How many housewives go through this dilemma? I've made a million crockpot dinners, a trillion meatloafs, sandwiches are for Fridays only, and I can only make spaghetti so many times. First question: "What am I gonna make for dinner?" Second question, "Do I need to go to the grocery store, or do I have ingredients on hand?"...Then the inevitable 30 minutes of opening every cabinet and drawer. Examining the contents of the refrigerator until I feel guilty for leaving the door open for so long and wasting electricity. "Make up your mind, it's really not that hard!" Ok. So start with the meat....turkey (only for Friday), chicken (already had crockpot chicken this week), steak (what are we, millionaires?!) HAHAHA Hot dogs, gross. So, what about fish? Can't stink up the apartment, besides I don't know how to cook fish anyway, and now is not the time to learn. Ok so, what's the plan....Meatloaf.
Uh, huh. So meatloaf again. Well, fine. I'll make some for dinner then freeze the rest. Third question, "What starch?" Potatoes or pasta? Tom leans toward the pasta side of life. Which pasta? Well, angel hair is a favorite. I also like cooking bowtie pasta, because it's so cute, and the middle always stays a little undercooked and I like that extra texture. Spirals are fun. Penne holds too much sauce. Spaghetti and linguine are a little too thick. So for tonight? Mini-spirals. Cute and Fun!
"What vegetable?" Oh boy, by this time the exam is getting too tough. If it were crockpot chicken, I could just throw some frozen vegetables in on "High" the last 15 minutes and we're done. But meatloaf with mini-spirals needs a whole separate vegetable side dish. Broccoli or carrots...or just open up a can of corn. Hmmm.
Well, one thing is for sure. We are skipping the "bread" and "dessert" questions altogether.
My Meatloaf Recipe:
1 large egg
(Divide in half) 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes with Italian herbs, undrained
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup minced parsley
1/2 cup oats
1/3 cup parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
1 lb Italian sausage
1/2 lb ground beef
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, crack and lightly beat egg. Pour in half can of tomatoes, oats, parm cheese, parsley, onion, and spices. Mix in beef and sausage by hand then form into one large loaf and transfer to shallow baking sheet. Bake one hour; remove and add the rest of the tomatoes on top. Bake another 30 minutes.
I used dried parsley instead of fresh; I grate the onion with a cheese grater so that there aren't "chunks" of onion in the meatloaf. I use whatever combination of ground turkey, ground beef, sometimes even Owens/Jimmy Dean sausage--just make sure it adds up to 1.5 lbs. If your can of tomatoes doesn't include the Italian spices, just put a tablespoon or so of oregano, basil, a little garlic salt/powder and thyme. I like to pour a generous amount of spaghetti sauce over the top of the meatloaf for the last 30 minutes along with the other half can of tomatoes. This can bake even longer if you have the time. Tom and I like the edges a little burned. YUM!
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OK, get ready for questions! Do you buy the Italian sausage in the pork section or breakfast section, and does it come in a roll? Does grating the onion like that just kill your eyes? Fresh grated parmesan cheese or the kind out of the green can? What do you do with the pasta, serve it on the side with just butter, or sauce, or put it with the meatloaf...?
ReplyDeleteSounds sooooo good! Josh loves meatloaf, maybe I'll have to make it next week! It's ALWAYS chicken at our house, even ground beef is a treat! Thanks for the great recipe and inside look at your daily "what's for supper" routine :) (That's one thing I don't like to ask myself!)
See how spoiled I am!?
ReplyDeleteTom
I can not believe how just marrying a man you love to love makes you such a good cook. Wow, for the record, you did not get that talent from your mother!
ReplyDeleteHappy eating Tom!
Love, Mom
Yep,I understand that routine also. First, meat; then, which vegetable (color) will go with it...I get so tired trying to figure it all out! Especially when I forget to get the meat out and thaw it during the day....yikes thank goodness chicken will thaw quickly in water (Danell taught me that!)
ReplyDeleteAuntie Phiss
Ok Danell! Love the questions... My favorite sausage is the Basil-flavored Jimmy Dean that comes in a roll, but I had a coupon for the plain Owens sausage last time and it worked fine. Grating the onions is somewhat along the lines of torture, but the reward is a family who doesn't even know onions were used in the recipe. I usually cheat with the pasta and use the Pasta Roni in the green box (Angel Hair w/herbs), but I do love to make my own and use Pioneer Woman's Tomato Cream sauce. It's basically garlic, onion and butter saute in the pan for 10 minutes on med-high then throw in a small can of tomato sauce and a cup of heavy whipping cream. MMMMMMM. That sauce is delicious on any kind of pasta (except penne, not a fan of penne!) Ok, can't wait to see you today!!
ReplyDelete