid of the chunks. Add to the meat mixture in the skillet. Mix in the brown sugar, vinegar, garlic powder and ground mustard.

Simmer uncovered for 30-45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve on hamburger buns.

This is a great item to make and freeze for future use.