Champion Meat Loaf

Boy 1 won't eat hamburgers and complains when I have hamburger ground up in other dishes, but he will actually ask me to make meatloaf. I haven't figured that one out yet. I think he mostly likes the usual sauce that goes on top of most meatloaf recipes. You know the one with ketchup, maybe some mustard, and brown sugar. Personally, I'm not a big fan of that topping, so when I saw this meatloaf recipe I figured I would give it a try. I think it's probably one of the best meatloaf recipes I have ever used! Totally moist and yummy. When I first made it, it did seem to be missing a little something without the sauce, which I think was mostly because I've always made meatloaf with the sauce on it. So when I make this I just make up a little bit of the sauce and cook it on the stove or in the microwave for a few minutes and then those who want it can use it if they so desire. Even the girl eats most of her serving without complaint. And, as usual, Boy 2 just won't try it. I try to be patient. He's four and what he eats is one of the few things he has almost total control over. Someday he'll like this, too! (At least that's the dream I hold onto with both fists.)

Champion Meat Loaf
by Melanie Lewis (from a ward/church cookbook)

1 1/2 lb ground beef (I usually just use two pounds since I buy them in 1 pound packages)
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 envelope onion soup mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup decrusted soft bread crumbs (I just use store bought bread crumbs)
2-3 strips bacon or bacon bits (NOT Bacos! Bacon strips is best but if you use bits, use real bacon bits.)

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. (Yes, 500 - you don't bake it at that temp.) Mix together beef, eggs, soup mix, sour cream, and bread crumbs. Shape in loaf pan and top with bacon or sprinkle with bacon bits. Put in oven and turn the temperature down to 375 degrees. Bake for 1 hour.

Beef Vegetable Soup

This is a soup that Boy 1 loves. It's good, covers a whole meal essentially and, if you do the whole recipe, will leave lots of leftovers. When we make it we usually have two to three meals worth which is great for dinner the next day or several lunches. Add some bread or rolls alongside and you have a yummy meal!

Beef Vegetable Soup
from Redbook magazine

This takes about 2 hours or so to cook, depending on how small you chop your veggies.

1 Tbsp Vegetable oil
1 1/2 pounds beef chuck, cut in 3/4" chunks (I use stew meat, already cut!)
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cans - 14 1/2 ounces each, beef broth (or a 48 oz box and one can)
1 can - 28 to 35 ounces, plum tomatoes in juice (diced tomatoes work, too)
2 cups water
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp pepper
1 pound carrots, peeled and diced (I just use a bunch of baby carrots, sliced)
1 pound red potatoes, scrubbed and diced (I use regular white potatoes)
3 celery stalks, diced
1 package - 10 ounces frozen peas (I can ever only find 16 oz, so I use those)
1 package - 10 ounces frozen corn (I can ever only find 16 oz, so I use those)
(I like to add some salt but I've never measured it. You can always just add a little to your bowl before eating, too. It really needs a little extra salt.)

Brown beef in oil in a large pot (I use a stock pot). Add onion and cook for five (5) minutes. Stir in broth, tomatoes and juice, water, bay leaf, thyme, and pepper. (And salt if you want to add it). Bring it to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for about 45 minutes.

Add carrots, potatoes and celery. Cover and simmer for another 45 minutes or until the carrots and potatoes start to soften. Add peas and corn and cook for another 15 minutes.

Beef Noodle Bowl

My older two kids LOVE this meal. Which is funny since, like the vegetable stir-fry on this site, it has broccoli and cooked carrots which are both unfavored items as a general rule. This is also a really great recipe to use if you have a lot of leftover cooked pasta. When we do spaghetti or something like that we never put the sauce on the noodles while they're in the pan because some kids don't like the sauce and others only want a little, etc. So, we often have leftover noodles to use. It's a versatile recipe, too. You can always add different veggies than what the recipe calls for and it still generally turns out. I haven't tried all combinations of veggies so I can't say it always turns out.

Beef Noodle Bowl
from Kraft

8 oz. linguine, uncooked
3 cups broccoli florets
3 carrots, peeled, sliced (about 2 cups)
2 tsp oil
1 lb beef sirloin steak, cut into strips (I cheat and buy stir-fry beef at the grocery store)
1 Tbsp teriyaki sauce
1/4 cup Kraft Asian Toasted Sesame Dressing

Cook pasta as directed on package, adding vegetables to the boiling water for the last 2 minutes of the pasta cooking time. (I've found they usually need longer so I add the veggies when I add the pasta to the water.)

Meanwhile, heat oil in large nonstick skillet. (I use a really large pot because, once you add everything to this pan, it will be really hard to stir it together without spilling stuff over the edge of the skillet.)

Add meat to the oil and cook for 4 minutes or until the meat is browned on all sides, stirring occasionally. (I often have "juice" from the meat that is more like water, so I drain this out during the cooking of the meat.)

Stir in dressing and teriyaki sauce and cook for 2 minutes or until the sauce is thickened, stirring occasionally. (I usually double the sauce amount depending on how many veggies I'm using or how many noodles I'm using. The original sauce amount isn't very much anyway.)

Drain the pasta mixture and place in a large serving bowl. Add the meat mixture and toss to coat. (Unless you don't want t make another dish dirty and you serve it in the pan, like me. See the comment about pans above.)

Tip:
When you are using leftover noodles you won't be cooking the veggies with the noodles. When that's the case, I add a little salt to the water with the veggies while they cook, otherwise they are a little bland. But that is completely a personal choice. And, warm the noodles up in the microwave before adding it to the meat mixture. You don't want to cool off the meat and then have to reheat it with the noodles.

Vegetable Stir-Fry

Getting my kids to eat vegetables that are anything other than baby carrots and occasionally salad is nearly impossible. Boy 1 doesn't like broccoli unless it's in the form of Broccoli Cheese soup. (Go figure.) The girl likes broccoli but doesn't really care for anything else except carrots, as long as they're not cooked. Boy 2 will occasionally eat carrots as long as they are uncooked and only baby carrots. Not carrot sticks or large carrots. None of the kids like celery or cauliflower. HOWEVER, I can make this vegetable stir fry and I never get complaints from the older two kids. Boy 2 doesn't complain either, but he'll only eat the rice that we put under this. It's wonderful to have a non-complaint meal!

Vegetable Stir-Fry
from Swanson (Think broth - I got it from a magazine, I think it was Woman's Day but I can't remember for sure.)

1 cup Swanson Chicken Broth (Regular, Natural Goodness or Certified Organic)
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
4 cups cut-up vegetables ~ broccoli florets, cauliflower florets, baby carrots and sliced celery
2 tsp grated fresh ginger root or 1/8 tsp ground ginger
1 clove garlic, minced
Toasted sesame seeds ~optional
(I add about 1/2 tsp of salt while this is cooking but you can just season as you like after it's on your plate, too.)

Stir the broth, cornstarch and soy sauce in a small bowl until the mixture is smooth.

Heat the oil in a 10" skillet over medium-high heat. Add the vegetables, ginger root and garlic and stir-fry until they're tender-crisp.

Add the broth mixture to the skillet. Cook and stir until the mixture boils and thickens. Sprinkle with the sesame seeds, if desired.

We serve this recipe over rice and it makes a whole meal for us. Enjoy!


Tips:
- You may be tempted to use frozen veggies for this recipe. I'm here to tell you that it will work, BUT it turns out a whole lot better with fresh veggies.

- Remember that fresh ginger is usually more potent than the bottled stuff you find in your spice cabinet. If you aren't a huge fan of ginger, like me, then you might want to go with just a bit less than 2 tsp of fresh grated ginger. It can be pretty strong for me with the full 2 teaspoons.

Golden Rod Eggs

Last week was Easter. A time with two sides, if you are of a Christian religion. There is the reverent side, where we remember Christ and His sacrifice for us. Suffering for our sins in Gethsemane and dying on the cross to save us. Then the wonderful gift of His resurrection, and giving us the knowledge that there is life after death and that we will all be resurrected one day as well. I am so very grateful for that knowledge. But, there is also the fun side of Easter that involves bunnies, candy and Easter egg hunts. As a child do you remember the excitement of coloring eggs? Creating beautiful and colorful works of art on eggs. It was such a novelty as a child to be able to handle eggs that way. Then when all the eggs were colored, egg hunts were finished and Easter celebrations over, you had a dozen or more eggs just sitting there. Now what? If you're like me you can only eat a very few hard boiled eggs without getting sick of them, let alone a whole farm's worth. Okay, that's an exaggeration, but when you're sick of them and you still have a dozen sitting there it FEELS like a whole farm's worth. To avoid that scenario you can always use this recipe to get rid of lots of eggs at once! Now, this recipe isn't full of exotic flavors by any means, but you can always add things to it if you want. My husband would add a ton of paprika to it if he had his way. Instead we just put the paprika container next to his plate and he can add what he wants to his own food. The kids and I just add salt and pepper to ours and we think it's great that way. It is pretty blah on its own, though. HOWEVER, my kids, who generally would prefer to not eat eggs, especially if they come in any form other than scrambled, actually lament the end of our Easter eggs because they pretty much only get this dish after Easter is over. Well, the older two do. Boy 2 still doesn't eat eggs. Ever. I have a hard time remembering to make this at any other time of the year. I just generally don't boil eggs for anything during the rest of the year so I don't think about this dish. Every year I promise myself that we'll make it more often and every year I forget. Anyway, here is the recipe. I have no idea who to credit for it. I remember my mom making it when I was a child but I have no idea from where (or whom) she got the recipe.

Golden Rod Eggs
(My family of 5 usually do a recipe and a half or double it, depending on how many eggs we have to use up. It reheats well, too, in case you have leftovers.)

6 eggs, boiled until hard
2 Tbsp margarine (or butter)
2 Tbsp flour
2 Cups milk
Toast
Salt
Pepper

Peel the eggs. Split the whites, pull the yokes out and set the yokes aside. Cut the white of the eggs into small pieces. (Or I suppose you could use a food processor as long as you don't end up pureeing them. I've never tried it, though.) In a small bowl, crumble the egg yolks. (You'll only need about half of the yokes for this so eat some of them if you want!)

Prepare the white sauce by melting the butter over medium heat and stirring in the flour. Stir until the butter and flour mixture bubbles. Stir for another 1 - 2 minutes. Have the milk ready or close by since you don't want the flour and butter to get too hot or start to burn while it's unattended. Add the milk to the butter and flour, stirring constantly. If left unattended for even a short amount of time, the sauce WILL start to cook to the bottom of the pan. (A whisk is the best thing to use for this. I love to use my little coiled Pampered Chef whisk for these types of sauce.)

Cook and stir the sauce over medium heat until the sauce thickens. (This could take quite a while depending on whether you've increased the recipe or not.) Once the sauce is thickened, add the egg whites and continue stirring until the egg whites are hot. Remove from heat.

Toast lots of bread. (We usually use an entire loaf of the "cheap" bread; you know the really little loaves that wouldn't make much of a sandwich at all if you folded it in half or cut the crust off.)

To eat: Either leave the piece of toast whole and cut it with a fork or knife, or break the toast into lots of bite size pieces (which my kids prefer). Then pour some of the white sauce with egg whites over the toast (to your preferred amount) and sprinkle with the egg yokes. Sprinkle with as much salt and pepper as you prefer. Or paprika. Or whatever spice you might want to use. Then enjoy!

Hint: I got this hint from a magazine a long time ago and it works pretty well most of the time. If you lightly smack (technical term) a hard boiled egg on the counter or another hard surface and then roll it either on the counter or in your hands, it nicely cracks the rest of the egg and lets the shell come off more easily. No more picking one little piece off after another!

Kickin' Craisin Cookies

I read a book last fall called 'Key Lime Pie'. It's a fiction mystery and it was entertaining. One thing I loved about the book, though, was that it had a recipe at the end of each chapter. I haven't tried any of the other recipes in the book because, even though they all sound good, I KNOW that my kids (all of them) would rebel. Honestly, they even rebel at these cookies since they have dried cranberries in them. That's okay, though. Even though the main point of this blog is to list recipes my whole family likes, or at least the majority likes, these cookies got added anyway. My kids might not like them, at least with the cranberries in them, but I ADORE these cookies. I rarely make them unless I'm taking most of them someplace outside of my home, otherwise I would eat them all. Every last one. Kickin' Craisin Cookies From the book 'Key Lime Pie’ by Josi Kilpack 1 cup butter 1 cup sugar 1 cup brown sugar 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla 2 cups flour 2 ½ cups quick oats ½ teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon cloves ½ teaspoon ground ginger 1 teaspoon cinnamon Dash of cayenne pepper (about 1/8 teaspoon) 1½ cups Craisins ½ cup white chocolate chips, optional ½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans, optional Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cream butter and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla and mix until well combined. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Add Craisins, chocolate chips, and nuts, using a wooden spoon to mix (dough will be too thick for most mixers). Drop by tablespoons or use a 1-inch scoop to make dough balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet about two inches apart. Bake 6 to 9 minutes or until just browned—do not overbake. Allow to cool on pan 2 minutes before moving to cooling rack. Cookies should be crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside. Makes 3 dozen.

World's Best Scones

These are really easy and don't take too much time. The kids love them, although they can get kind of crumbly which means "mess all over the floor". The mess is worth it, though. The young women I used to work with at church also seemed to appreciate these scones, since I would get requests for them fairly often! They especially liked them when I would add chocolate chips to the dough. I have to say, though, that my favorite addition is dried cranberries! YUM! Just be careful, much like pie crust, they don't taste as good if you overwork the dough.

World's Best Scones! From Scotland to the Savoy to the U.S.
by FriendlyFood at Allrecipes.com

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 cup white sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
5 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup dried currants or raisins
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup sour cream
1 egg
1 Tablespoon milk

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

Sift the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt into a large bowl. Cut in butter using a pastry blender or rubbing between your fingers until it is in pea sized lumps. Stir in the currants.

Mix together 1/2 cup milk and sour cream in a measuring cup. Pour all at once into the dry ingredients, and stir gently until well blended. Overworking the dough results in terrible scones!

With floured hands, pat scone dough into balls 2 to 3 inches across, depending on what size you want. Place onto a greased baking sheet, and flatten lightly. Let the scones barely touch each other.

Whisk together the egg and 1 tablespoon of milk. Brush the tops of the scones with the egg wash. (Sprinkle with a little sugar if you want. It's yummy!) Let them rest for about 10 minutes.

Bake for 10 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until the tops are golden brown, not deep brown. Break each scone apart, or slice in half. Serve with butter or clotted cream and a selection of jams - or even plain.