Venison Sloppy Joes

If you went to public school, you KNOW the Sloppy Joe shuffle. My elementary school had Sloppy Joes on Mondays ... surely a way to use up any burger that had languished in the fridges over the weekend and the burger buns from Friday's hamburger and hotdog lunch ... it was also such an easy recipe that it got the lunch ladies back into their work week with minimal effort.  The Sloppy Joe lunch always had carrot and celery sticks alongside and some sort of canned fruit in those sad-looking plastic dishes behind the glass shelf shields. A carton of milk, napkin, straw, and there you have it ... public school lunch fare!

Long after I left public school, Adam Sandler made me laugh when I heard his homage to the lunch ladies and I have never been able to think about the humble Sloppy Joe without unconsciously singing a part of that song. Well, a couple weeks ago, I came across a Sloppy Joe post on my bloglist and thought what a fun lunch it would make. When I told Silent Bob that I was going to make Sloppy Joes, he laughed and said that he always made them for the kids when I was off at a long meeting or visiting friends. Yup, he said. Sloppy Joes and Tater Tots made for happy kids when I wasn't around to make dinner. We laughed about that ... the lowly Sloppy Joe saved a young father with three starving kids. Those were the days!

I used ground venison and a bit of ground pork in my version and of course, to get the 'processed sweetness' I used canned tomato soup and a bit of ketchup. So, shoot me! They were just as I remembered them!

Longing for an easy bit of lunchtime nostalgia? Go for it ... make those Slop-Slop-Sloppy Joes!

Venison Sloppy Joes

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground venison (or beef)

½ lb. ground pork

1 medium onion, small dice
½ medium green pepper, seeded and small dice
1 – 15 oz. can tomato sauce
1 – 10 oz. can condensed tomato soup
2 tbsp. brown sugar
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 ½ tsp. ground mustard
1 tsp. chili powder
½ tsp. garlic powder

burger or sandwich rolls for serving


Making the Dish:

1. Break the meat up into small chunks and brown it in a frypan over medium heat.

2. When the meat is almost all browned up, add the onion and green pepper and let it sweat, as the meat finishes up.

3. Meanwhile, mix the rest of the ingredients together in a medium mixing bowl.

4. Heat a slowcooker up and add half the sauce, the meat and veg mix, and the other half of the sauce. Stir gently, cover and let the Sloppy Joe mix slow cook on a 'low' setting for two hours (or longer depending on your schedule).

5. Just before serving, warm burger or sandwich rolls in the oven. Split them and serve the Sloppy Joe mix hot from the slow cooker. Carrot, celery sticks and canned fruit - optional - wink, wink!

Not me ... we had them with cold beers.

Now, for a bit more nostalgia I think I'll Google a search on Chris Farley and Adam Sandler down there in lunch lady land ...