Sloppy Joes!

I can't even begin to make enough excuses for not having posted for three weeks. I mean I am trying to finish a dissertation, sell a house, plan to move and start a new job, etc.....
But that is no excuse! I apologize.
So the house is flickering black and white here tonight. I bleached, washed, and dried a load of my husband's white socks today. And dinner could be taken straight out of a 50's household: Sloppy Joes, Macaroni Salad, and Baked Beans.
In fact, this is basically the recipe for Sloppy Joes in the Joy of Cooking. I sauteed about 1/2C each chopped onions, green peppers, and mushrooms in butter.
I sauteed about 1 1/4 lb. ground beef in 3 batches. I lightly salted, peppered, and chili powdered the beef as it sauteed. These spices are not in the Joy of Cooking recipe.
After all the beef was cooked I mixed the beef and veggies with about 6 ounces of Heinz 57 chili sauce. The Joy of Cooking only calls for 2-4T.
Eat this on a hamburger bun and watch the black and white flickering in your house too!

Meatloaf

I am a big fan of meatloaf. With snow flurries falling today it seemed like a great day to have the oven on for hours and to make a hearty meal of meatloaf and mashed potatoes. My husband's cousin is visiting and both he and my husband worked outside all day today in the cold and flurries doing tree work and stone work, respectively. So as I stood at the butcher's counter today, 1 1/2 lbs of meat didn't look like enough. I went for 1 3/4 lbs of meatloaf mix (beef, pork, and veal). I am hoping we'll have some leftovers because there is nothing like a meatloaf sandwich in my mind. I love 'em with mayo, BBQ sauce and lettuce. And cold.

I preheated the oven to 350 (Joy of Cooking advice) and I anticipate it'll take 1 1/2 hours to bake for that much meat. I always use a meat thermometer when pork is involved.

The recommended temperature is around 160 for pork.

I start out with one slice of sandwich bread (this is a good use for the heel!) and I soak it in about 2-3T milk and 1 egg (although I have used either one or the other before, so if you don't have an egg, don't worry about it).

Once it is soggy, I use my hands to mush up that mixture and then I add the meat and mix it all together.

You must use your hands! I then add in the extras.

This time I used about 1/2 an onion and 1 small green pepper.

I often add mushrooms too, but I didn't have any.

I added about 2T ketchup, 1T chili sauce, 1T worcestershire sauce, 1t garlic powder, 1t black pepper, and 1T oregano. I know I have also tossed in dry mustard, basil, salt, and other spices in the past. I mix all this together and put it in a loaf pan. I cover the top with ketchup and stick it in the oven.