My favorite meatloaf

DH asked me to make meatloaf this week... he was reading a German cookbook and read off the ingredients to me... ground beef, egg, ummmm not much else. I laughed and laughed - where was all the other "stuff" that makes meatloaf so yummy. He just kind-ov looked at me blankly. Leave it to me honey, North Americans KNOW how to make meatloaf. So, here is my very favorite recipe for meatloaf - American diner style! DH can stick to making his wonderful Austrian food, but meatloaf - that is my department.

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INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 pound ground beef

1 cup crushed Ritz crackers

1 chopped onion

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup ketchup (X2 - you use the 2nd 1/4 cup for the top)

1 TBS Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

A good shake of all purpose seasoning (I like Adobe blend, but just use your fav.)

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DIRECTIONS:

Mix altogether with your hands in a big mixing bowl. Transfer the entire, slighty goopy mess into a GREASED bread pan. Top with the 2nd portion of 1/4 cup ketchup.

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Cover.

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Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

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Drain off the fat - we grind our own meat so don't have much of anything to drain.

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Uncover.

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Bake about 30 minutes more. The top will have little cracks so you will know the inside is done. Keep an eye on it because you don't want to overcook it. My oven is a bit different than other people's so I actually use different temperatures/times. But - these settings should work for a household oven.

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This is sooooo sooooo good. Try it. You won't believe it!!!

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I have some foil loaf pans and plan on making a couple more batches this week. I am going to just bake for the 1st 1/2 hour, let cool and then freeze. All I will have to do is defrost and finish the baking next time I want meatloaf! Maybe by planning ahead - next time around I will actually have time to make the carrots that I was going to make to go with this too! LOL!

Green Bean Casserole

We had this the other night and it was soooo very yummy! A bit on the salty side, but I prefer such a tiny amount of salt. Next time I won't cook the beans in broth and see if it makes a difference. But really, it was really good just as is - the recipe is from Paula Dean. Meatloaf recipe in a seperate post.

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INGREDIENTS:

1/3 stick butter (a US stick of butter is 1/4 the size of a Canadian block of butter - just in case you are in Canada!)

1/2 cup diced onion

1/2 cup sliced or chopped fresh mushrooms

2 cups green beans (I used frozen beans)

3 cups of chicken broth - don't use that if you are serving vegetarians!

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 2.8 oz can of fried onions - they usually are in the chip section - Durkee and French's are 2 popular brands

1 cup grated cheddar cheese - I used a pre-shredded mix of maybe 3 different cheeses

pinch of black pepper and garlic powder

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DIRECTIONS:

Saute onions/mushrooms in butter.

Boil beans in broth for 5-7 minutes and drain.

Mix everything together (except the cheese).

Spread into a 8X8 or 9X9 GREASED baking dish

Bake 15-20 minutes at 350

Top with cheddar and bake another 10 minutes

My Chili

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INGREDIENTS

oil - about 2 TBS
1 chopped onion
1 lb ground beef
1 1/2 TBS chili powder
2 tsp cumin
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2 cans diced tomatoes
1 can kidney beans - a good sized can, not the small one
1/2 cup salsa
1/2 cup corn
1 cup beef broth or use beef bouillon mixed with hot water
1/2 can tomato paste
1 TBS brown sugar



Heat a bit of oil in big frying pan. Add onions. Sautee until onions are glossy. Add beef and brown - crumbling into small pieces with your wooden spoon. Spoon off any fat. Add spices and stir.
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Transfer mixture into soup pot.
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Add the rest of the ingredients. Simmer until warmed through. Taste. Adjust seasonings to your own preference.
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I like to serve this chili with sour cream and shredded cheese, plus basmati rice on the side and cornbread with honey.
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If you have any left over green or red pepper - saute them in with the onions/meat. You can also use pinto beans if you don't have kidney beans.
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I use medium salsa because I don't like my chili spicy, but I am sure the hot salsa would be good too!

Sweet Corn Bread

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Sweet Corn Bread

1 cup yellow cornmeal

1/2 cup flour

3 TBS sugar

2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup canned cream corn

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, MELTED

1 large egg, beaten

Preheat oven to 400

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In large mixing bowl whisk cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add creamed corn, butter and egg. Stir until just blended. Spoon into BUTTERED 8X8 pan.

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Bake about 20 minutes - until edges begin to pull away from pan sides and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

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Serve with HONEY for dunking.

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Yummy!!!

Cheap Sandwich Filling

My husband brought home this "steak" last week. It's the one on the right - 3 pieces for $4.72. I didn't know that he planned on making Hungarian Goulash with it, so read the directions stuck on the label and proceeded to simmer it (just 1 piece), as directed (in the oven). It was even called a "simmering" steak. It was awful. Yuck. Blah. I told DH to save it because I would do "something" with it. He almost threw it out!!!

The next day he asked me exactly what my plan was. Because this meat just wasn't tasty. Not one bit. But, I had a plan. You see - my Mom used to make sandwich spread when I was little with left-over cooked meat. She would put it in the blender to grind (pre food processor) and then add relish, mayo, maybe some chopped celery - whatever she had on hand. Presto - cheap sandwich filling. A fraction of the cost of cold cuts!

So, this meat went through the meat grinder with 3 cloves of garlic. Maybe it got a shake or two of some seasoning. It was mixed with mayonaisse and a bit of bistro sauce. We had very yummy toasted sandwiches with sliced hard boiled egg and pickles for a few days. Yum!