The first time I ever had a type of sloppy joe was at my friend Joyce’s slumber party during my Seventh grade of school.
Yep! That has been a long, long time ago.
Only it was called a Chili Burger.
And I loved it.
Joyce lived in the country, as did all of us at the slumber party. The party consisted of 7th and 8th grade girls because in our small school, grades were combined in one class room.
We were not a one room school…although I did go to one of those for my second grade. Some day I will post about that experience. (Channeling Little House on the Prairie…..) 🙂
Our school combined 1st and 2nd grades in one room…3rd and 4th, 5th and 6th, 7th and 8th…..and the freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors were on the floor above the elementary grades. Pretty small school!
The majority of students in this small, small town lived in the country.
As the saying goes….we were country, when country wasn’t cool…. but we didn’t care, because we all were in the same boat.
For the slumber party, Joyce’s parents had made up this wonderful spread of eating goodness, which consisted of the Chili Burgers in a huge stock pot, Potato Chips, Deviled Eggs,
And….. a galvanized wash tub full of ice with the bottles of coke, pepsi, 7 -Up, Dr. Pepper, Nesbeth Orange and Delaware Punch’s frosty, long necks popping up through the ice!
Yes, I said bottles, not cans! 😉
Wow! the Delaware Punch is really going to date me!
I really loved the sweet/sour taste of grapes and sugar (not carbonated) of that bottle of goodness. Do any of you remember Delaware Punch?
According to Wikipedia…”Delaware Punch was created by Thomas E. Lyons in 1913. The brand is currently owned by The Coca-Cola Company“.
However, Delaware Punch is not bottled commercially anywhere in the world now.
When I got home from the slumber party….I made chili burgers for my family and they loved them too!
Since Mother worked, I was already doing a lot of the cooking and I loved watching and learning my Mother’s cooking methods.
The first thing my mother taught me to make by myself was vanilla sugar cookies and I still have that recipe in her handwriting. I was about 8 years old.
Yep! I have been cooking a long time and I still enjoy every bit of it!
I have modified the sloppy joes recipe over the years, along with Mother’s assistance.
The recipe below is a good….though very old recipe….and can be modified to suit your taste!
You can use ground turkey mixed with the ground beef….which adds flavor and fewer calories…red onions or Spanish onions.
My twins do not care for onions, but once this is in the crock pot…you can’t really tell the onions are there, so they love these sloppy joes!
I sometimes add a bit of cayenne pepper…depends on my mood for the day…and I usually am in a spicy mood! 😉
If you are in a rush for the joes to be on the table, you can eliminate the crock pot…however, I must tell you…the longer these flavors meld…the better your joes will be.
I wish I had a Delaware Punch to drink with my sloppy joes….oh well! A large glass of refreshing iced tea with mint leaves will have to suffice.
Plus, I certainly don’t need a sugary drink!
Do I? ;(
Enjoy!
Me
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 1/4 cup chopped celery
- 1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
- 1 clove garlic minced or 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 cup ketchup
- 1/2 cup chili sauce* or barbecue Sauce
- 2-3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon vinegar (or pickle juice)
- 1/2 teaspoon mustard
- dash of cayenne pepper (optional)
- 4 hamburger buns
- Brown ground beef, onion, bell peppers, garlic, celery for about 6 minutes or until the pink is gone. ( Use a wooden spoon to crumble the meat as it cooks).
- Add ketchup, chile sauce, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, cayenne pepper and mustard to the cooked ground beef
- Put the sloppy joe mixture into a crockpot and cook on low for 2-4 hours.
- If you are needing an immediate meal...just cook the sloppy joe mixture in the skillet for about 15-20 minutes until flavors meld and ground beef is hot.
- Serve on toasted hamburger buns.**
- *I like Heinz Chili Sauce and always have a jar on hand. It spices up many dishes.
- Recipe can be doubled or tripled for more sloppy joes!
- ** I have used hot dog buns in place of hamburger buns and found it is a little less messy to eat. But what is the fun of having sloppy joes and not have them sloppy? 😉
- Just sayin'
- Me
Could describe more of the taste of that Deleware Punch grape soda?
It was sweet and sour….. Tardiness perhaps?
Anything in the flavors similar to a punch drink?
I really like this recipe and the specific twist that you have placed on it.
Extremely smart. I’m going to be cooking this for my partner next week and I’m
going to let you know on how I get on. Thanks for the great suggestion!
I understand…that is why the hot dog bun works a little better….than you can use a fork and cut it up! haha
Me
I’m sorry, but I have never liked Sloppy Joes because they’re too messy. Once in a while I’ll have barbeque ribs, but they’re messy, too. lol I’m not into messy, Kari.