My Favorite Meatloaf

I have always loved Mom's meatloaf but just can't ever make it just like hers. Several years ago, though, I came across this recipe for meatloaf and have made it my own. I honestly cannot remember the original source...it may have been one of those things you get in the mail to try to get you to sign up for more. I have always enjoyed this meatloaf and it is now our family favorite. The night I made this, I also make garlic mashed potatoes, black eyed peas (which I just love to eat with mashed potatoes), and roasted asparagus.

I apologize for the pictures. I forgot all about taking pictures until after we had eaten and I was putting away the leftovers. Oops...

And, I LOVE asparagus!!


YUM - 5 stars - Absolutely love this not-your-typical meatloaf! And it isn't spicy at all even though the name and some of the ingredients might make you think it will be.

EASE - 4.5 stars - A little more work goes into this one than your normal meatloaf.

HEALTH - ?? - I don't have a clue.

Cajun Meatloaf

Ingredients
* 1 medium onion
* 1 Tbsp veg. oil
* 4 cloves garlic
* 3 Tbsp chili powder
* 1 tsp salt
* 1 tsp paprika
* pinch of cayenne pepper
* 1 cup tomato juice
* 1 lb ground beef (I used lean)
* 1 lb ground pork
* 2 slices bread, torn in pieces
* 2 eggs, lightly beaten
* 2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
* 1/2 tsp sugar
* 1/4 tsp hot pepper sauce

Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coarsely chop the onion. In a large skillet, warm the oil over high heat. Add the onion, garlic, chili powder, salt, paprika, and cayenne. Cover, reduce heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are softened but not browned, about 10 min. Remove the skillet from the heat, stir in the tomato juice and set the mixture aside to cool slightly.

In a large bowl, combine the beef and pork. Add the bread, eggs, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, hot pepper sauce, and onion mixture and mix lightly but thoroughly. Place the mixture in a 9x5 inch loaf pan. Or place the mixture on a foil-lined baking sheet and form it into a 9x5 inch loaf. Bake for 55 minutes (I check the internal temp and usually cook it about 10 minutes longer than this). Allow to stand for 5-10 minutes before slicing.

For the asparagus, I lined a cookie sheet with foil, drizzled the asparagus with olive oil, sprinkled with lemon pepper, and baked at 400 until tender.

For the mashed potatoes, I added a clove of garlic per potato to the boiling potatoes and mashed them with milk, salt, and butter to taste.

Now that is my kind of meal!!!

Food and 1 year olds

The other night I was cleaning up after dinner. On this particular night, my one year old had eaten SO much! I was so happy for his full little belly. So, I was cleaning up his seat (please ignore the nastiness of the straps)...

And I decided to wipe under the seat because there is this little hole (where a tray can be attached) that sometimes collects bits of food...

Afterwards, this is what the floor looked like...

Yep, even a fork that mysteriously disappeared during dinner! *SIGH*

White Bean and Turkey Chili

My husband loves chili and all of those wintery, spicy soups. Me...not such a big fan. He is particularly fond of this one EASY, EASY recipe that I make involving 5 cans of beans, a can of corn, a can of Rotel, a package of taco seasoning, a pound of ground beef, and a package of ranch dressing mix. It makes a metric ton of soup and I can only like it the first night no matter how hard I try to like it for leftovers. I will say that it is pretty great with tortilla chips, though.

I've decided that my aversion to chili is in large part due to the fact that it is usually 90% beans. I don't necessarily hate beans, but not a lot of them all at once. So, that rare chili that doesn't have any beans is by far, my favorite. But then I found a pretty good contender in this recipe.

Normally I prefer white chili anyway but this recipe takes it one step further and requires that you puree 2 cups of the bean part to thicken the soup (and, for me, reduce the number of whole beans for me to chew up). Yay!! Fewer beans, and even better...it has cilantro!

So here is the link and, just in case they remove it from the website someday, I'm including the recipe below also. Click here for the recipe!

YUM - 4 stars - Very good...but no blondie!!

EASE - 4.5 stars - Anything that involves me standing in the kitchen more than 15 minutes gets docked a star. :) No, seriously, a bit of prep work and time spent by the stove. Still easy, though! I used pre-cooked and packaged turkey to cut down on the prep time.

HEALTH - 5 stars - It was originally in Cooking Light. That has to count for something, right?

White Bean and Turkey Chili
Source - www.myrecipes.com, Cooking Light November 2006
Ingredients
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 2 cups diced yellow onion (about 2 medium)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 3 (15.8-ounce) cans Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained
• 4 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
• 3 cups chopped cooked turkey
• 1/2 cup diced seeded plum tomato (about 1)
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 8 lime wedges (optional)
Preparation
Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté 10 minutes or until tender and golden. Add chili powder, garlic, and cumin; sauté for 2 minutes. Add oregano and beans; cook for 30 seconds. Add broth; bring to a simmer. Cook 20 minutes.
Place 2 cups of bean mixture in a blender or food processor, and process until smooth. Return pureed mixture to pan. Add turkey, and cook 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Remove from heat. Add diced tomato, chopped cilantro, lime juice, salt, and pepper, stirring well. Garnish with lime wedges, if desired.

Nutritional Information
Calories: 286 (19% from fat)
Fat: 6g (sat 1.2g,mono 2.1g,poly 1.6g)
Protein: 32.4g
Carbohydrate: 24.3g
Fiber: 5.5g
Cholesterol: 85mg
Iron: 4.8mg
Sodium: 435mg
Calcium: 105mg
Jennifer Martinkus, Cooking Light, NOVEMBER 2006