My First Meatloaf

So ever since I can remember meatloaf has never been one of my favorite foods.  And it IS my dad's favorite so my mom made it a good handful of times as I was growing up.  I always refused to eat it.  My husband also never liked it, so I just never even had a desire to make it.  Well this last time my mom made it I was there for dinner and decided to try it and wow it was pretty dang good!

So I don't know if it's because I'm getting older or because I'm a mom now but I wanted to try to tackle this staple on many dinner tables.  Success was had!!  My husband even had seconds, he inhaled it.  Our 11 month old inhaled every piece I gave him as well.  I made it with a box of cheesy scalloped potatoes and it was a perfect dinner!!  Definitely will be making this more often!!

Here's the recipe found on Allrecipes:

Easy Meatloaf

Rated:	Prep Time: 10 Minutes	Ready In: 1 Hour 10 Minutes
Submitted By: Janet Caldwell	Cook Time: 1 Hour	Servings: 8

"No-fail meatloaf calls for ground beef, onions, egg, milk, and bread. It is topped with a mix of brown sugar, mustard, and ketchup before baking."

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds ground beef 1 egg 1 onion, chopped 1 cup milk 1 cup dried bread crumbs

salt and pepper to taste 2 tablespoons brown sugar 2 tablespoons prepared mustard 1/3 cup ketchup

Directions:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2.	In a large bowl, combine the beef, egg, onion, milk and bread OR cracker crumbs. Season with salt and pepper to taste and place in a lightly greased 5x9 inch loaf pan, OR form into a loaf and place in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking dish.
3.	In a separate small bowl, combine the brown sugar, mustard and ketchup. Mix well and pour over the meatloaf.
4.	Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 1 hour The only things I did different was I put dried onion flakes (instead of real onion) and some garlic powder in the meat mixture.  I did use about 1/2 cup of ketchup like a lot of the reviews suggested and it turned out just right.  Maybe just a little less brown sugar next time but we seriously gobbled up half this loaf the first night!! Here's mine:

Baked Ziti

This was made a few nights ago for dinner.  It had been ages since I've made ziti and wanted to try out this recipe.  It was DELICIOUS!!!!  I tweaked everything just a hair but I will link the original recipe and then just give you mine!  I was actually able to get three 8x8 pans out of this.  I made one and froze the other two.  Try it out, it's so yummy!

The original recipe is here Baked Ziti I

And then here's mine :)

• 1 (16oz) box of penne
• a dash of dried onion
• Tsp diced garlic
• 1 lb ground beef
• 2 large jars of spaghetti sauce (I can't remember if they are 26 or 32 oz)
• 6 slices provolone cheese
• 1.5 cups sour cream
• 6 oz shredded mozzarella cheese
• Parmesan cheese

1.  Boil pasta in a large pot of slightly salted water until al dente.  Drain.
2. In a large skillet brown onion and garlic for just a minute or so before adding ground beef.  Brown completely and then drain if needed.
3. Preheat oven to 350 and spray either a deep 9x13 pan or 2-3 8x8 pans.  It makes a lot so make sure your 9x13 pan is large.
4. Mix the drained noodles with the spaghetti sauce in a bowl.  Add ground beef and stir to mix together.
5. Layer as follows in pan(s): Half of the noodle mixture on the bottom of pan.  Followed by the slices of provolone.  Evenly distribute sour cream (I put it in a Ziploc bag, snipped the corner and squeezed it over the top). Then rest of noodle mixture. Top it with mozzarella cheese and a little bit of Parmesan.
6. Cover with tin foil and bake for approx 30 minutes.  Take foil off and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes or until melted and bubbly.

I made some Pillsbury bread sticks with it and it was so so yummy!!  Enjoy!

Menu Plan Monday

So I have always wanted to be one of those wives that creates the "perfect" meal plan for the next two weeks and it'll all be great!  Hahahaha well I don't know about the rest of you but having a baby, a job, a husband, a house, and pets makes this seem like an impossible task!!  BUT I am determined to do this, why?  Well for one because I feel like it will save us money and be a little healthier for us as we have this bad habit of eating out, a lot!  Plus I do love to cook and want to be one of those moms/wives who everyone is like wow she makes the best food!!!  LOL so on that note I spent most of the morning planning out our days for the next two weeks and then going through our cabinets/fridge/freezer to see what we already have and then making a master grocery list.  The baby just went down for a nap so we will have to wait to head to the grocery store but I feel good....this'll get easier the more I do it right??!

So here's the plan:

•  Today - Meatloaf and scalloped potatoes (I've actually never made meatloaf and the potatoes are from a box LOL)
•  Tuesday - Nothing....I work a 10-11 hour day most Tuesdays so these are free days :)
• Wednesday - Slow Cooker Jambalaya (This is one of our favorite things for me to make!)
• Thursday - Left overs cause it makes a ton!
• Friday - Taco Pockets (New recipe)
• Saturday - Potato Pizza Casserole

• Sunday - Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches
• Monday - Honey Chicken Kabobs and Corn on the cob on the grill (Hopefully the weather is nice!!)
• Tuesday - Nothing
• Wednesday - Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff (another of our favorites)
• Thursday - Chicken Broccoli Tater Tot Hotdish (See my previous blog!)
• Friday - Lasagna
• Saturday - Nothing (we have a wedding that night)

Plus I'm planning on freezing a bunch of items to start re-stocking our freezer.  All of the casseroles are usually in 9x13 pans but that just makes way too much for us to eat so I will split all of them into two 8x8 pans and make one and freeze one! And then the Taco Pockets I will freeze anything we don't eat as well as the Buffalo Chicken sandwiches.

Well here goes nothing!!  The plan is to blog every recipe as well so check back everyday to see the recipe and how it all turns out!!!

Peanut Butter Choc Chip Cake

Yeah that's right I made a cake with peanut butter and chocolate chips...amazing right?!!?  Where did I find this you ask?? Where else, Pinterest.  Here's a link to the recipe online.

So this was relatively easy.  Cake from scratch has all the basic ingredients.  I followed everything to a T except for the baking time.  I'm not quite sure if it's my oven or what but mine took about 20 more minutes to bake than the recipe stated so just keep checking it if it's not set up in the middle.  I actually made two of these cakes and both took longer.

But here it is, the recipe and my picture.  The cake is ridiculously moist and just melts in your mouth.  Have a big glass of milk next to you and you are set.  The cookie like crumble on top gets a little crunchy and wow it's just perfect.  This will be a go to cake recipe for me from now on!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cake

 

2 & 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 2 cups light brown sugar 1 cup creamy peanut butter 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1 cup milk 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 3 eggs 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°. Coat a 9″x 13″ baking pan with cooking spray. Set aside. Using an electric mixer, combine flour, brown sugar, peanut butter, and butter. Remove 1 cup of mixture and set aside. Mix in baking powder and baking soda. Mix in milk and vanilla. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing well after each addition. Transfer batter to prepared pan. Sprinkle top with reserved flour mixture and chocolate chips. Bake 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Cheesy Chicken Rollups

Well first of all HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all the mama, grandmamas and stepmamas out there!

I made this dinner a few nights ago but am only getting around to posting it right now.  I have a sick baby this week but he's finally doing better!  This is one of our favorite meals and we devour it, there's usually no leftovers! hahaha Who am I kidding, there's never any leftovers!!  Plus it's seriously so easy it's ridiculous!!

I got it originally from the Once A Month Mom website where I get a handful of my recipes.  I absolutely love it.  So go check out their hundreds of yummy recipes, she mostly does freezer cooking but of course a lot of the recipes are so good that I'll just make them for dinner. 

So here's the recipe, try it out, substitue the cheese or try different kinds of breading, mix it up!  I make it just like the recpie says and it's so absolutely amazing!

Cheesy Chicken Rollups

Ingredients:

• 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 0.5 cups Lawry’s Seasoned Salt Marinade
• 8 ounces Pepper Jack Cheese, shredded
• 1 cup Panko Bread Crumbs
• 0.5 cups ground french fried onion rings

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a baking pan with cooking spray. Cut chicken breasts in half lengthwise, basically fillet the breast so that you have to long flat pieces.** Marinate chicken breasts in Lawry’s Seasoned Salt Marinade for 30-90 minutes in a gallon sized zippered bag. Remove chicken and add shredded cheese. Roll chicken and secure with toothpicks. Place bread crumbs and ground french fried onion rings in a shallow bowl. Dip the chicken back in the marinade, then place in the crumbs, coating the chicken evenly. Place the chicken on prepared pan and bake at 400 degrees for about 35 – 40 minutes or until done.
**If you are limited on time you can simply cut a pocket in the chicken breasts and insert cheese instead of rolling.

Here's my finished product: