Manwich Is It's Own Reward

I recently came across my mom's collection of free cookbooks that you'd either get in the supermarket or by mailing away a 'proof of purchase'. Among these treasures was the groovy-looking 50 Famous Manwich Recipes booklet. Manwich was a popular 1970s brand of what was essentially canned 'sloppy joe' sauce introduced by Hunt’s in 1969. The recipe was basically seasoned tomato sauce that was meant to be added to ground meat product in a skillet. It was marketed as an enticing, seductive meal for manly men, but was quite popular with kids. Just look at the packaging, sexy women looking to add sauce to your meat...

It was really a quick and easy way for a family on a budget to turn some cheap chopped meat into something more, kinda like Hamburger Helper. “A sandwich is a sandwich, but a Manwich is a meal!” Some of the 50 "famous" recipes: Sweet and Sauerkraut Franks, Heidelberg Cabbage Rolls, Pork Chops Hawaiian, Beefy Bean-a-roni, Teenwich Fun-do, and the ever-popular Sassy Coneywich. I don't think my mom ever made any of these, we just opted to dump the can contents over ground beef. And you wonder why I'm vegan today? For a kick, I may hunt down a can of the stuff (they still make it) and try it with ground soy product.

In the interest of education, the editors of the Manwich recipe guide also included a handy dandy guide to the Basic Four food groups - "Manwich falls into the first group, bit you'll find it happily compatible with all the other groups."