Modest Meals: Sloppy Joes

Oh baby!

Yea, I changed the name. Moderate just sounded weird. On to today!

Sloppy Joes! One of my all time favorite meals and so so extremely easy. I cant stress that enough. This is another one that my Mom used to make fairly regularly at home and some would say it’s an American classic, but I don’t really know where they came from. Here’s the recipe:

Sloppy Joes:

• 1lb Ground Beef ($2.35) (if you missed last weeks, check out my burger money saving tip)
• 1 Can Sloppy Joe mix (I prefer Del Monte brand (about 90 cents a can) over Hunts (over a dollar a can), but scored some dented Albertsons brand cans for 75 cents a can)
• Hamburger buns ($1 – $3 for a bag of 8 buns depending on brand, size, etc)
• Any other topping you like

1. Brown the ground beef in a skillet. Drain the grease.
2. Add the Sloppy Joe mix and mix it in well. Keep the burner on, medium, and continue to stir till the sauce thickens a bit.
3. Set out the buns and top with finished Sloppy Joe mix.
4. Add any toppings you want.
5. Eat…yea its that easy. I had to stretch these just to make 5 😉

This usually makes about 8 buns worth, depending on whos dishing the mix out 😉 and the mix keeps really well in the fridge.

Total cost: about $6 for the priciest options and about 10 minutes time if that

Total cost of things I had to buy to make the Sloppy Joes: 75 cents!

How I usually put em together is bun first, cheese on the bottom, Sloppy Joe mix on top of the cheese which helps it melt, then pickles, a dollop of sour cream and then the top bun. The sour cream mixes SO good with the Sloppy Joe mix, you wouldn’t believe how good it tastes together. I have actually eaten the plain Sloppy Joe mix with sour cream for a meal… we were out of just about everything 😉

Here are some tips to make them really good. The bun can pretty much be any kind of bread (hamburger, hot dog, sandwich bread, homemade bread), rice, noodles, or whatever. I have had the mix on all of the above and it is really good. The bread is also great toasted and gives a nice crunch.

Adding white rice (cooked), or dry instant oatmeal flakes (original flavor) to the Sloppy Joe mix, with the beef, make the mix extremely filling and it will last far more meals. It doesn’t noticeably change the taste or texture so the kids are none the wiser. I learned this trick from mom when I got older and noticed her pouring oatmeal into the mix.

I also sometimes add different ingredients to the mix such as green beans, peas, chopped onions, raisins, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, or honey (pick one or two, not all of them at once) to spice things up a bit. Honey is especially good in the mix, believe me. Just a tablespoon or two.

Thats it for this week! I have some really exciting meal plans (not just dinner mind you) for the following weeks so stay tuned and be sure to let me know how your frugal home cooking goes!

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Tags: beef, bun, crunch, dollop, fridge, ground beef, hamburger buns, homemade bread, hot dog, instant oatmeal, original flavor, pickles, rice, sandwich bread, skillet, sloppy joe mix, sour cream, white rice