You’ll Love Every Bite of This Crunchy Mess!

As a kid, Sloppy Joes were one of my favorite meals. Of course, this was long before the convenience of Manwich was ever even dreamed of by the marketing genius at ConAgra Foods and Hunt’s, who brought it to market in 1969 as a “quick and easy one-pan meal for the whole family.” Before that, you had ketchup and whatever else your mother decided to throw into the pan.

There was just something about ground beef, ketchup and soft bread that destined them for each other. At our house, we got a scant scoop of juicy meat deposited on our bun. We felt lucky, we felt alive, we were eating sloppy joes! When Manwich came along with its catchy jingle of “It takes two hands to handle a Manwich,” we scoffed. We still got the same scant scoop deposited on our bun. There was no mess requiring two hands to hold it together. Ha!

Don’t get me wrong, we thought we had died and gone straight to heaven when we could afford Manwich at our house, which wasn’t very often. I swear they must have put something addictive in there, because you just wanted to inhale those sloppy buns-full-of-goodness as quickly as possible.

Oh wait, there IS something considered to be addictive in there:  high fructose corn syrup! My mother’s sloppy joes were never sweet, at all. But Manwich? That’s an entirely different story.

USE THE RED NEXT PAGE LINK BELOW FOR THE RECIPE AND INSTRUCTIONS.

Quick Tip:  Using a convenience sauce is all well and good, but what if you don’t have any on hand? Make your own! Stir together 1 8-oz. can of tomato sauce, 1 cup ketchup, 1 Tbsp. dried onion flakes, 1 Tbsp. green bell pepper (finely chopped), 1 tsp salt, ½ tsp garlic (minced), ¼ tsp celery seeds, ¼ tsp chili powder and 1 tsp prepared mustard. Add to any recipe calling for Manwich and 1 lb. ground beef.

Recipe and photo courtesy of Kristin B at Yellow Bliss Road