Grandma's Sloppy Joe

Grandma Costley's Sloppy Joe

NOTE: This is even better if you use the meat from Mom's Italian Meat Sauce, and add it to everything from the Ketchup down.

1/2 sweet onion chopped
1 lb hamburger
1/2 C Ketcup
1 can V-8 juice
1/2 C water
2 bay leaves

Saute the onions in 1 Tbls of oil, add hamburger and brown.

Meanwhile in a saucepan, add remaining ingredients and bring to a simmer. Add browned hamburger to the saucepan, cover, and cook on a low simmer for an hour.

Serve on hamburger buns with fries.

Grandma's Chili

This is my best notes from Mom's info about Grandma Costley's chili. I made it for a  Halloween Party and it was devoured!

For the meat, follow the Italian Meat Sauce recipe on the blog, but stop at Tomatoe paste on the ingredient list. I used two pound of meat for this recipe:

4 ounces white mushrooms , cleaned, stems trimmed, and broken into rough pieces
1 large slice high-quality white sandwich bread , torn into quarters Mom removes crust

2 tablespoons whole milk Mom uses half and half

Table salt and ground black pepper
1 pound 85 percent lean ground beef (see note and related content)Mom buys the 5lbs of Ground Beef at Costco and doubles this recipe for that much meat
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion , chopped fine (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 Cup Finely chopped Celery
6 medium garlic cloves , minced or pressed through garlic press (about 2 tablespoons)
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon tomato paste

Follow the prep and cooking directions for the meat. 

Meanwhile, in a Crock Pot, on High add:

6 can of chili beans (pinto and/or kidney) drain 3 cans, and use the juice from the other 3

1 1/2 Cups Ketchup

2 cans of V-8

2 tsp Chili Powder

5 bay leaves

Let those ingredients simmer while you prepare the meat. 

Add meat directly from skillet, and let everything simmer for an hour or more. Before serving check to see if you need more salt. Serve warm with corn bread.