Sloppy Joes! They are SLOPPY!

Ok, so I looked Sloppy Joe's up on the net. Wikopedia says... A Sloppy Joe is an American dish of ground beef, sweetened tomato sauce or ketchup and other seasonings, and served on a hamburger bun. I surfed a bit more on the net and found that there is no exact origin of the Sloppy Joe, but recipes began surfacing in the 1940's.

My Mom would make Sloppy Joe's for us once in a while. It was always a nice treat and it was fun to watch her cook them over the stove. From what I remember she would brown the meat, drain the fat into a can, add a can or two of Campbell's Tomato Soup, minced dried onion, salt and pepper, dump in a little brown sugar and then a big squirt of ketchup and a smiley face of mustard and then stir it all together. They sure were good.

When we would go to our cousin Steve and Debra's, (when they lived in California) she would add a can of Campbell's Chicken Gumbo soup. They were good too.

This morning I cooked up my Sloppy Joe's and put it in the crock pot to cook all day. I used my Mom's recipe minus the brown sugar and thought about the Chicken Gumbo but did not have any in the pantry. Below is what I did. I like mine a bit spicier so I added more spices.

28413 Sloppy Joe's

2 pounds Lean ground beef sirloin
1/2 of a red onion diced
1 Tbs. minced garlic
a little olive oil
a few shakes celery salt
a few shakes onion powder
a few shakes Lawry's Garlic Salt
a few shakes Garlic Powder
Salt and pepper
a few shakes Mrs. Dash Seasoning blend Southwest Chipotle
2 cans Campbell's Tomato Soup
a big squirt ketchup
a mustard smiley face
1/2 a red bell pepper diced
1/2 a green bell pepper diced

Whole Wheat buns or rolls
Cheddar cheese slices and or Pepper Jack Cheese slices

Brown your beef with the onion, garlic and a little olive oil. Drain fat. Sprinkle various seasonings. Add cans of tomato soup. Stir until well combined. Make your ketchup and mustard smiley face and stir again. Dump mixture into your crock pot set on the low setting. Add two kinds of chopped bell pepper and stir. Let it cook for a few more hours. This is great for company or serving at two dinner servings. The meat gets really tender and all the flavors blend together very well. The fat kinda comes to the top of the crock pot so if you want you can skim it off with a spoon.

Serve your Sloppy Joe's on hamburger buns or rolls and eat them the messy way or serve open faced with fork and a knife. Either way they are yummy. Enjoy your all American meal!

Tonight I ate mine, open faced with pepper jack cheese and Heinz pickles slices on the side. It was great! Share your recipe in the comment section if you want. I would love to read how you make them Extra Sloppy!