Having six hungry mouths to feed on a limited budget, my mom often served Sloppy Joes as a cheap and popular meal. However, my aunt took a somewhat antipodean approach to the same meal. Since she could not stand anything messy, including food, she served us Neat Nancies when we showed up for dinner. Nary a morsel of beef nor a molecule of sauce was allowed to escape the bun. For some strange reason, the Sloppy Joes always tasted better.

Makes me curious what a Sloppy Joe contains. Of course I could look it up but that would mean end of conversation. Neat Nancy does not appeal much to the imagination.

Ground beef, often sautéed with onions and peppers, mixed with a tomato (often ketchup-based) sauce, perhaps some brown sugar and additional spices; served as a sandwich on a hamburger bun or something similar. Almost impossible to eat without wearing some of it. Very messy. A standard menu item in the US school lunch program in the 1950s and '60s. Maybe it still is.

Using "Manwich" and ground beef, they are an easy
supper or lunch. I eat them often and use bread
if no buns are handy.

They also are called by many names, depending on where you are in the US. ON the Great Plains alone, I have heard Sloppy Joe, Tavern, Barbecue, Manwich (a commercial name), and another which is escaping me at the moment!

What about your neck of the woods?

Thank you mr.Trom. I'll stick to toast and Tasty Tom.

You may be onto something there.

Not much, simply a tastier tomato. :))

The most fascinating thing in relation to school lunches:the renowned 'Mystery Meat'...what is even in that stuff? Horse meat?

At nearly 50 years past public school lunches, I find it still a mystery. And they're still serving it.

Peter, would we really want to know???

I don't think it's so much a question of what animal the meat comes from as it is what they did to it before laying it out on the serving line.

Nothing beats a good ol' pie & dead horse (sauce)