A wonderful non-traditional meatloaf full of peppers, salsa and rice. The sublte flavour of cumin and other spices, brings out the zesty taste of mexican style foods.

Use a ripe avacado, pitted and sliced as garnish.

Add all your ingredients to the hamburger mixture along with your spices.

Use parchment paper for lining in your loaf pan.

Top the meatloaf with ketchup and salsa.

Add grated cheese halfway through the cooking time.

The cheese will melt and blend into the salsa keeping the meatloaf moist.

Let the meatloaf cool in the pan, then remove and sit before slicing.

Serve with salsa, fresh avacado slices, nacho chips and gacamole.

Ingredients

2 lbs. ground beef
1 link of sausage, cooked and chopped
1/2 onion, diced
1/4 green pepper, diced
1/4 yellow pepper, diced
3 tbsp salsa
2 garlic cloves minced or 1 tsp garlic all spice
2 tbsp ketchup
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp parsley
pinch of chili peppers
1/4 tsp paprika
1/2 cup cooked rice
10 – 15 taco chips, broken into pieces
1 egg
1 tblsp gacamole
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup mozza cheese
1/4 cup cheddar cheese
1 sheet parchment paper

Prepare

Mix all ingredients together. Line a loaf pan with a sheet of parchment paper. Add ground beef mixture into the lined pan. Pat down and place in oven. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour at 350°F.

Topping:

Put on topping half way during the cooking process. ( 1/4 C. ketchup, 2 tbsp salsa and sprinkle of mozzorella cheese.)

Remove from the oven, let cool and lift from the loaf pan to a platter.

Slice meatloaf when cooled and serve on a bed of lettuce with salsa, taco chips, gacamole and cheese.

A great mexican lunch or dinner. Serves 6

Let’s face it. We’re getting older! Almost every other month, a friend is newly wed, just engaged or announcing a pregnancy. Although neither one of us is nowhere close to those milestones, it’s exciting to watch our friends celebrate these moments of ‘grown folks’ life. We don’t know what it’s like to cook for a family, but we will one day. In the meantime, we can see how our pals navigate those waters. Take, for instance, Meg. She’s one of Chrystal’s high school friends from New Jersey. Thanks to Facebook, they’ve been able to reconnect and keep tally on a few of the things that have happened over the years. Meg is the home-owning, married mother of four cute girls and three pets, and she’s in school. If she’s not busy, who is! She’s been living the family life for a while now, and we thought it’d be fun to have her share one of her family favorites. It’s one of those dishes that you can make once and use the leftovers for a completely revamped meal a few days later. Leave it to a mom to come up with the best ways to cut corners, save time and remain sane. Here she goes!

January is around the corner, which means we will all, once again, decide that we are going to eat healthy and get in shape for summer. There is only so much grilled chicken with steamed veggies on the side that one can possibly ingest though. I found this delicious recipe for meatloaf that is actually low in calories, and the best part is you can use the leftovers to make the second recipe! I personally love “now & later” recipes.

I got these recipes from Weight Watchers, so they are healthy. My husband and 4 children went back for second and thirds, so you definitely can’t tell they are “healthy” recipes. Enjoy!!!

Baked Pasta and Meatballs (from Weight Watchers) – Serves 6
3/4 pounds farfalle
1 1/4 pounds ground turkey
1/3 cup plain fat-free Greek yogurt
1/4 cup seasoned dried bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon salt
10 ounces frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
24 ounce jar fat-free marinara sauce
1 cup shredded fat-free mozzarella cheese

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spray a rimmed baking sheet and a shallow 2 1/2 quart baking dish with nonstick spray.

2. Cook the farfalle according to the package directions, omitting the salt if desired.

3. Meanwhile, mix the turkey, yogurt, bread crumbs, Pecorino Romano, garlic and salt in a large bowl. Form into 48 one inch meatballs and place on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until cooked through, 10 – 12 minutes.

4. Transfer 24 of the meatballs and 2 cups of the farfalle into a container and let cool. Cover and refrigerate up to 3 days for later use in Sicilian Meatball Soup.

5. Mix the spinach, the remaining 24 meatballs and 4 cups of farfalle, the marinara sauce, and 1/2 cup of the mozzarella in a large bowl. Transfer to a prepared baking dish and sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup of mozzarella. Cover loosely with foil and bake 20 minutes. Uncover and bake until hot and bubbling at the edges, 10 minutes.

Sicilian Meatball Soup (from Weight Watchers) – Serves 6
1 onion, chopped
3 small carrots, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 quart low-sodium chicken broth
14 ounces Italian-style diced tomatoes
3 cups coarsely chopped cauliflower
1 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large zucchini, diced
24 reserved cooked meatballs and 2 cups reserved cooked farfalle from Baked Pasta and Meatballs
1/4 cup grated pecorino cheese

1. Spray a Dutch oven with nonstick spray and set over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 5 minutes. Add the carrots and garlic; cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, 1 minute. Stir in the broth, tomatoes, cauliflower, water and salt; bring to a boil. Reduce the heat; cover and simmer 10 minutes.

2. Stir in the zucchini; cover and simmer until the vegetables are tender, 5 minutes. Stir in the meatballs and farfalle; cover and simmer until heated through 5 minutes. Remove the Dutch oven from the heat and stir in the cheese until blended.

Click HERE for the printable recipe.

So, I had some leftover tortilla chips that were kind of getting on the stale side.  I have been reading some cookbooks and saw that someone had replaced breadcrumbs in a recipe with tortilla chips.  I think they were crusting fish with the tortilla chips.  This is my favorite store-bought version of that idea.

Tortilla Crusted Fish

I thought if they could replace the breadcrumbs in that recipe with chips, why couldn’t I replace them in meatloaf?  I then thought that I could replace the ketchup with salsa and so on and so forth.  It turned out much better than I anticipated.  When it came out of the oven and when it was reheated in the microwave it smelled just like when you order the nachos at a restaurant with all the fixin’s.  That smell of warm tortilla chips.  It makes me feel like drooling just to catch a whiff.  Then there is the cheese to seal the nacho deal.  Here is what I did.  Hope you give it a try.

• 1 lb. of ground meat, I used beef
• 1/2 cup of salsa + 2 TBSP
• 1 cup of shredded cheese, I used Colby jack but cheddar would be nice too
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 cup of tortilla chips, crushed
• 1/4 cup of ketchup

1. Preheat oven to 350º.  Mix meat together with 1/2 cup of salsa, egg, cheese, and tortillas.  I find that using a fork or just the tips of your fingers works to make a lighter, moister meatloaf than squeezing and pressing the meatloaf.  You want to keep it airy.
2. Place mixture in a loaf pan or just form a loaf shape on a baking sheet.  Again you want to lightly place the meat in the pan not smash it down.  Once in the pan lightly smooth it on the top without pressing down.
3. Mix ketchup with remaining salsa for topping.  Pour topping over the meatloaf and spread to entirely cover.
4. Bake for 50 minutes.

I made this a day before it was served to help it set up and let the flavors marry.  Most meatloaf is better this way and will slice easier for you.  Once it has cooled wrap in aluminum foil and refrigerate.

I have been told by tasters that it would make a great sandwich also.  I like taking a traditional recipe and giving it a twist.  This recipe definitely accomplished that.

Nacho Meatloaf

We enjoyed this comfort food on a cold, rainy night.  Jim claims this was the best meatloaf he’s ever had in his life.  You decide.

The final product: served with roasted veggies and potatoes

Sun-dried Tomato Meatloaf with Mushroom Gravy

• 1 small onion
• 1 cup sun-dried tomatoes, drained (save the oil)
• 2 lbs. ground beef
• 1 egg
• 4 garlic cloves, smashed
• 1 cup breadcrumbs
• Handful of button mushrooms, sliced
• 1 cup beef stock (made with 1 cup water and 1 bullion cube)
• 2 tablespoons flour
• ½ cup of water

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Put water on the stove to boil, add bullion once the water is boiling and take off heat.  Saute the onion, on low heat, in the oil from the sun-dried tomatoes until onions are clear, about 8 minutes. 

In a large bowl, mix the ground beef, tomatoes, sautéed onions, egg, garlic, breadcrumbs and half of the sliced mushrooms (save the other half for the gravy).  Freeform the meat into a loaf in a roasting pan, then pour beef stock into the bottom of the pan.  Cook meatloaf for 1.5 hours, basting regularly.

Once meat is cooked, remove from oven and let sit for 15 minutes.  Move meatloaf to a platter and put the roasting pan on the stove over medium, high heat.  Mix two tablespoons of flour with water, then whisk into juices in the roasting pan.  Add mushrooms and stir until the liquid starts to simmer.  Once simmering, add milk and stir until you have a rich gravy for your meatloaf!

Meatloaf – there are few words that scream home-cooked meal like meatloaf.  Sadly, many people eat boring, bland meatloaf thinking there is nothing else out there.  I was one of the masses that detested meatloaf for all it was worth, until I came across this recipe.  It is a modification of a recipe that Bobby Flay used in his meatloaf Throwdown episode.  I will never, ever again make another meatloaf recipe, not even to try something new.  It is that good.  My friend Jon is a connoisseur of meatloaf, and he says that this meatloaf is the benchmark by which he judges all others.  I usually serve it with roasted garlic mashed potatoes (recipe soon to come!) and the combination makes for the most delicious after-dinner Sunday nap.

Prep 30-45 min, Cook 60-75 min

Roasted Vegetable Meatloaf with Balsamic Glaze

3 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, finely diced
1 red pepper, finely diced
1 yellow pepper, finely diced
5 cloves garlic, smashed to a paste with salt
½ tsp red pepper flakes
Salt
Pepper
2 eggs, beaten
¼ cup fresh Italian parsley, chopped
1 lb ground pork
1 lb ground chuck- 80/20 percentage
1 cup Panko
½ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
1 cup ketchup, divided
¼ cup + 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Preheat oven to 425◦F.  Line a baking sheet with foil.  Set a rack inside of the baking sheet and cover with parchment paper.  Cut slits in the parchment paper so the grease will drip down from the meatloaf.  Set aside.

Sauté vegetables and garlic.  Season with salt and pepper.  Cool.  Mix bread crumbs, meat, parmesan, eggs, herbs, ½ cup ketchup, 2 tbsp balsamic and vegetables by hand until just combined.

Mold loaf by hand on parchment paper.  Whisk remaining ketchup, balsamic and red pepper flakes.  Brush over meatloaf.  Bake 1 – 1 ¼ hours.  Rest 10 minutes before slicing.

Serves 4-6

I just felt like writing shmuck. It’s such a fun word, and I do believe it’s a jewish word, so in honor of Hanukkah, don’t be a shmuck. I felt like one today when I was driving back from the courthouse in Elyria, see, I decided if you frequently drive back and forth from Lorain to the county seat, you know what I am about to say holds true. If you hit one red light, you hit every single red light. And when you’re driving back and you want to get that green light, you have to weave through traffic. I hate when you get in the left lane and you are like “AWESOME. I am moving.” And then you stop, and then the person you were in front of passes you with a shit eating grin on their face. That’s when you feel like a shmuck.

Today was the last day *crosses fingers* I will have to see Story in my Pants guy. He sang to me and followed me around for a bit, I couldn’t pick up what song he was singing, but my friend Terry and I are sure it was a song involved the word “Booty.”

I complimented hot bailiff today too. I decided I am not going to call him hot anymore, how about, very-attractive-bailiff. Ok, hot bailiff. I told him he had a nice tie. Here’s how the conversation went:
Me: hey, how’s it going [hot bailiff]?
Him: Good, we’re having another trial you can sit on if you want. It’s a civil case.
Me: Is it really something worth writing about?
Him: No
Me: Shucks. Oh by the way, that’s a nice tie.
Him: *eyes shifting, smile* Thanks
Me: It’s very *awkward pause* … plaid.

WOW. PLAID?! REALLY KELLY. REALLY. Your first full chat with the man not about work entirely and your first compliment to him to try to gain ground and you say something about his tie?! AND THAT IT’S PLAID?! *Hangs head in shame.*

And because I didn’t blog all weekend — I missed you as much as you missed me — here’s what you missed:

I started a puzzle. It's extra challenging because I lost two pieces to it when my dog chewed them up. I have no life.

I made margaritas in my bullet blender while completing the Marilyn Monroe puzzle. I drank them by myself and listening to Neil Diamond and Meatloaf albums on vinyl. I have no life.

I came across this recipe in The Deen Bros. Take It Easy: Quick and Affordable Meals the Whole Family Will Love.  It’s my new favorite cookbook.  But the recipe is also available on their website.

These were super easy to make, and tasted great.  Phil said it was the best meatloaf he’s ever tasted!  I paired it with baked potatoes and baby spinach with warm oil & walnuts.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
• 1 cup plain unseasoned bread crumbs
• 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
• 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3 tablespoons ketchup
• 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease the cups of a 12-cup muffin pan.

In a large bowl, combine the beef, bread crumbs, eggs, milk, garlic, onion, salt, thyme, and pepper. Divide the meat mixture among the 12 muffin cups, pressing the meat firmly into the pan.

Place the muffin pan on a baking sheet and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the meat is almost cooked through—the “loaves” will be firm when pressed lightly in the center, but not set.

While the meat loaves are baking, whisk together the ketchup, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce. After baking for 20 to 25 minutes, remove the pan from the oven. Brush the tops of the loaves with the glaze, using it all up, and return the pan to the oven. Bake for 10 minutes more, or until the glaze has thickened and the meat is completely cooked through, 30 to 35 minutes total. Run an offset spatula or butter knife around the edges of the muffin cups and pop out the meat loaves. Serve hot.

Our household goal is to have at least 3 family dinner meals per week. I would like more, but John’s work schedule keeps him away several evenings. Football tossed a bit of a kink into the family time and into my home-cooked meals. We were still able to catch a couple of meals, but they were generally delivery, take-out or fast food, and occasionally quick, preassembled foods. This weekend, I made a resolve to get back to the kitchen for the majority of our meals. Activities will continue, as we have resumed martial arts, but I think with better planning on my part, home-cooked meals will prevail.

Saturday night we had meatloaf, fresh cooked carrots and onion soup baked new potatoes. The meal was an overwhelming success. The night before, I put the meat into the fridge to thaw – no last minute microwaving, and ensured that I had everything on hand.

Meatloaf - 2 lbs ground beef, 1 TBS dried minced onion, 1/2 cup milk, 2 eggs, 1/2 sleeve saltine crackers, 1/2 cup + 2 TBS ketchup. (if you are going to bake this, combine all ingredients except the 2 TBS ketchup, put into a pan – i used the deep covered baker from Pampered Chef, smooth top, then cover with remaining ketchup. cover and Bake at 375 for about an hour. remove cover and Broil on low for about 3 minutes)

Carrots - 2 lbs carrots, 1 TBS butter, 1/2 cup water, salt & pepper (peel, place in pan with all ingredients, bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and let simmer till fork tender)

Onion Potatoes - 4 cans new potatoes, 1 pkt Onion Soup Mix, 1/3 cup oil, no-stick spray (dice potatoes, place in bag with soup mix & oil, shake. Pour onto a well greased jelly roll pan, bake at 375 for about an hour or until golden & lightly crispy)

*I used to use real onion in my meatloaf, but found that dried/minced have the following benefits: 1)the loaf is fairly homogenous, which means kids won’t pull it apart in search of the elusive onions, most kids don’t consider minced onions *real onions*, 2)There is enough onion powder in the dried onions that it adds a great deal of additional flavor, and 3) I never open up a container of dried onions only to discover that they have *gone bad*.

Last night more of the same yummy goodness – sweet & sour meatballs (jelly & chili sauce in the crockpot), sticky white rice, and asparagus.

I have prepared a menu for this week so that I won’t be caught last minute wondering what to make.

Butternut squash + pumpkin + apples = stocking up the fridge. The cold, rainy weather was a good excuse to finally put the remaining fall & winter produce to use. I dug up recipes from Everyday Food for inspiration, and made a mess in the kitchen, but it was worth it! Now we can enjoy at least a week’s worth of butternut squash soup, roasted pumpkin, meatloaf and mashed potatoes.

About once a year I go to battle with a butternut squash, armed with knife and peeler, and tonight was no exception. But knock on wood, I haven’t lost a finger or pulled a muscle yet, and the various recipes I’ve used never disappoint. This time, I tried “Corn and Butternut Squash Chowder” from the September 2009 issue of Everyday Food. I made some slight adjustments, substituting olive oil for vegetable oil, and cumin instead of curry. The changes seemed to fit right in and the results were just as delicious, with the added texture of corn.

Meanwhile, I cut and peeled the last sugar pie pumpkin from my Capay delivery to use in a Roasted Pumpkin recipe from the October 2008 issue of Everyday Food. I left out the sage and substituted onions for shallots. The pumpkin was soft, but a little bland without the sage, so I’ll likely add it to pasta or chicken and rice later this week.

This one’s an original, and an experiment at that: I thought apples might make a nice addition to turkey meatloaf, which has previously been dry due to a lack of moisture (and fat) in the meat. So I peeled and shredded three apples in a bowl and added ground turkey, an egg, salt and pepper. I baked the “loaf” at 350 degrees for about 35-40 minutes (or until the meat was cooked through and slightly browned on the edges). The apples leave juice at the bottom of the pan, but that means extra moist meatloaf with a nice sweet aftertaste! We had ours with buttery mashed potatoes on the side.

We have leftovers across the board – so one night of extra dishes might help alleviate the next 2-3.

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I had been wanting to cook something new for a while; I’ve been trying to eat healthy lately and it’s meant a lot of skinless chicken breasts and salmon fillets. I scoured Julia Child’s recipes, consulted my Jacques Pepin, checked to see if we had brandy, artichokes, or swiss chard, and was this close to seeing how much a tank of liquid nitrogen for frozen tomato puree pellets would cost when Tony casually mentioned how much he loved meatloaf growing up. Huh, meatloaf? That sounds complicated.

Meatloaf has never been in my top 10 meals. Too many bland, grey slices were served to me in my elementary school cafeteria, so the thought of meatloaf made me recoil. But, I was game to finding a great recipe, so again, I started overthinking it. The internet has thousands of recipes and consulting “Cooks Illustrated” made me think I needed a degree in Engineering before I even pre-heated the oven. Luckily, my first cookbook, “How to Boil Water” (2006, Meredith Books) had a recipe that was irresistible. I mean, bacon is the first ingredient for crying out loud!:

Preheat oven to 400°

2 slices Bacon

1 medium onion

3 cloves garlic

large handful of parsley leaves

1 large egg

1tbsp dijon mustard/ 1 tbsp worcestershire sauce

1tsp kosher salt/1/2 tsp course black pepper

2 lbs ground chuck

8 oz shredded cheddar

1/4 cup ketchup (all ingredient and directions from How to Boil Water, pg. 162)

This is not a recipe for the weight-conscious. You start by crisping the slices of bacon on the stove. Once they’re extra crispy, you take them off and cook the chopped onion and garlic in the remaining bacon fat.  Make sure to crumble up the bacon when its cool.

Then, whisk the worcestershire, egg, mustard, salt and black pepper together in a large bowl. You’ll need it, because you’ll then need to add the beef, bacon crumbles, chopped parsley, and cheese to the bowl. This was the grossest part for me, I’ve never been one to get my hands messy, which is why I may never really be a great cook,  but you’ll need your hands to get the mix nice and even.

Put the meatloaf mix onto a foil-wrapped baking sheet with a high lip (there’ll be lots of oil you’ll need to catch) and pat into a loaf. My loaf reminded me a bit of our cat Spud when he hides under the covers. Since he’s a bit of a tubby cat, we’ve nicknamed him “Lumpkin,” so this meatloaf was more of a meat Lumpkin.

Cook for 45 minutes, then take out and spread a thin layer of the ketchup on top. Cook for another 15 minutes and you should have a nicely browned loaf.

The smell was incredible, the mix of garlic, bacon, and cooked beef filled our place. You’re supposed to let it sit for 10 minutes, but who could wait? Served with roasted chopped carrots and baby potatoes on the side, this was a hearty and filling meal. The loaf was demolished within minutes and my attempt to save leftovers was in vain. Tony proclaimed it was the best meal I’ve made, so I was pretty happy. It just goes to show, there’s a lot to be said for haute cuisine, but for a dreary and chilly winter day, you can’t beat comfort food. 

~Julia

I’m not feeling uber hott today…unlike Kim who loves her bikinis year round.

Instead I feel more like Violet from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Why you ask? Christmas party number one….Southern food to the nth degree…combined with a long day at work=sodium in my joints!  Recap of my sins eats.

Cornbread…delicious mini cornbreads. I’m from Texas! It must make an appearance at every gathering.

Delicious warm thick meatloaf.  You either love it or hate it.  I actually prefer my meatloaf with classy ketchup instead of tomato sauce.  Call me a princess, I know.

Turkey with dressing and stuffing…Z.O.M.G. So moist and juicy! What can I say? I like my turkey like I like my…nevermind…

Mashed potatoes with butter oozing out the top? Check.  Buttery corn? Check. Green beans in buttery sauce? Check. Cheesy hash browns? Double check.  I also ordered my own side: turnip greens.  I was the only one who touched this.  No one fought me for it.  Am I the only one who lovesss this side? Turnip greens with pieces of meat. Mmm…I know it’s a senior citizen side dish but I love it!

My plate.  I know…it’s HUGE. Don’t be fooled..there is a ton of turkey underneath it.  I ended up getting a SECOND helping of turnip greens. I might be on A&E’s “Intervention” soon.

One of the desserts.  Cheesecake with a graham cracker and pecan crust.  HOLY #$#!#%!. Creamy decadence.  The crust was soo flavorful!

My dessert plate….yet again..don’t be fooled..I got a little more cheesecake after all this was LICKED CLEAN.  On the left is a pumpkin cake with cinnamon chips.  The bottom is Paula Dean’s pumpkin blondie. The pumpkin blondie was so dense but the top layer of pumpkin was so fluffy.  I immediately unbuttoned my pants after this.

Best part of the gathering?  The kids my coworkers brought! I don’t plan on having any kids within the next 5 years but boy do I love to play with them! And kiss them! and make them feel uncomfortable.

Think Elmira from Tiny Toon Adventures.

I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend.  Although Christmas isn’t even over yet, my tummy has had enough.  I need to buckle down…I say this every week but desserts and treats have become a daily occurrance!  You know how they say jeans don’t lie? Well..they are screaming the truth.  How is everyone else doing so far on their healthy eating?

Turkey meatloaf

2-2.5 lbs lean ground turkey
1 small onion or 1/2 large onion diced
1 cup mushrooms diced
1 garlic clove diced
1 egg
1/2 cup soy flower
1 can rotel (i use the spicy with habanersos, but its up to u)
1/4 cup sugar free ketchup

Sautee onions, mushrooms. and garlic untill onions are translucent, and mushrooms have been reduced to half.. Cool on a plate

Mix the meat, egg, flower, veggies and 1/2 the can of rotel in a bowl (WITH HANDS!) until thoroughly combined.

Form into glass or metal caserole dish with at least a half inch gap all the way around the loaf.

Cook on 375 for 20 minutes

Mix the second half can of rotel and the 1/4 cup of sugar free ketchup together then spread over the top of the meatloaf.

Cook another 5-10 minutes on 400 (Just watch for it to turn brown and firm up nicely)

This is a delicous treat that can give you about 4 hefty servings.

Roughly, 385cal, 54g protein, 11g carbs, 3.5g fiber, 16g fat per 1/2 pound serving.

Right before we all went home for Thanksgiving, my friend DC organized this huge food-coma-inducing Thanksgiving potluck to take place in his apartment. He is pretty much the bomb because he cooked soooo much food for this. He even cooked (or should I say CREATED haha) this ginormous turkey!! And then on top of that, each of us brought something too, so the end result was an apartment bursting with people and food. I think there was some miscommunication there because he didn’t know that everyone else was bringing something. In fact, I think our little group here often has these moments of terrible miscommunication. Hahaha Fun times!

This was probably the closest that I’ve ever had to a “traditional American” Thanksgiving meal. My family always just ends up with a feast of Chinese food because we like that better. So this was my first taste of some classics that I’m sure most of you have a lot of experience with such as green bean casserole, sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top, cranberry sauce, and stuffing. I had to ask CM what a green bean casserole was…

Chipotle Chicken Cups

Mini Mushroom Arugula Quiches

Here is what I brought: mini mushroom arugula quiches and chipotle chicken cups. The recipes worked out well .The chipotle chicken cups called for wonton wrappers as the cups, but I had a box of puff pastries for the quiches, so I used those instead.

Table wobbling under our weight

This is our table overflowing with people and food.

Italian Soda

Delicious, refreshing Italian soda!! This was very quickly demolished between all of us.

Vegemite

Vegemite!! Courtesy of MC all the way from the far and distant land of Australia. Oh not the bowl on the right. That’s just gravy. I meant the sandwiches. Vegemite, for those of you who are not Australian, is sandwich spread that’s kind of like peanut butter except it’s made of yeast extract. The taste was a mixture of salty and…I don’t even know. The flavor is very difficult to describe. I don’t know how I feel about it because it’s all very strange and foreign to me, but I have a feeling that Vegemite is one of those things that will grow on you as you eat more of it. What a strange feeling…

Meatloaf, Green Bean casserole, biscuits

And meatloaf and green bean casserole and biscuits. Yummy!

Panera Bread

And a giant loaf of delicious bread from Panera! We had so much bread that night.

Chinese Pancakes

Chinese pancakes dipped in soy sauce courtesy of the wonderfully talented IJ.

MAAaaarrrrshmallows!!

Sweet potatoes with marshmallows. I have to say, I was pretty much in love with this dish…

Stuffing, mashed potatoes

Stuffing and potatoes! I love potatoes of all shapes and size, and I didn’t even know what stuffing was until now.

Poofy Bread!!

PL has this awesome recipe that creates these poofy bread rolls that are amazing. They have a slightly sweet tinge and then the texture is bready but light. I’m not a huge fan of bread, but I love PL’s bread. Notice the spot in the pan that’s missing a piece of bread? Yeah, I ate that one.

Turkey!!

Don’t forget the turkey!!!!! DC did a great job with the turkey. The meat was tender and not dry at all. Paired with the gravy, and it was a winner!

Mochi

IJ also made different kinds of mochi. I think there were white sesame, black sesame, and coconut.

Battle of Pumpking Pie Tarts

And now, this is the counter full of pumpkin pie tarts. Half are by JW, and half are by DC, and they duked it out over who made the better tarts. Haha Oh goodness! I think that’s all the food. I didn’t even take pictures of the cakes and ice cream and other desserts. We didn’t even touch half of the desserts because as you can see, by the end of dinner, we were all sprawled in various positions on the floor unable to move due to massive food comas. Hmm…I think this whole eating too much thing is starting to become a theme in my blog.

Knowing my passion for raw food, my clever friend Wybe sent the raw food hypocrite this brilliant image, designed by JWT Kuwait for International Vegan Union. 

I can safely say that if this was a reflection of my body, there would be some chocolate, an espresso, cheese on biscuits and a pizza in there also!

While their website looks pretty bad, the content on it is really interesting and useful.  For example, I found out that there are no vegan organisations in Swaziland, and that Pythagorus, Tolstoy, Thomas Edison, Kate Bush, Billy Idol, ‘Weird’ Al Yankovich, Mel C, Prince, Moby, Justin Timberlake and even  Meatloaf are vegetarians.

Beef Loaf

• 2 beaten eggs
• 2/3 cups milk
• 3 slices of bread (cubed)
• 2/3 cup shredded carrots
• 2 lbs. hamburger
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 2/3 finely chopped onion
• 1 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
• Ritz Crackers

“Glaze”

• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 1 Tbs. mustard

Directions:

Stir eggs, milk, salt, pepper & bread until gelatin consistency. Beat until bread is broken up. Add onions, carrots, cheese, meat (add ritz crackers, crumbled until mixture holds together). Mix well, put in loaf pan. Bake 350° for 1 hr. 15 min. Put glaze on top and bake an additional 15 minutes.

Many of you know about the group that cooks or bakes Paula Deen recipes on a weekly basis, when possible.  This week, we were to select any beef recipe, we wanted to make.  I have battled meatloaf for years.  I know it is tasty and hubby loves it.  I have made a creation out of it, each time I have made it, in the recent years, to entice myself.  It hasn’t worked.  Actually, Tyler Florence has an excellent recipe that I did like. 

Come join us cook and bake Paula’s recipes.

I tried a Paula recipe and see how that would work out and I “beefed up” her barbecue meatloaf.  I added a fried onion and mushroom filling, in the middle of the meatloaf, sealed by meatloaf on the outside.  Makes a big difference.  I also topped the meatloaf with additional mushrooms and onions before covering with barbecue sauce.

Barbecue Meatloaf   Adapted

I’m not one of those people who dread leftovers. I actually love them!

I think this stems from my childhood when one of my favorite breakfasts was leftover spaghetti… I’d even eat it cold.

What are your thoughts on leftovers? Love ‘em? Hate ‘em?

Today my lunch included a hunk o’ BBQ meatloaf from last night’s dinner with sauteed portobello mushrooms and carrot sticks.

Leftover Lunch

Comfort food to the max!

Comfort foods like mashed potatoes, pot roast and homemade chicken noodle soup make me smile. For me, meatloaf is one of those smile-inducing comfort foods. What are your favorite comfort foods?

Free Bag of Stacy’s Pita Chips

Are you on Facebook? Then click here to receive a free bag of Stacy’s pita chips!

Stacy's Pita Chips

These chips are yummy and oh-so-crunchy. (This offer is limited to the first 65,000 people, so hurry, hurry!)

…assuming that the ‘one’ you’re giving ‘her’ is an actually really rather good festively-themed number by one of that huge number of spoof ‘Easy Listening’ crooners that were around in the mid-nineties, and on the eighth day of that there Advent Calendar.

A warming and nostalgic escape from this perpetual rain. With a southern-tinged playlist to boot.

Serves 4-6

750g beef mince

250g pork mince

2 finely chopped shallots

1 clove garlic, crushed

75g breadcrumbs

1 egg

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons tomato ketchup

1 teaspoon paprika, or thereabouts

A few shakes of tabasco

2 teaspoons finely chopped thyme leaves

Salt and pepper

*     *     *     *     *    *    *    *    *    *     *     *     *     *    *    *    *    *

Preheat the oven to 180C and boil the kettle.

Mix all of the ingredients together thoroughly with your hands. If you are feeling particularly pernickety, fry a little of the mixture and taste for seasoning. Otherwise trust your instincts, ignore all the salt naysayers, and season the hell out of the mix.

Push your mixture into an oiled loaf tin, and place that tin into a small roasting dish. Pour some boiling water into the roasting dish to reach about half way up the side of the loaf tin and pop in the oven. Bake for an hour and a half.

Remove and leave to rest for 15 minutes before turning out (beware of the juices that will have pooled in the bottom of the tin) and serving. Good with baked spud and sprouts with fried chorizo.

Meatloaf-making mega mix

Thanks to Dan of Essex Eating fame for introducing me to Louis Prima – what a tune.

What do you like to cook to? Send me your favourite cooking tunes and I’ll fire them into the next playlist.