Meatloaf

I think meatloaf is just one of those foods that everyone thinks they have the perfect recipe for. Every family has their own recipe that is passed down from generation to generation. Family members feel that their recipe is superior to others because that's what they're used to, that's the kind of meatloaf they've eaten their entire life. My recipe came from my mother-in-law and Brad is very fond of it. Meatloaf is a comfort food and this is the recipe he's comfortable with. Why mess with success?

The truth is, I don't think recipes for meatloaf vary much. It's raw meat and a bunch of other random ingredients all mixed up together. Easy and cheap to make, it seems to be a staple in most households.

Meatloaf reminds me of an episode of one of my favorite shows, Roseanne. In one episode, Roseanne takes Darlene's home ec class to the grocery store to teach them about shopping on a budget. They are buying the ingredients for meatloaf.

Roseanne: Now we need corn flakes, they are the most important part of this meal.
Student: Why's that?
Roseanne: Well how else do you think we're going to turn 2 pounds of ground round into 11 pounds of mouth watering meatloaf?

As a lifelong vegetarian, meatloaf is one of the nastiest foods I've ever prepared. There's something about ground beef that grosses me out in the first place. So having to take my hands and mix the nasty raw meat up with the other ingredients? The texture is disgusting and I honestly have no idea what part of the cow the meat comes from. It's not very enjoyable but you gotta do what you gotta do.

Keep in mind that I've scaled down our recipe so it's only a few servings, since Brad is the only one eating the meatloaf. If you have more mouths to feed, try doubling or tripling this recipe.

Meatloaf

• 1 cup ketchup
• 4 tbsps brown sugar
• 1 tsp mustard

Combine and set aside 1/2 cup of mixture for topping at the end.

To that, add:

• 1 beaten egg
• 2 tsps. worcestershire (I still haven't mastered pronouncing this yet) sauce
• 1 1/2 cups cracker crumbs
• 1 1/2 tsps. onion powder
• 1/2 tsp seasoned salt
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1 lb beef

Shape into individual loaves. Brush remainder of ketchup mixture on loaves.

Spray bakeware with cooking spray and place on there. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.

I served ours last night with green beans sauteed with vegetarian bacon and mashed potatoes. I actually forgot to include the ketchup/brown sugar/mustard in the meat mixture, I only put it on top of the loaves. Brad said it just made the meatloaf a little dry and it was still good. Oops! Don't be like me and forget this step.

Fellow vegetarians: Replace the ground beef for a 1 lb bag of Morningstar ground crumbles, found in the freezer section. Yum!

Up for Friday: Steak quesadillas!

Crock Pot Chicken and Dumplings / Red Hot Apples

I'd like to introduce you to my very best friend.



Well, my very best friend in the kitchen, at least. My crock pot allows me to cook (usually) delicious meals without losing much time with my daughter. I just throw the ingredients in it mid-morning and the meal is ready by the time Brad gets home from work.

My mom gave me this when I moved into my first apartment. I thought I'd use it once every few months to make some chili. That's definitely not the case! It's used multiple times a week and I've cooked everything from barbeque chicken to peach cobbler in it. I would definitely be lost without my beloved crock pot. You'll notice that most of my recipes that I will share on here will incorporate the use of my best friend.

And my chicken and dumplings were no exception.

Crock Pot Chicken & Dumplings

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 2 cans condensed cream of chicken soup (I used generic)
• 2 tbsp. butter
• 1 can chicken broth
• 2 pkgs of refrigerated biscuit dough (cheapest of the cheap for this recipe, nothing fancy)

Put chicken breasts, soup, butter, and chicken broth in the crock pot. Add some water if you feel everything isn't submerged enough. Cook on high for 5-6 hours. I flipped the chicken and stirred the concoction every so often, but I'm not sure if it was necessary.

Now the important part, about 90 minutes before you are ready to serve the meal, add your biscuit dough. Each of my packages had 10 biscuits, and I just cut each one into fourths, like so.

And then drop all the little pieces into your crock pot along with the chicken mixture. In those 90 minutes, the dumplings should cook long enough to no longer be raw in the center.

I have to be completely honest. I don't think I had ever actually seen chicken and dumplings before cooking this. I had no idea what it was supposed to look like or what consistency everything was supposed to be. After I added the torn biscuits, I cut up the chicken into little pieces. After that, it kind of broke apart and looked more like shredded chicken. Whatever, it made the house smell heavenly and Brad seemed to really love it! He helped himself to seconds and even brought some for his lunch today.

I also didn't know if chicken and dumplings was a main dish or side dish. So I made some creamed corn and Red Hot Apples. Creamed corn is easy... I just open the can, pour in sauce pan, and warm up. I mastered that recipe years ago. My grandma used to make Red Hot Apples and I've always loved them. Great side dish when you want something a little sweet to go along with your meal.

Red Hot Apples

• 6 or 7 apples (I used a 3 lb bag of Red Delicious, but you can use what you prefer)
• 2 cups sugar
• 6 oz. Red Hot candies (I can find little 1 oz. boxes at my grocery store, they are 5/$1)
• 1/2 cup water

Slice up your apples. Cut off any section that includes seeds or parts of the core. Put all ingredients into a large saucepan.

Cook on medium-high for about 20 minutes (or until they are tender), stirring a few times to make sure everything is mixing together well. And here's what you'll have:

Super easy and definitely a favorite in our house! Again, I really have no idea what I'm doing in the kitchen yet. Not all of my recipes will turn out perfectly, I'm human. But one of my hopes is that this blog will be a go-to resource for my readers when they're in need of some new ideas. Feel free to change up my recipes to better fit your family. For example, chopped onion would probably be great in the chicken and dumplings, but not in our house. Onion is used very sparingly and it's almost always in onion powder form.

If you try one of my recipes, let me know! I don't care if you absolutely hate it (okay, I'll care a little...), but please let me know what you think!

"Some Pig"

Remember Wilbur? You know who I'm talking about, that adorable pig from Charlotte's Web? I often think of that little runt when I'm cooking up my husband's favorite food, bacon. I also let my imagination wander and think up scenarios about the particular pig's family, living conditions, and mindset right before he was slaughtered. Horrible, I know.

Despite all of this, something else happens when I cook bacon. It may be the sizzle of the meat on the frying pan or the delicious aroma that fills our 2-bedroom house, but I overcome all my negative thoughts and actually enjoy cooking it.

My husband has the impressive ability to devour an entire package of bacon in one sitting and I doubt he, like most meat eaters, ever thinks of Wilbur. That's why I'm different.

I only started cooking meat over the last year or so. During the first year of our marriage we ate out a lot since I was in grad school and my husband (Brad) worked full-time. If I did cook, it would only be vegetarian things. If Brad wanted to induldge in some carnivorous behavior (which was quite often), he would have to cook it for himself.

Things are different today. I'm a stay-at-home mom to our beautiful 6-month-old daughter and I have a lot more time on my hands than when I was in school - hence, this blog. Sometimes our only excitement for the day is getting out to the grocery store to get ingredients for that evening's meal. I'm incredibly thankful that I'm able to stay at home with our daughter, and I feel one of my responsibilities (among a million other things) is to have supper ready when my husband gets home from work.

This blog will account my adventures of cooking meals that I can't (and have no desire to) taste test. I'll include recipes, pictures, and commentary from Brad who has been a real trooper so far when it comes to trying my recipes.

I'm no stranger to writing. My bachelor's and master's degrees are both in journalism. But as I'm quickly learning, blog writing is very different from news writing. No need to seek expert sources for quotes, I am the source. How scary is that? No need to use AP Style, although that's one habit that's hard to break. And after I'm done perfecting a blog entry there won't be an annoying editor there telling me to go back and try again. I think I'm going to like this.

Up for tomorrow: my first attempt at making chicken and dumplings. Brad told me this is a recipe that can be pretty difficult but luckily for him I'm up for the challenge.

Not so lucky for the chicken.