For my family meatloaf is sort of synonymous with "clean out the fridge". We'll pretty much try anything in it, and have never experienced something that doesn't work. So I say get crazy with your meatloaf. If you think you might want to add it, go for it. Once again, I'm not a measurer of spices. I just add them until I feel they look good. Another thing to do is to add things that are already seasoned, (like the pasta sauce in this one) just keep that in mind to adjust the saltiness when you're adding spices. Here's one that was a particular favorite.
Pepperoni Meatloaf
Approx 6 oz. Mozzarella cheese
1/4 lb of pepperoni
left over jar of pasta sauce
1 egg (a few spoons of sour cream can be used as an emulsifier if you want to leave this out, when we made this we were just out of eggs and it tasted great)
1 and 1/2 - 2lbs of ground beef. We usually use 90/10 or 95/5 depending
Salt
Italian herbs
Garlic powder
Italian bread crumbs (or left overs from a loaf of bread, torn up)
Pepper
Pre-heat oven to 350
Mix ground beef, spices, egg (or sour cream), and bread crumbs in a large bowl until well mixed.
Place half the mixture in a loaf pan
Spread thin layer of pepperoni, cheese, and sauce
Add other half of mixture on top
Add pepperoni, cheese, and sauce on top
Cover with foil
Bake for 1 hour or until heated throughout
Drain off any excess grease, this is optional, but I prefer to do so to cut some of the fat out of this
*Tips - I use the sauce on top, this keeps the cheese from melting.
The amounts of cheese, pepperoni, and sauce vary, because they're usually left overs from another recipe during the week. You can adjust this to pretty much any amount of these ingredients you have left, or you like. We like ours moderately cheesey, so we don't use a whole ton.
Sliced deli pepperoni works better than the packaged, because its easier to cut with a knife for serving.
To save money while shopping, have this recipe in the same week as a homemade pizza, or homemade pizza pockets. You can use the leftovers to make this, and save from having to buy ingredients for a whole different meal. (recipe for those to follow in a few days!)
You can add almost anything to this recipe you like thats in the fridge. Don't be afraid to experiment with your meatloaf.
Pepper and Mommy
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Roasted Carrots with Honey
This is a super easy one, that my toddlers love!
*NOTE: Honey (even cooked according to some sources) should not be fed to infants under 12 months. Home cooking methods can not get the honey hot enough to destroy the botulism toxins.
Carrots (I use regular bunch carrots, you can use baby carrots or sticks too. Adjust cooking time accordingly)
Olive Oil
Honey
Pepper
Salt
Preheat Oven to 350
Drizzle with olive oil
Roll them to coat with oil
Pour honey over, I use a few drizzles to sweeten, about 1/8 of a cup, but my mom always used closer to 1/4 of a cup. You can adjust the sweetness as needed
Season with salt and pepper
Roll around again to coat evenly
Bake between 40 minutes to an hour. Bake longer to make them softer, less to make them crunchier. I bake them an hour for my two toddlers.
*Variations- Skip the honey and just use oil and pepper
Use butter in place of olive oil
Replace olive oil and honey with butter and brown sugar (just a few sprinkles of sugar and roll them a few times while baking to prevent burning.
*NOTE: Honey (even cooked according to some sources) should not be fed to infants under 12 months. Home cooking methods can not get the honey hot enough to destroy the botulism toxins.
Carrots (I use regular bunch carrots, you can use baby carrots or sticks too. Adjust cooking time accordingly)
Olive Oil
Honey
Pepper
Salt
Preheat Oven to 350
Drizzle with olive oil
Roll them to coat with oil
Pour honey over, I use a few drizzles to sweeten, about 1/8 of a cup, but my mom always used closer to 1/4 of a cup. You can adjust the sweetness as needed
Season with salt and pepper
Roll around again to coat evenly
Bake between 40 minutes to an hour. Bake longer to make them softer, less to make them crunchier. I bake them an hour for my two toddlers.
*Variations- Skip the honey and just use oil and pepper
Use butter in place of olive oil
Replace olive oil and honey with butter and brown sugar (just a few sprinkles of sugar and roll them a few times while baking to prevent burning.
Chicken Enchilada
Chicken Enchiladas:
Baking Dish- 13 x 11
Chicken - I used about 3/4 lb boneless skinless breast
Tortillas
Enchilada Sauce (I use red)
Monterey Jack Cheese
Cumin
Salt
Pepper
Garlic Powder
Ortega Taco Sauce (This is optional)
PreHeat Oven to 350 -
Cube the chicken
Cook over medium heat until no longer pink.
Season with cumin, garlic powder, a few pinches of salt and pepper, and approx 1/4 cup of Taco Sauce (I don't measure spices.. everyone's tastes are different, season to your family's taste level)
Cook on low for an additional few minutes.
Spoon mixture into tortilla shells and roll. (You can also add cheese in the shell and roll for extra cheesiness)
Place seam side down on the pan
Pour enchilada sauce generously to coat
Cover with cheese generously
Place aluminum foil over baking dish
Bake approx 20-25 minutes until cheese is bubbly
Let stand a few minutes to cool
Serve with your choice of toppings. We use sour cream, and my husband adds some hot pepper flakes to taste
This is a family favorite of ours that is so simple to make. They sell kits to make this, but the sodium is so much higher, and they include MSG. Once you learn to season to your taste, you'll never want to buy a taco kit again!
Baking Dish- 13 x 11
Chicken - I used about 3/4 lb boneless skinless breast
Tortillas
Enchilada Sauce (I use red)
Monterey Jack Cheese
Cumin
Salt
Pepper
Garlic Powder
Ortega Taco Sauce (This is optional)
PreHeat Oven to 350 -
Cube the chicken
Cook over medium heat until no longer pink.
Season with cumin, garlic powder, a few pinches of salt and pepper, and approx 1/4 cup of Taco Sauce (I don't measure spices.. everyone's tastes are different, season to your family's taste level)
Cook on low for an additional few minutes.
Spoon mixture into tortilla shells and roll. (You can also add cheese in the shell and roll for extra cheesiness)
Place seam side down on the pan
Pour enchilada sauce generously to coat
Cover with cheese generously
Place aluminum foil over baking dish
Bake approx 20-25 minutes until cheese is bubbly
Let stand a few minutes to cool
Serve with your choice of toppings. We use sour cream, and my husband adds some hot pepper flakes to taste
This is a family favorite of ours that is so simple to make. They sell kits to make this, but the sodium is so much higher, and they include MSG. Once you learn to season to your taste, you'll never want to buy a taco kit again!
Monkey Wrench in the Plans
So, David wasn't able to ship out this time. This changed my entire food list. I've had to go back and re-work everything. So, here's my first week plan. Things are a little crazy with a tight budget, and I've got a fussy toddler who only eats certain things now, so there isn't a large variety, especially with breakfast and lunch. This will change over the next few weeks. I like to think of this as an evolving work in progress. These are some really simple dishes, making my oven work over time this week. None of these involve anything special or complicated. Next week, when things settle down I'm planning on putting a few of my favorites, such as homemade baked potato soup. This is also really simple, and sooo much better than from a can, so please check me out again next week.
Some tips for making your own food plan:
1. Start on the day you go shopping. I shop on Wednesdays or Thursdays, so my list will always start there.
2. Use the freshest food first. This applies to meats AND veggies. My chicken and beef dishes are in the beginning of the week, and my fish toward the end, as I'm using a frozen variety this week. For the veggies, I use the salad first, then my root veggies, before going to the frozen veggies at the end of the week.
3. Give yourself a no cooking day. Mine is Friday this week. Cereal for breakfast, Peanut Butter and Jelly for lunch, and then ordering out for dinner. Mom's work 24/7, I like having a day out of the kitchen once and awhile.
4. Waffles are my quick go to for a hot breakfast for mornings after I've been up doing homework late (or watching Grey's Anatomy, hence Friday being no cooking day!)
5. Normally I don't do so many pre-made lunch meals in a row, but its been a crazy few weeks, and sometimes we just need a break!
6. When you put something on the list, you can type out a shopping list at the same time. Mine are usually on the same spreadsheet.
7. If you want to save paper and ink, you can skip printing it, and keep your food list in a folder or save it as your background picture.
8. If you run out of ideas, breakfast for dinner is ALWAYS a hit!
Here's a quick idea of how I do mine without further ado.
Some tips for making your own food plan:
1. Start on the day you go shopping. I shop on Wednesdays or Thursdays, so my list will always start there.
2. Use the freshest food first. This applies to meats AND veggies. My chicken and beef dishes are in the beginning of the week, and my fish toward the end, as I'm using a frozen variety this week. For the veggies, I use the salad first, then my root veggies, before going to the frozen veggies at the end of the week.
3. Give yourself a no cooking day. Mine is Friday this week. Cereal for breakfast, Peanut Butter and Jelly for lunch, and then ordering out for dinner. Mom's work 24/7, I like having a day out of the kitchen once and awhile.
4. Waffles are my quick go to for a hot breakfast for mornings after I've been up doing homework late (or watching Grey's Anatomy, hence Friday being no cooking day!)
5. Normally I don't do so many pre-made lunch meals in a row, but its been a crazy few weeks, and sometimes we just need a break!
6. When you put something on the list, you can type out a shopping list at the same time. Mine are usually on the same spreadsheet.
7. If you want to save paper and ink, you can skip printing it, and keep your food list in a folder or save it as your background picture.
8. If you run out of ideas, breakfast for dinner is ALWAYS a hit!
Here's a quick idea of how I do mine without further ado.
Any questions or suggestions please email me at Melissa.Brook@hotmail.com
If anyone wants the recipes for how I prepare things please feel free to email me! Eventually I'll work up to adding them all on here as a database sort of thing. (For examples, my pop tarts are homemade, and easily done! as are my mashed potatoes, and baked carrots.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Getting Ready To be a Married Single Parent.
I know I haven't been updating this as much as I should, but since my husband is leaving in 6 DAYS, I'll have a lot more time...
So, now I'm in the process of getting everything ready for him to leave. My first order of business was making a playroom. Since I only have a two bedroom apartment, how did I accomplish that? I moved K's "big boy" bed into our bedroom. This solves plenty of dilemmas for me. The first one is that I'm a hard sleeper, and I'm worried about K getting out of the apartment when I'm sleeping. The second dilemma that this solved was how to put two kids to bed at the same time. Since I still co-sleep with P, I lay with her in our bed until she falls asleep. We can all snuggle up together and read our good-night books until its lights out time. K can hop over to his bed and know I'm still in the room with him while he's falling asleep.
The playroom now holds their clothing, toys, and diapers. I have a small plastic table and chair set that should be here today(!). We can spend most of the day in there, and if I let them, they can even eat in there. I'm not sure about that quite yet..
I'm working on finalizing my weekly meal plan, and it should be done by this weekend. One of the cool things I added to my meal plan, is a shopping list on the next page of my spread sheet. When I add a meal to my planner, I can just scroll down and add the ingredients I need to buy during my weekly shopping trip. Right now I have my meal plan set up for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner; I'm thinking of making one that includes snacks too, but I'm not sure yet.
Right now in my notebook, I have a master list of things I like to cook organized by main ingredient, (Chicken, Beef, Pork, Pasta, Egg.. etc) So I can go through my list and plug things in there depending on what's on sale, and make sure I still vary their diet. While my cooking isn't the healthiest yet, I like to think of it as a work in progress. Every day I'm finding new recipes to add to my collection, and new healthier options. I anticipate by the time David comes home, I'll have added an entire new diet to our list!
I look forward to seeing where this adventure takes my family!
So, now I'm in the process of getting everything ready for him to leave. My first order of business was making a playroom. Since I only have a two bedroom apartment, how did I accomplish that? I moved K's "big boy" bed into our bedroom. This solves plenty of dilemmas for me. The first one is that I'm a hard sleeper, and I'm worried about K getting out of the apartment when I'm sleeping. The second dilemma that this solved was how to put two kids to bed at the same time. Since I still co-sleep with P, I lay with her in our bed until she falls asleep. We can all snuggle up together and read our good-night books until its lights out time. K can hop over to his bed and know I'm still in the room with him while he's falling asleep.
The playroom now holds their clothing, toys, and diapers. I have a small plastic table and chair set that should be here today(!). We can spend most of the day in there, and if I let them, they can even eat in there. I'm not sure about that quite yet..
I'm working on finalizing my weekly meal plan, and it should be done by this weekend. One of the cool things I added to my meal plan, is a shopping list on the next page of my spread sheet. When I add a meal to my planner, I can just scroll down and add the ingredients I need to buy during my weekly shopping trip. Right now I have my meal plan set up for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner; I'm thinking of making one that includes snacks too, but I'm not sure yet.
Right now in my notebook, I have a master list of things I like to cook organized by main ingredient, (Chicken, Beef, Pork, Pasta, Egg.. etc) So I can go through my list and plug things in there depending on what's on sale, and make sure I still vary their diet. While my cooking isn't the healthiest yet, I like to think of it as a work in progress. Every day I'm finding new recipes to add to my collection, and new healthier options. I anticipate by the time David comes home, I'll have added an entire new diet to our list!
I look forward to seeing where this adventure takes my family!
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