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When I was a little girl, our Christmas was a bit different than what most families experience.

My mother would save having the big dinner for the weekend after Christmas. She was a generous woman; and when I tell you the story it will all make perfect sense.

I come from a big family. 7 kids. There were the older ones and then me, and my brothers were at least five years younger than the rest.

So, when it came to Christmas dinner the older kids would have had to face the dilemma of where to eat if it were not for the creativity and generosity of my mom.

The boyfriends and girlfriends wanted my family members to come to THEIR house for the big meal. If my mom had insisted on hosting Christmas dinner ON Christmas, they would have had to choose. That can cause great consternation in some families. Not ours. My mom solved that by moving her dinner date. That way the older kids could eat the big meal over at the other house and when we gathered, they could all come to our place. That way all the older kids got to celebrate and feast twice and never both meals on the same day.

Us little kids just wanted to play with our new toys, so we hardly noticed the big kids were not around.

But that leaves the dilemma of what to feed us little kids. My mom solved that too, in grand fashion.

She made up a big batch of Sloppy Joes!

That way people could eat whenever they were hungry and we little kids loved our Sloppy Joes. In those old days, my mom would just brown up a bunch of ground beef and throw a can of Manwich on top. That stuff was new to the grocery shelves and all the rage. We were excited and happy. That’s all it took. A side of potato chips and we were fed.

Mom got to relax and save her energy for the dinner on the weekend.

So now, when I make Sloppy Joes, I go beyond the Manwich can, but these are still super-easy to whip up.

Enjoy! You might be having company this holiday, and this makes quick work out of feeding a crowd or people who arrive at different times. They work for New Year’s of course or even save the idea for a birthday party!

Cheers to you,