Let's talk dinnertime, shall we? More often than not I find myself in a bit of a struggle with dinner. Sometimes I just want to eat popcorn and Hershey kisses be done with it. But I have these responsibilities, you know, kids!? ;) Well, tonight was one of those nights, {no we didn't eat popcorn and kisses}. After working a couple of 12 hour shifts, I was only in the mood to cook something that didn't take a whole lot of thought, time and then leave me with dish pan hands and a sweaty upper lip. So as I started flipping through my ever growing stack of recipes, I was suddenly struck by a memory of a childhood favorite!
First before we move on... let me say that before today this recipe was nameless. My Mom didn't name this, because it was one of those things she made for us kids to use up the leftover sloppy Joe sauce {she's clever like that}. So there I sat, tapping my fingers on my desk, I just couldn't think of what to call this?! I was reminded of an old SNL skit, the one of Chris Farley as the lunch lady, {ya know in Lunch Lady Land?}, singing "Sloppy Joe slop, sloppy Joe with that mole on her/his face! {I hope the song is now stuck in your head as it is mine} And that my friends is how I got the name Lunch Lady Sloppy Joes, hey it's the best I could come up with! But if you can think of a better name... shout it out! I wanna hear it!
Let's get started on the 'sloppy' sauce.
Throw some bacon fat or olive oil into a deep sided skillet.
Finely dice an onion, and I mean fo-ine!
Add them to the bacon fat and cook until soft and translucent, not browned.
Press the garlic cloves into the pan and cook for 1 minute.
Add in the ground round. Mash the meat so it forms small crumbles. My weapon of choice? My mashed potato masher-thingy. Works like a champ!
Add a teaspoon and a half of chili powder. I'm using Ancho... because I lurrrrve it!
Add in about a teaspoon or two of yellow mustard. I go by taste. I know... I'm so one of those.
Add the can of tomato sauce and a small pinch of sugar.
Then a quarter cup of water.
And the worcestershire sauce to taste.
Season with salt...
...and pepper.
Stir and bring to a simmer over medium heat for about 10-15 minutes.
Meanwhile slice up some green onions.
This is the toughest part of the recipe. Ready? Okay, now carefully remove the mozzarella cheese from the wrappers. Phew.
And place them inside of the hot dog buns. Tough stuff isn't it?
Doesn't this look freaking weird... like white hot dogs! HA. No. Seriously it's delicious.
Next you'll wan to top them with the Sloppy Joe sauce and sprinkle with the green onions. I like to serve them with some Bettermade chips and a Rock & Rye Faygo pop to make the childhood memory complete!
This is a totally fun kid-friendly recipe! My girls ate these up and requested them again the next day! I said "Hecccck naw! Mommy is going to need to eat the rest... now kick rocks kid!" Then I laid a big fat wet sloppy Joe kiss on her cheek.
Totally fun. Totally delicious. You totally see that the proof is in the string! Lunch Lady Sloppy Joes: ingredients:
Bacon Fat or Olive Oil, for sautéing
1 pound Ground Round
1/2 a large sweet onion, minced
1 large Garlic Clove 1 {15 oz.} can Tomato Sauce {and a pinch of sugar} 1/4 cup Water
1-1/2 teaspoons Ancho Chili Powder
1 to 2 teaspoons Yellow Mustard, to taste
Worcestershire Sauce, a few drops to taste
Salt and Pepper, to taste
8 Mozzarella String Cheese Sticks, brought to room temperature
8 Hot Dog Buns, toasted if you're in the mood
preparation:
Sauté the onions in bacon fat {or olive oil}. Once translucent and soft add the garlic, cook for one minute. Add the ground round and cool thoroughly, use a mash potato thingy to break up the meat into small pieces.
Add the ancho chili powder, mustard, tomato sauce, water and a pinch of sugar to the meat mixture. Stir, and then add a few drops of worcestershire sauce to taste. Simmer over medium heat for 10-15 minutes. Makes roughly 4 cups {so there will be leftovers!}.
Place the cheese sticks inside the buns and top with sloppy Joe sauce. Sprinkle with green onions or anything else your heart desires and serve!
{click here} to print!
Tags: cheese, simply scratch, beef, kid friendly recipes,
