Tomato Beef Gravy

My Popo always poured this sauce over pork chops or noodles so I'm not sure why it's called tomato "beef" gravy but here is the recipe. It's super easy and makes any plain meat taste yummy. My friend Terrina's family only makes the sauce to pour over noodles so they call it "ketchup noodle" sauce. Call it what you like ... it's easy to make and a great way to get veggies into your kids.

Ingredients:
1 large red bell pepper
2 stalks of celery (optional)
1 large yellow onion
1/4 cup ketchup
2 packets Splenda
3-4 tablespoons soy sauce
1 or 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper (to taste)
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon chicken base / beef boullion base (can use 1-2 cubes)

Directions:
Slice onions, celery and red bell peppers into thin slices, as if you were going to make fajitas. Heat a frying pan on high, add oil when the pan is hot, then add sliced onions. Cook the onions for a minute or so ... until they are translucent, then add celery and red bell peppers. Cook veggies for an additional minute.

Mix the remaining "sauce" ingredients in a bowl, then add mixture to veggies in the hot frying pan. Let the sauce bubble/boil, then taste for seasonings. You may have to add more ketchup, soy or pepper (all depends on your tastes).

Thicken the sauce with a little cornstarch (mixed with water to form a slurry) if the sauce is too "thin" and not the consistency that you like. The Smongs like our sauces thick, like a gravy, so we always use cornstarch in ours.

Optional = Cut a tomato into wedges and add it to the finished sauce at the end its cooking process. As a kid, I always avoided the tomato wedges as they got to be kinda soft after sitting in the hot gravy but again ... it's another way to try and get veggies into your kids : )

Enjoy!!