Stick to Your "Core" Meals

 

Back when I was a Pratt County 4-Her, we worked in the fair's concession stand during the county fair. Sloppy joes provided the mainstay of the noon-day meal. 

As a kid, you don't give a lot of thought to the behind-the-scenes work required. You just show up during your scheduled shift and do the assigned tasks.

But, as I became the 4-H parent and community leader in Stafford County, I remembered those sloppy joes. Then, I was the one responsible for the Stafford County Fair clean-up meal or fundraisers that required a roaster full of a main dish. And my mom got the inevitable phone call asking about that old recipe. I've passed that torch on to the next generation of 4-H parents.

It's Pratt County Fair time this week, but I won't make it to my home county for the fair. There are bigger attractions for me to the east at the Shawnee County Fair. Kinley is back for another year exhibiting in the fair, and Brooke is a first-year 4-Her, showing her projects for the first time. So Grandma and Grandpa will go and check out their fair entries. (Today is foods judging, so I'm anxious to hear how they did.)

I'm not sure whether sloppy joes are still a staple at Pratt County or not. But I'm still using the old Pratt County sloppy joe recipe for things like the Stafford Core meal. Core is a program that helps our community's families overcome poverty through budgeting, peer counseling and fellowship. Each Monday, different community groups provide the meal for Core families before their scheduled meeting. 

I'm the organizer for our church's efforts. It was our turn again last month. As is usually the case, Randy provided the muscle in carting everything to the car and then into the church.

Sloppy joes were on the menu. (I've done other meals, too - meatballs, tostadoes, cavatini, taco soup and a baked potato bar - most more than once).

With our sloppy joes, we also served baked beans, potato chips and coleslaw with homemade dressing. And, of course, there were homemade cookies for dessert. (I had some pretzel bites left over from the rehearsal dinner, too, so I shared those, too.)

As we sat at the tables, visiting with Core members, I noticed this sign:

Isn't that the truth?

Do you need a meal for a crowd? These are tried-and-true recipes to add to your recipe arsenal.

Sloppy Joes for a Crowd

Pratt County Fair concession stand

10 pounds browned hamburger (Brown with chopped onion or dried minced onion)

4 cans regular chicken gumbo soup 

1 1/2 cups ketchup

3/4 cup mustard

1 tsp. salt

Pepper to taste

 

Brown meat and onion and drain. Put meat in a roaster and add all other ingredients. Simmer in a roaster until thickened and ready to serve. The original recipe said it served 100. Servings must have been a lot smaller back. Today, I'd say it serves half of that (probably bigger buns). 

NOTE: Chicken gumbo soup is difficult to find these days. This time, I substituted Campbell's Old-Fashioned Tomato Rice. It worked well.

Coleslaw Dressing for a Crowd 

Recipe origin unknown

3/4 cup vinegar

1 cup salad oil

1 1/4 cups sugar

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 tsp. salt

1 tbsp. celery seed

1 cup salad dressing or mayonnaise

Blend all ingredients in a blender until smooth and emulsified. Pour into a quart jar and refrigerate until ready to use. Use over shredded cabbage or coleslaw mix. I usually keep a jar of this dressing in my refrigerator each summer to use on home-grown cucumbers. (I like my cucumbers with vinegar, but Randy likes a more creamy version. This dressing recipe has fit the bill.)

For the Core meal, this amount of dressing covered about 4 bags of coleslaw mix. You can certainly shred or chop your own. Using packaged coleslaw mix just saved me some time and effort when I was making all the other components in the meal.