Protein Sparing Sloppy Joes

Place the ground beef, onion, celery and garlic in a 6-quart slow cooker. Stir in all of the remaining ingredients.
Cover and cook on high for 3 hours or on Low for 6 hours, until the beef is cooked through. Stir about 1 hour into cooking to crumble the beef. After 3 hours or until beef is cooked through and no longer pink, open the cover and turn to low. Allow the liquid to thicken for 1-3 hours. Taste and add seasoning or more natural sweetener if desired.
Meanwhile make the protein sparing buns or prepare the lettuce leaves for serving.
Serve sloppy joe mixture in protein sparing buns or wrapped in lettuce leaves. Serve with mini dill pickles if desired.
Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week or in the freezer for up to a month. To reheat, place in a stockpot over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until heated through.