Gleaning {Cabbage Sloppy Joes}

When I joined Americorp I was so excited. I just knew I'd get to learn, meet new people and do exciting (i.e. interesting things). I was able to meet so many new people and experience different cultures, food and points of view. I just know that if I had stayed in the Midwest I'd be a much boring person (and still single!).

I served in Apopka, Florida (Foliage Capital of the World!) at a place called the Hope Community Center. They work a lot with migrant workers and immigrants. I didn't get to spend much time at the HCC because I was placed at a domestic violence shelter some distance away. While I love working at the DV Shelter getting to spend time at the HCC was a great experience too. Every other Friday was Americorp meeting time. Good times! Most times it was an oppurtunity to kind of relax and enjoy each others company. A nice change of pace from our placements for some of us. Sometimes we did service learning projects as a group. Those were fun too.

Couldn't find any of us gleaning, found this one though ala 2009

 The one I remember most is gleaning cabbage. Gleaning is collecting leftovers from a farmer's fields after the harvest. You would be amazed at how much food is leftover to just rot in the fields of be turned over to become fertilizer for next crop. I think we collected over 2 tons of cabbage for the Second Harvest Food Bank.

Picking cabbage is back breaking work. It's done by hand with a little knife and gloves. Gloves that soon become useless because the cabbage is moist from the overnight dew or rain. I had blisters on my hands and such an achy back! Picking veggies and fruits is not good times. I once picked peaches for a month one summer up north for pay. Not fun. Besides the aches and pains and low pay there is also the ick factor. As in the crop has been sprayed with pesticides at some point.

I learned a lot about where are food comes from, who picks it and the environmental and health impacts of producing food. look up info about Lake Apopka sometime. Scary!

Moving on...we got to take some of our cabbage home! So I have a few pounds of cabbage and no idea what to make with it. Cole slaw. Sure, but not my favorite thing. So nothing to do but Google cabbage recipes. This recipe came up. I can't remember where it I found it. Probably recipes.com. So I apologize for lack of credit. Thanks. It's yummy.

For this recipe you'll need half a head of shredded cabbage. I recommend using your knife and cutting board. My food processor shreds it too fine. Also needed: green pepper, onion, ground beef, ketchup, brown sugar, lemon juice, white vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, yellow mustard, and slat and pepper. It's a lot of ingredients but this Sloppy Joe isn't from a can.

In a large saucepan cook the beef,onion and green pepper over medium heat. Drain off excess fat. Icky!

Add cabbage. Cook till just crisp tender.

In a small bowl (or container or something else container-ish!), combine ketchup, brown sugar, lemon juice, white vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, yellow mustard. Stir well.

Add to meat and cabbage and than cover pan and let simmer about 10 minutes or until cabbage is tender.

I like to serve on hamburger buns with a side of mac & cheese. Try this recipe from the Pioneer Woman. It's so good!

Cabbage Sloppy Joe's
from recipe.com?

1lb ground beef
1 1/2 cup finely shredded cabbage
1 medium onion chopped
1/4 cup green pepper, diced
1 cup ketchup
3 TBS brown sugar
2 TBS lemon juice
1 TBS white vinegar
1 TBS Worcestershire Sauce
1 TBS yellow mustard
1 tsp salt
1 dash pepper

In large saucepan, cook the beef, cabbage, onion, and green pepper over medium heat until meat is no longer pink and vegetables are crisp tender; drain.  Stir in ketchup, brown sugar, lemon juice, vinegar, worcestershire sauce, mustard, salt and pepper.  Cover and simmer 10 minutes or until cabbage is tender. 

2009-2010