A Bacon-y mess

Tonight's dinner consisted of Meatloaf, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes and some yummy rolls. I wish I had remembered to take a final picture but I was a bit rushed by my hunger pains as a late dinner was attempting to cook! But it was loved by all who ate it and I have a tiny sliver left for lunch tomorrow :)

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 :))))

Taco Salad... or Nachos... a house divided

So this is easily one of the easiest recipes ever and a great recipe to entertain with because it can conform to any picky tastes!


So this is how I do it and you can easily build on it however your family wants.. I will add in some other ideas along with what I do..


Ingredients:
 1 lb meat per 3-4 people (you have hefty eaters narrow that to about 1/2 lb per person).. You can use ground beef, ground turkey or even chicken shredded (great way to use some some left over chicken!)
1 pkg of taco seasoning (whatever is on sale .. they are all basically the same) per lb of meat plus whatever amount of water the pkg calls for!
shredded lettuce (we like romaine hearts cut finely)
shredded mexican cheese
sour cream
 1 can of corn
1 can of black beans (drained and rinsed)
salsa
tortilla chips (our fav are the new multigrain scoops!)
* you can add jalapenos to that or guacamole


Directions:
Prepare the meat (brown beef or turkey or warm the chicken)
add seasoning and water and let thicken on the stove top (if you guys are a tomato family add a can of fire roasted tomatoes .. undrained instead of the water)

go ahead and warm corn in a pot on medium 

add drained and rinsed black beans to a pot and  cover with water

If you are a family who does like all of these three things, corn meat and beans, then just add them all to the same pot (draining the corn and beans though).. but if you are hosting a party separate them so that each individual can pick and chose!
While everything is warming through.. go ahead and throw all the other ingredients in some fun bowls and start to form an assembly line...


The next part is the fun part... assembly! 

Try to keep everything in a bit of an order so people know how to "build" their salads and to keep things moving .. you can go ahead and keep the salsa and the sour cream on the table in case your guests need to add more!


Another tip for a party would be to keep the meat in a crockpot to keep it warm throughout the party so people can munch as the go! (keep the meat on low or "warm" setting on your crockpot!)


Enjoy.. Have fun creating a taco masterpiece!

This is SO one of the easiest things to make for a quick dinner or last minute get together. I enjoy the turkey because the hamburger upsets my tummy... but my husband loves the beef.. So I always make both half a lb of turkey and half a lb of beef and just split the seasoning packet.


And your family is free to call it whatever your heart desires. I fondly remember it as Taco Salad!

A look into the future

Just a heads up on the weekly menu to come...Oh and some fun DYI projects hopefully to be started tomorrow!

So usually every Thursday during Jaxon's nap time I sit down with pen, paper, coupons, and the new weekly flyers from our local grocery stores (the flyer for Publix comes out on Thursday and Winn Dixie comes out on Wednesday) and I take time to write down and plan out our weekly meals. By planning out the meals there are so many advantages and perks that keep me sane!
1) I can save money by planning meals around the sale items (meats, produce etc) for the week
2) Use some of my stockpile (more on that in another post)
3) I can keep myself from going crazy trying to figure out what's for dinner.
4) premake some meals when I have time and store them in the fridge!


So anyway this week there are lots of fruit on sale and I had tons of chicken and hamburger meat in the freezer that needs to be used. So this week I will be making some of my normal meals but also include some new ones to try out.

Tonight- burgers (turkey and beef) w mac n cheese and fruit salad
Sunday - our traditional Breakfast for dinner.. waffles and bacon!
Monday - Taco Salad, or as Alan says nachos.. This is a huge favorite in my house!
Tuesday - Meatloaf, mashed potatoes and green beans... I will def blog this one! So good! I will also be halfing this recipe and giving a tutorial on downsizing recipes.. can be a little difficult sometimes
Wednesday - Chicken Divan casserole.. this is new to us but looked so good
Thursday- BBQ ribs in the crock pot.. this is a favorite of mine.. w rice and corn on the cob
Friday- cheesy chicken italian... we need to use up some pasta.. this will do it!

So keep up with the blog this week (and maybe tonight to show you the best turkey burger ever!)

And some awesome DIY things to come.. A recycled herb bench.. and a menu board for FREE out of scrap lumbar and some left over paint!