So here is my thing with meatloaf. It is always given a bad wrap. I was one to always turn my nose away at it. It was always either too runny, too dry, too oniony .. too just yuck...But along comes the wonderful Ree Drummond and introduces bacon into the picture... and I mean add bacon to anything and it immediately sounds better. So it was worth a try and considering it takes the easiest of ingredients and time it works for my book. So I tried it a few weeks ago and even my 13 year old sister in law loved it... So I adapted my version from there..
Now this is why I love naptime and meals such as these. Jaxon napped today for two hrs. I was able to get SO much accomplished including completing these meals and stuffing them in the fridge to put in the over later.. oh and a huge pile of paperwork, phone calls, emails and even some school work.. oh and add in a shower and we are right on track! did I mention I LOVE naptime!
SO I started with green bean casserole.. I mean it is just so easy and just reminds me of yumminess.. So much better then plain ol green beans..
so it is your typical ingredients
2 cans of reduced sodium green beans (try to get reduced sodium anything.. you can control the salt and your life span at the same time!)
1 can lowfat/sodium cream of mushroom soup
3/4 cup of milk (any kind will do.. we happened to have whole)
a good bit of frenchs crispy onion things (sorry brain fart)
pepper to taste
and considering bacon was a big part of the meal, some nice bacon bits!
Add the soup soup and milk together with pepper too.. stir until combined
add green beans (drained and rinsed) you can add a pinch of salt to this too if you want but not too much)
add a small palm full of bacon bits
Top with crispy onions (complete this step before putting in the oven, if you are just putting this together early and popping it in the fridge the onions will get soggy)
bake for 30ish minutes at 350!
On to the main act!!! MEATLOAF
Ok so this is so super simple you will smack yourself for not ever coming up with this on your own!
So your ingredients (my version.. to see Ree's version go here)
1 lb ground turkey
1 lb ground beef
4 eggs beaten
1/3 cup of parsley (I like fresh but settle for dried every now and again)
6 pieces of fresh white bread
1 cup of whole milk
1 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp of season all
1 tsp salt
8 strips of bacon (any kind will really do)
pepper to taste ( I do not recommend "tasting" raw meatloaf but I mean if you like pepper pile it on.. if not a pinch will do)
So I add my turkey and ground beef in a zip lock bag and mix it well together... it seems to become one yummy meat that way.
in a separate bowl add the bread in pretty pattern (not really necessary but I like to play with my food) and pour on the milk.. allow to soak thoroughly
combine ingredients into bowl with milk drunk bread... beaten eggs, meat, parm cheese, salt, other salt, pepper, parsley
then comes the fun part... take off those rings and dig those hands it.. You CANNOT make a good meatloaf without getting your hands dirty and involved :))))
form into a loaf on a broiler pan (basically a pan that will allow the meatloaf to cook and the fat to drain away.) Then comes the extra yummy part.. wait for it....
fit your slices of bacon across the meatloaf and tuck the edges underneath.. I am so drooling!
top with your favorite sauce (it can be just plain ketchup)
mine is simply a cupish of ketchup, a good mound of brown sugar and a nice squirt of spicy mustard (like those measurement?) I have also thought of doing BBQ sauce in there but one of my dinner guests has a thing with BBQ sauce.. they are not friends....sad i know :(((((
At this point you can simply cover it with foil and place it in the fridge until you need to throw it in the oven.. It is so great to have recipes like this when you have a little one who likes to "help" in the kitchen .. which normally I don't mind but when there is raw meat and hot ovens involved I like him to have other things to do.. ie naptime!
But you place this loaf of meat in the oven at 350 for 1 1/2 to 2 hrs depending on how thick you make it (if you need it to cook quickly make it a thin loaf)
So ok this comes the time within the post that I would normally post the end pictures.. the final product... the finale... in this instance.. I fail... I fail miserably.. no final product photo... no putting it in the oven and miraculously poof I have yumminess... Not the case.. I didn't even get a photo of the plated version.. so sad cause it really is a yummy presentation of a meal...
I served these two dishes with some mashed potatoes and yeast rolls... You can do it with whatever but I find that meatloaf belongs with mashed potatoes. They are best friends.. one is not as good without the other!
Enjoy everyone :) More on my DIY projects to come tomorrow :))))
