Everyday recipes, life and craziness from Jen's house.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Quick and Easy Sloppy Joes (aka Maid-Rites or Loose Meat Sandwiches)

My mum made Sloppy Joes when I was growing up.  It is a quick and easy meal and oh, so tasty!  When Jeff and I were dating, I made Sloppy Joes for dinner.  Our conversation went like this:

"Here you go, enjoy your dinner (this was before I called dinner supper)!"

"Oh, these are Maid-Rights."

"Maid who???"

"Ya know, Loose Meat." 

I replied, "Loose what???"

I had never heard of Maid-Rights or Loose Meat.  I knew these tasty sandwiches as Sloppy Joes.  Oh wait, I had heard of Loose Meats...back when Roseanne was a popular TV show, she had a restaurant that served Loose Meat.  That was before Google and the ability to have information at your fingertips in seconds flat.  I don't know what I thought Loose Meat was, but I never imagined it to be a Sloppy Joe!

Jeff has come to love my Sloppy Joes.  As I said earlier, they are quick, easy and good.  We usually have Tator Tots and corn...if I start the Tots cooking, by the time they are done, the Sloppy Joes are done, too.  Enjoy~

Sloppy Joes
serves 4-6


1 lb. hamburger (I use 96%)
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped (or 1/2 t. onion powder)
2 cloves of garlic, pressed (or 1/4 t. garlic powder)
2 t. Worcestershire Sauce
1/4 c. relish
3/4 c. ketchup


Brown the hamburger with the onion and garlic (or onion and garlic powder, if using) until the meat is done.  Add the Worcestershire Sauce, relish and ketchup.  Stir well to combine.  Turn to low and simmer for 10 minutes.  Serve on a toasted hamburger bun or English muffin.  Top with cheese if desired.

Review:  I usually use English muffins instead of hamburger buns (because that's what we usually have on hand!) and I top it with a slice of cheese.  You can add more/less ketchup to taste.  More ketchup makes for a sloppier joe, but will increase the number of sandwiches you can make.  Sometimes I serve this without any type of bread, just a scoop on a plate.  Jeff enjoys corn mixed into his Sloppy Joes.  He's an Iowa boy at heart and loves the meat and corn mixture...toss in some potatoes (tots!) and he's in 7th heaven!  Enjoy~

5 comments:

  1. ha i grew up calling them sloppy joes too! thanks for the link up today:-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Those silly Dunlap boys and their Maid Rites! We had a similar conversation early on in our dating/married days too. I also caught a lot of flack from Dunlap people for using the term "soda". They call it "pop" and in their world "soda" had ice cream in it. My granny called it "sodee pop". I was informed that "soda" was a southern term.

    Roseanne and Tom Arnold actually built a diner in Ottumwa, Iowa (Tom's home town) and we drove by it several times but never stopped. I think it was called "Tom and Roseanne's Big Food Diner" or something like that.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Any meal that goes with tots is a good meal. :)
    Mandy

    ReplyDelete
  4. Erin, I've fought the soda/pop war since I've known Jeff! :) And Mandy, I did think of you when I was writing about tots. I know how you love tots (and bacon!) :)

    ReplyDelete