"Italian" Meatloaf

I struggle lately with using ground beef. I am becoming more and more vegetarian as I get older. I am not exactly sure why, it's certainly not because of the animal factor. My body just seems to be rejecting the majority of it. BUT despite the fact that I am not all that interested anymore, I still have a house-full of people who DO eat meat.

Tonight I decided to make a meatloaf but I did not feel like making it my usual way with a combination of ground chuck (poor chuck!) and hot Italian sausage, mostly because the sausage was still frozen! Inspiration struck, however and I went at it with a couple of my other favorite Italian items.

It started with about a pound to a pound and a half of ground chuck. Next I added two packages of dry Italian dressing.

And then, to me, the most important ingredient is the Parmesan cheese. You can do it if you want, BUT I highly urge you not to...use that awful green container of shredded "Parmesan" cheese that is shelf stable. Yuck! Don't do it! For just about a dollar more you can get REAL GOOD Parmesan. And here is my favorite:

This is Sartori grated Parmesan cheese. You can get it at the specialty cheese section at your local grocery store.  I highly recommend it. It is a mellow yet perfectly wonderful Parmesan. Here is the web link to their website:

Sartori Cheese

I used approximately 1/3 cup of the Parmesan. I added the cheese and the dry Italian dressing into the raw ground chuck (poor chuck!). Then I formed them into small meatloaves because I wanted it to cook faster than a large hunk of meat would.

Make sure to knead the spices and the cheese into the ground chuck very well. I put them in on of my favorite Pyrex blue 9" x 13" pans and put in a pre-heated 350 degree oven. Bake until no longer red in the middle, approximately 35 minutes (times will vary depending on your loaf size and oven! Check the middle before stopping the oven for doneness)

About 20 minutes after the meat was in the oven, I put a new bag of Schwan's bow-tie pasta and veggies in to heat and serve with the meatloaf. I probably should have made more but I just really did not think there was anything else I could add except, maybe, for bread.

When the meatloaf was finished, it was so moist and tender. I believe it was the Parmesan that kept it so amazing.

This is what it looked like....not a whole lot on the plate but the family ate it up! And the asked for seconds. It turned out wonderful and I even ate it. I'm telling you honestly, my secret weapon in a lot of my food is that wonderful Sartori cheese.

Desperation Soup!!!

I had (and still have) no plans on attending family game night with the church youth group tonight. AND I thought none of my kids were attending either.  WRONG.  One decided to go, so I had to come up with soup REALLY fast for them to take with them.  I will not send my kid empty-handed!

So now, I go into the kitchen and do what I do best....make something wonderful out of whatever is in my cupboards. I should be named Little Miss Hubboard.  I ended up making Vegetable Beef Noodle:

This is what is in it:

1 pound of ground beef, cooked
1 medium onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, smashed and minced
Carrots
Green peas
Corn
Broccolli florets
Egg noodles
Salt & Pepper
Dry brown gravy mix (yes, I went there....)

While I thawed the hamburger out in the microwave, I sauteed the onion and bell pepper in a scant bit of olive oil. I added the smashed garlic in as well.  After the ground chuck (poor chuck) was thawed I added it to my pot as well. I guess I should explain I went ahead and started with my soup pot, no need to get TWO pans dirty.

Of course, the whole two pans thing did not, well, PAN out! I used a second pot to heat about 4 cups or so of water and added a generous dumping of the dry brown gravy mix.  I did not measure, sorry! I whisked this together until it began to boil then removed from the heat.

I drained the first pot of ground chuck (poor chuck), onions and peppers of the grease from the hamburger.  I then tossed in the vegetables I had from my freezer (the carrots, peas, corn, broccolli). Next came several cups of water and I turned the heat up to high to get a boil going. 

I then added the brown gravy mix I had set aside.  I stirred it well and then washed the pot so that I could use it again (I was determined not to get a THIRD pot dirty!) so I could boil the egg noodles.  I only used 2/3 of the bag of egg noodles.  When they were almost al-dente, I added them to the soup.

It actually tastes pretty good for a desperation move!! Now to go wash all those pots!!

There is actually a very good reason why I was not going to Family Game night. I am in the midst of preparing for something VERY big that I cannot as yet reveal on this website! But when I can, I will let you in on the secret!!!!

Wild and Crazy Dinner!

It started out normal.....but it did not end that way.  I decided to make Giada's Lasagna Rolls for dinner.  I just needed to go to the grocery store for the lasagna noodles and the ricotta cheese.  I started at our brand new G-Mart that opened around the corner from my house.  This is an amazing International foods store.  They have every kind of vegetable and fruit you can think of and even more you have never heard of or seen.
As I strolled through the fresh fruit and veggies I came across some real Mandarin oranges.  I have NEVER seen these except in a can! Of course I had to pick up a few.  I also got some some pomegranates, lemons and limes.  I kept walking and finally found the pasta.  The selection of Italian type pastas was very, very small.  The only pasta they had was the kind that did not require boiling.  This would not be the type of lasagna noodles I need.  I decided to go ahead and check out and head to one more store.

I left the G-Mart and went to my local Target.  It has quite a nice addition of grocery items.  Looking around here, I expected to find the type of lasagna noodles I required.  There was a larger selection, even Giada's own brand of pasta. Alas, the only noodles they had were the kind that you do not boil.  Have we gotten so lazy we don't have regular lasagna noodles? <sigh> This required a change of plans. I bought two boxes of bow-tie pasta.  They were on sale for $1.00 and I decided it would make the dish more interesting in lieu of elbows or spaghetti.

Here is what went into my dinner dish:

(1) pound Ground chuck (poor chuck)
(1) large chopped yellow onion
(1) large Green pepper, chopped
Garlic powder (Okay...stop right there! I usually ALWAYS have fresh garlic but the last bulb I had went bad and I did not realize it!! The HORROR!!)

I cooked the ground chuck (poor chuck), onion, pepper and garlic powder until the hamburger was done.
I drained the hamburger and added one can of Hunt's Roasted Onion and Garlic tomato sauce.

The two boxes of bow-ties were set to boiling with a dash of salt.

I steamed one bag of Edamame, then peeled them out of their shells. I added the edamame to the sauce.

Next I added one large container of fresh chopped white button mushrooms.
Next I added chunks of fresh mozzarella cheese (about 8 ounces just torn by hand)
I prefer fresh mozzarella in lieu of aged.
I decided I needed more sauce so I added one more can of the Hunt's Roasted Onion and garlic tomato sauce.

I drained the bow-ties and added them to my sauce (obviously I had already switched the hamburger and sauce to a larger pan!).

After the bow-ties were stirred in I added three large handfuls of fresh baby spinach.  I stirred it up well and served my family.  It went over pretty well.  The mushrooms were hidden pretty well but the soy beans stuck out!  It was really good and with all the extra mushrooms, soy beans and spinach, it did not need very much meat. It was not a favorite with my girls, but my hubby and son and I really enjoyed it!

The Hobo Dinner

In the midst of my cleaning spree today, I plopped down at the computer to find inspiration for tonight's dinner.  I wanted something quick and easy or at least easy!  I went to one of my favorite recipe sites, allrecipes.com and typed in easy dinner.  This is one of the first recipes that popped up:

The Hobo Dinner

I had most of the ingredients.  The only thing I lacked was the ground chuck (poor Chuck).  I ran down the street (okay...I did not run, I jumped in my Mustang and sped...ummm...I mean slowly drove) to my closest grocery store.  I decided to use the leanest beef I could find since it called for it to NOT be pre-cooked before adding everything else.  I did not follow the recipe exactly.  You know me! I have to put my "Crystal" twist on everything I do. 

(2) pounds of lean ground chuck (poor Chuck)
(2) packets of Lipton Beefy Onion dry soup mix
(5) or (6) medium to large russet potatoes
(1) bag of baby carrotts, peeled and ready to eat
(1) egg
(1) large sweet onion, cut into rings

Mix the ground chuck (poor Chuck) in a bowl with both packets of dry soup mix and the one egg until mixed well.  Form thick, medium size patties and place in the bottom of a roasting pan.  Peel the potatoes and slice like steak fries.  Layer the potatoes on first.  Then add the whole bag of carrots. Next place the onion rings on top.  Cover with aluminum foil and put in a pre-heated 400 degree oven and bake for one hour.

That was perfect for me.  I put it into the oven and went back on my cleaning spree!  After about 45 minutes the house was smelling like Sunday afternoon pot roast!  When the hour was up I carefully removed the roasting pan from the oven and peeled back the foil.  I served it in bowls and fed all my hungry crew.  It was quite tasty.  Even though the dry soup mix added a lot of salt content, it still needed some more.  I think next time I make it, I will probably add some cream of mushroom soup in to flavor it up some more.  It definately would have been great with some fresh sliced mushrooms added to the mix!  I can tell you I will definately be making this again!  I can take no credit for the recipe but I am sure thankful that it was posted on allrecipes.com!

Here we go again....

It's Thursday, the day before payday and my pantry is looking a little bit thin.  So here I stand in the kitchen trying to figure out what I can throw together to feed the hungry natives.  I have some ground chuck (poor chuck) that I had frozen from the butcher.  That is about it.  No fresh mushrooms.  No onions left (how did that happen? I never run out of onions).  No potatoes.  Sheesh.

I defrosted the ground chuck (poor chuck) and mixed it with crushed saltine crackers, Gold Medal Soul Seasoning (my new favorite spice to use) and some garlic powder.  I made them into five good sized hamburger steaks and threw them in my pan with some chopped onions that I found I had frozen previously. 

After browning them up on both sides I added some (don't judge me here, this stuff is good) dry brown gravy mix and a butt-ton of milk.  I stirred it up real well and it is simmering on the stove for about twenty minutes.  I think I am going to make macaroni noodles to put under it as we have had rice twice this week already.  Being a good Italian wife, I always have pasta on hand.  It is a national emergency if I ever run out of that stuff.

So....here I sit, watching it simmer and pondering the meaning of life, pickles and butterflys.  I think I should like to be a pickle one day instead of always being IN a pickle....