Classic Meatloaf

I enjoy and have made all kinds of meatloaves.  Italian-inspired, asian-inspired, etc.  However, I don't think there's anything like the "classic" meatloaf that we've all grown up with.  Nothing fancy, just some meat and spices.  I hadn't made a classic meatloaf (I don't want to call it "plain" because it's not!) in so long.  I know some people like to add oats to their meatloaf to bump up the health factor.  Growing up, my dad made a meatloaf like that once and I still have bad memories of it!  So that's one ingredient that I will never add to my meatloaf!  Going through some old Cooking Light Annual cookbooks I found this recipe.  Minus the fact that I don't make home-made bread crumbs.....why have to take the food processor down from the upstairs closet and then clean all those parts.....and I buy the pre-packaged meatloaf meat mixture, this recipe seemed pretty "classic" to me.  This was easy to put together and the kids loved it.  When my daughter asks for seconds and my son eats ALL of his dinner, I know I have a winner!  Meatloaf is not a meal that I consider for a busy weeknight meal.  However, this would make a great dish for a lazy weekend, winter dinner!

Classic Meatloaf
recipe slightly adapted from Cooking Light, March 2006

Ingredients:

1 cup bread crumbs
2 tablespoons fat-free milk
1/2 cup ketchup, divided
approx. 1 1/2  lb. pkg meatloaf mix (or you can use 2/3 lb. lean ground beef, 1/2 lb. ground veal, and 6 oz. lean ground pork)
3/4 cup chopped onion
1 Tbsp. butter
1 tsp. dried parsley
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon dried basil
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 large egg whites
Cooking spray

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°.

In a small frying pan saute heat butter until melted over medium heat.  Add onion and saute approximately 5 minutes until translucent. Let cool. 

Combine breadcrumbs and milk in a large bowl; let stand for 5 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons ketchup and remaining ingredients except cooking spray.

Shape meat mixture into a 9 x 5-inch loaf on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Spread remaining 6 tablespoons ketchup over top of meat loaf. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a thermometer registers 160°. Let stand for 10 minutes. Cut the loaf into 12 slices.

Family Rating: 2 thumbs up.

Might Have Missed Monday: Corn and Cheddar Waffles

Re-posting this recipe reminds me that I haven't made waffles in a very long time!  These were a winner with the kids!  They of course love corn, so that helps.  Breakfast for dinner is such an easy, quick, and sure-to-please everyone dinner in our house.  You can keep this a meat-free meal by serving with some fruit, or like I always do, cook up some bacon or sausage to serve with!

Corn and Cheddar Waffles
recipe from All You, August 2011

Cook Time: 7 Minutes
Prep Time: 10 Minutes

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 cups milk
1 large egg
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 cup fresh corn kernels (from 1 large ear) or 1 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
1 cup grated Cheddar

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 200ºF and preheat waffle iron. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt and sugar. In a glass measuring cup, whisk together milk, egg and butter. Pour milk mixture into flour mixture and stir until just combined. Fold in corn and cheese.

2. Mist waffle iron with cooking spray. Pour batter onto grates and spread to edges with a spatula. Cook until waffles are golden, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to a plate, loosely cover with foil and keep warm in oven. Repeat with remaining batter, misting grates with cooking spray before each new batch.

Family Rating: 2 thumbs up.

This post is being shared at:
Tasty Tuesdays @ 33 Shades of Green
Totally Tasty Tuesdays @ Mandy's Recipe Box
Show Me What you Got Linky Party @ Our Delightful Home

CPK BBQ Chicken Pizza

This recipe post is a bit belated, as our Supper Club is meeting tonight and this was one of last month's dishes that we made!  But I'm very behind in my recipe posting!  Last month's Supper Club theme was Restaurant Copy-Cats.  My husband and I were hosting so we were in charge of the main dishes.  As we were trying to come up with dishes to make, we realized that we don't visit chain restaurants enough to have favorite dishes to re-create.  Which of course is a good thing!  We did agree that we love CPK (California Pizza Kitchen) and the rare times we go there we split a pizza and a salad.  Our favorite pizza is the Thai Chicken Pizza, but different versions of Thai Chicken Pizza have already been made in the Supper Club (including one by myself!).  Although we've never actually had the BBQ Chicken Pizza at CPK this is the pizza recipe that we went with.  Everyone enjoyed this pizza.  My husband made the dough and doubled the recipe so we were fortunate to have leftovers for a couple of days!  Unfortunately, I never got a picture of the Outback Chopped Salad that we made as our other dish and there was none left over after our dinner (which again, is a good thing!).

CPK BBQ Chicken Pizza
Recipe slightly adapted from cdkitchen.com

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon honey
1 cup warm water
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
10 ounces chicken breast, boned and skinned
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons barbecue sauce plus 1/2 cup barbecue sauce (I used Sweet Baby Ray's)
1 cup Gouda cheese, shredded
1 cup Mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/4 small red onion, sliced into rings
2 tablespoons cilantro

Directions:
To make the dough: In a small bowl, dissolve the honey in the warm water. Sprinkle the yeast over the water and stir until it dissolves. Let the yeast mixture stand for 5 minutes, until a layer of foam forms on the surface. In a large bowl, combine the flour and the salt. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour the olive oil and the yeast mixture. Stir the flour into the wet ingredients, until all the flour is incorporated. If its too dry, add more water. On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough for 15 minutes, until it is smooth and elastic. Shape the dough into a ball and put in in a well-oiled bowl. Cover with a moist towel and let rise in a warm place until double in bulk (about 1 1/2 hours).

One hour before baking the pizzas, start preheating the oven with pizza stones inside at 500 degrees F.

For the Chicken: In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil on medium high heat. Add chicken pieces. Saute until cooked (6 minutes). Chill. Coat chicken with 2 tablespoons barbecue sauce. Set aside in the refrigerator.

For the Pizza: Punch the dough down, and divide into equal serving portions. Roll out each portion into an 6-8 inch flat circle. Spread 1/4 cup barbecue sauce over the surface of the dough. Distribute 1/2 of the cheese over the sauce. Distribute 1/2 of the chicken over the cheese. Place half of the onion rings over the chicken pieces. Place the pizza in the oven (on top of pizza stones). Bake until crust is crispy and cheese is bubbling (8-10 minutes). Remove pizzas from the oven and sprinkle each with 1/2 of the cilantro.

Family Rating: 2 thumbs up.

Cheesy Grilled Eggplant Sandwiches

I have been debating whether to get a grill pan for awhile now.  In the summer my husband is the "grill master" and uses our Weber charcoal grill a lot.  I do not know how to use the charcoal grill, nor do I really want to use it!  But I have so many "grilled" recipes that I'm not sure I'll ever be able to make.  I almost bought a cast-iron grill pan.  But we already own a cast-iron pan.  The only difference this pan would make would be to put "grill" marks onto the food!  So I decided against it.  As my husband pointed out, we own a George Foreman grill, that we haven't used in years!  So I made these sandwiches by grilling the eggplant on the George Foreman and then cooking the sandwiches on it to get the "grill" marks.  The good thing about these sandwiches is that I was able to customize the kids' sandwiches.  My daughter doesn't like cheese, neither of the kids wanted eggplant (although they had to have a taste!), and so on.  My husband and I found these to be really tasty.  But of course, we love any excuse to eat prosciutto!!!

Cheesy Grilled Eggplant Sandwiches
Recipe slightly adapted from EveryDay with Rachael Ray, August 2008

Ingredients:
1 pound small eggplants, trimmed and thinly sliced lengthwise
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
8 slices Italian bread
4 slices Swiss cheese, torn into two pieces
4 ounces  thinly sliced prosciutto

Directions:
1.Preheat a grill to medium. In a large bowl, toss the eggplant slices with 2 tablespoons olive oil; season with salt and pepper. Grill, turning once, until softened, about 4 minutes.

2.Lay the bread on a work surface. Top 4 slices with a layer each of cheese, prosciutto, eggplant and another layer of prosciutto and cheese. Top with the remaining bread slices.

3.Brush the outside of the sandwiches with the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Grill, covered, turning once, until crisp, about 2 minutes.

 Family Rating: 1 1/2 thumbs up.  

This post is shared at:
Full Plate Thursday @ Miz Helen's Country Cottage
Tasty Thursdays @ The Mandatory Mooch
Foodtastic Friday @ Not Your Ordinary Recipes

Simple Clam Chowder

As I mentioned in my last post, I made Apple Cheese Beer Bread to go with this chowder.  Since to me, soup is not a meal, I need to serve it with either a sandwich, grilled cheese, or bread.  My parents have a house in Rhode Island.  Unfortunately, we usually just end up visiting over the summer, even though they live there on and off throughout the year.  Part of every visit to "the beach house" includes a lunch of New England Clam Chowder and an order of clam cakes (a.k.a. clam fritters).  Taking my first spoonful of this soup totally brought back memories of our summer lunches.  This soup was easy to put together and was super tasty!  I was kind of surprised with the recipe coming from Cooking Light. In the past I've tried to make other chowder type recipes from the magazine and have found them to be less creamy tasting to keep them "light."  This recipe totally did not feel like I was sacrificing taste for calories.  I posted the original recipe amounts.  However, I ended up halving everything since the recipe below yields approximately 12 servings.  Just a note that even halved, with 3 cans of chopped clams, resulted in this soup having LOTS of clams.  Not that we were complaining, but it might be a little over-whelming for some people!  This will definitely be a go-to recipe whenever I'm feeling a little nostalgic for Rhode Island!

Simple Clam Chowder
recipe from Cooking Light, January 2008

Yield:  12 (1 cup) servings

Ingredients:
2 bacon slices
2 cups chopped onion
1 1/4 cups chopped celery
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
2 garlic cloves, minced
6 (6 1/2-ounce) cans chopped clams, undrained
5 cups diced peeled baking potato (about 1 pound)
4 (8-ounce) bottles clam juice
1 bay leaf
3 cups fat-free milk
1/2 cup all-purpose flour (about 2 1/4 ounces)

Directions:
Cook bacon in a large Dutch oven over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan, reserving 1 teaspoon drippings in pan. Crumble bacon; set aside. Add onion, celery, salt, thyme, and garlic to drippings in pan; cook 4 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Drain clams, reserving liquid. Add clam liquid, potato, clam juice, and bay leaf to pan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until potato is tender. Discard bay leaf.

Combine milk and flour, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Add flour mixture to pan; bring to a boil. Cook 12 minutes or until thick, stirring constantly. Add clams; cook 2 minutes. Sprinkle with bacon.

Family Rating: 2 thumbs up.

This post is shared at:
Manic Monday Party @ Bobbi's Kozy Kitchen
Tasty Tuesdays @ 33 Shades of Green
Tempt My Tummyy Tuesdays @ Blessed with Grace

Apple Cheese Beer Bread

I made clam chowder the other day (see upcoming post).  To me soup is not a meal and I have to serve it either with a sandwich or bread of some type.  I have had this bread recipe bookmarked for awhile and thought that it would be a good time to make it.  The recipe below makes two loaves but I ended up halving it.  This was so easy to put together and we all enjoyed it!

Apple Cheese Beer Bread
recipe from Edesia's Notebook

Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil
½ cup shallots, minced
½ cup apple, peeled and shredded (use paper towel to remove any excess moisture)
3 cups flour
3 tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
12 oz. beer
½ cup applesauce

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375°. Heat oil in skillet. Cook shallots and apple for 7 minutes. Mix dry ingredients in large bowl. Add cooked apple mixture, beer, applesauce, and cheese, stirring just until moist. Spoon mixture into 2 greased bread pans. Bake for 40 minutes or until done. Cool in pan for 5 minutes then remove and cool on wire rack.

Family Rating: 2 thumbs up.

Black-Eyed Pea Chili

I am so happy that Brenda from Meal Planning Magic is once again hosting the Eating the Alphabet Challenge.  I participated last year and completed most months.  Each month is assigned a couple of letters.  The challenge is to make a recipe that features a fruit, vegetable, legume, or grain that begins with one of the letters. This is the first month and the featured letters are A or B.

Last year I joined the challenge during the second month, so I missed these letters.  I already cook with lots of fruits and vegetables that begin with the letters A and B: apples, avocados, asparagus, bananas, broccoli, beets.  Since this is a challenge I really try to "challenge" myself with using foods that I either have never cooked or don't cook with often.  So I decided to go with a legume and try cooking black-eyed peas.

Before this challenge I'm not sure if I have ever eaten black-eyed peas before.  When I was reading New Year's books with the kids we discovered that in some cultures, and even in the Southern U.S., eating black-eyed peas on News Year's Day is thought to bring prosperity.  Well, we didn't eat black-eyed peas on New Year's Day, but we can still wish for some prosperity, right?!!  These legumes are used world-wide in various dishes in various forms - mashed, fried, added to stews and they are even included in a sweet dessert dish in Vietnam.

I actually found this recipe in the USA Weekend insert in my local weekend paper.  I had saved it and planned on possibly making it one day. This challenge motivated me to make it sooner than later!  I have to admit I was a bit pessimistic and didn't think I'd like this.  I have never been a big bean eater and have only started to begin eating black beans and chick peas.....and liking them!  So I was a bit surprised to discover that I actually enjoyed this dish! My husband was a big fan and even the kids ate their servings. It was really easy to make and served over rice it made a nice hearty dish for a cold winter's night. 

Black-Eyed Pea Chili
recipe from USA Weekend, Dec. 28-30, 2012, courtesy of Ellie Krieger

Ingredients:
1 Tb. canola oil
1 large onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound lean ground turkey
1 large green bell pepper, diced
1 jalapeño pepper, finely diced
1 Tb. chili powder
1 (15-ounce) can black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed
1 (28-ounce) can crushed fire-roasted tomatoes, with juice
½ cup low-sodium chicken broth or water
¼ cup reduced-fat sour cream
¼ cup fresh cilantro leaves

Directions:
Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 30 seconds more.

Add the turkey and cook, breaking it up with the spoon, until it is no longer pink, about 4 minutes. Stir in the bell pepper, jalapeño pepper and chili powder, and cook for 1 minute more.

Add the black-eyed peas, tomatoes and chicken broth or water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and simmer, stirring a few times, until the ingredients soften and meld, 20 minutes. Serve topped with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of cilantro leaves.

Family Rating:  1 1/2 thumbs up.