Mini Meatloaf

I started making these mini meatloaves a few years ago. They're easy to make and yummy. The sizes are perfect for portion control, and there are no burnt, dried corners. Give them a try!

Here's the meat. I use part pork and beef. 

Here's our ingredients. Minus the bread crumbs. I usually use a mix of panko and regular, but my regular were expired!

Before I mixed everything. I mix by hand, and you should too!

Shape the meat into four loaves. 

Sorry for the blurry pic. This is what happens when you try to take a picture with one hand. Anyways, this is the glaze. I use a mix of ketchup, worcestershire sauce, mustard and brown sugar.

Once they're glazed, put them in the oven. They'll be ready in about 35-45 mins, so you have plenty of time to whip up some mashed potatoes to eat on the side.

Give my recipe a try. I used to think I didn't like meatloaf, but I didn't realize how versatile it is. If you don't like certain ingredients, don't add them. If you like others, add those instead. This could work with a ton of different variations, but this is how I like to make it. 

2/3 Cup Ketchup

2 TBL Brown Sugar

1/2 TSP Worcestershire Sauce

1/2 TSP Mustard

1/2 LB Ground Beef

1/2 LB Ground Pork

3 Slices of White Bread, Soaked in Milk and Drained

Panko Bread crumbs

1 Egg

1 Small Onion, chopped Finely

1 Clove of Garlic, minced

Salt and Pepper to Taste

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a pan with tin foil and lightly grease.

Mix the brown sugar, ketchup, worcestershire sauce and mustard in a small bowl until well combined. 

Mix the beef, pork, bread, panko bread crumbs, egg, onion, and salt and pepper until combined. Add in some of the glaze. Separate the meat into 4 equal portions. Mold them into small loaves and place them on the pan. Coat with the remaining glaze. 

Bake in the oven for 45 mins. 

Strawberry Almond Coffee Cake

I've been wanting to make this cake again for a few weeks, because it's so delicious. It's pretty simple to make, and wonderful to eat. It's light and airy, but sweet and moist because of the cheesecake like filling. 

Let's start by making the base. Start by putting the flour, sugar, and butter in the food processor. Pulse until crumbly. Set aside 1 C of the mixture.

Add in the sour cream, egg, baking soda, baking powder, salt and vanilla and almond extracts.

Mix is all up. It's going to be thick!

Spread the mixture in a greased 9 in. springform pan, pushing the batter up the sides a bit.

Mix together the softened cream cheese, egg, and sugar in a bowl. Mix until well incorporated.

If there are some lumps, don't worry. Mine did too! Go ahead and pour it all into the pan.

Add some teaspoons of strawberry preserves around the cake. Then swirl them in. You can add more after you swirl, to add to the design (which is what I did.)

Add the almonds and the remaining topping. As an alternate, I had also made some streusel topping today, and made my second cake topped with that. 

This is the one with the streusel topping. 

2 & 1/2 C All-Purpose Flour

3/4 C White Sugar

3/4 C Cold Butter, cut into cubes

1/2 TSP Baking Powder

1/2 TSP Baking Soda

1/2 TSP Salt

3/4 C Sour Cream

1 Egg, beaten

1 TSP Vanilla

1/2 TSP Almond Extract

Filling:

1 8 Ounce Package of Cream Cheese, Softened

1/2 C White Sugar

1 Egg

1/2 C Strawberry Preserves (or any flavor)

1/2 C Slivered Almonds

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a food processor (or large bowl), combine the flour, sugar and cold butter. Mix until crumbly. Set aside 1 cup of mixture. 

With the rest of the crumbs, add the baking powder, baking soda, salt, sour cream, egg and vanilla and almond extracts. Mix well. Spread in the bottom of a grease, 9 in. springform pan. Push some of the batter up on the edges of the pan, about 2 inches. 

To make the filling, combine the cream cheese, sugar and egg in a bowl and mix until blended. Pour over the batter. Add the preserves in teaspoons around the batter. use a knife to swirl it in. Add the rest of the crumbs and the almonds to the top of the cake. 

bake for 55-60 min. Let stand for 15 mins. Carefully run a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen, then remove the sides of the pan. Let cool. 

Slow Roasted Chicken

So I've been trying to find a great roasted chicken recipe, and this is it. It comes out so moist, it's falling apart. You hardly need a knife to cut this chicken. 

Here's our spice rub. Easy to make, and probably all ingredients you have in your pantry.

The aromatics. I just cut these into quarters and stuffed them inside the bird.

Before the rub.

And after! Throw it into the oven. Make sure you use a thermometer. I don't have a time for this chicken. It usually takes around 5 hours to cook though, so this isn't a weekday meal (unless you're like me and only have days off during the week!)

Well, well well. Look how nice it turned out.

And dinner is served.

Slow Roasted Chicken

2 Tsp Salt

2 Tsp Paprika

1 Tsp Pepper

1/2 Tsp Onion Powder

1/2 Tsp Thyme

1/4 Tsp Cayenne Pepper

1/4 Tsp Garlic Powder

1 Onion, quartered

1 Lemon, quartered

3 Garlic Cloves

1 Roasting Chicken (about 4-5 Pounds)

Pre-heat the oven to 250 degrees.

Mix together all the spices in a small bowl. Rinse and dry the chicken. Rub the chicken with the spice mixture, inside and out. If you have the time, let marinade in the fridge for 4-6 hours, or overnight. If not, just go ahead and stuff the cavity with the onion, lemon and garlic.

Place the chicken in a roasting pan. Insert a thermometer into the deepest part of the chicken. Cook until an internal temperature of 175 degrees. Let rest for 10 mins to finish cooking and reabsorb juices. Carve and serve.

Chicken Pot Pie

Here's my recipe for chicken pot pie. It's easy to make, and very filling. I do use store bought crust, because I'm lazy. If you're super awesome, feel free to make your own.

Here's our broth that we're going to cook the chicken and veggies in. I used some box chicken broth, threw in some extra water and chicken bouillon. 

Hello, veggies. I used some carrots, potatoes, frozen corn and peas. 

Make sure to cut your potatoes into even size pieces.

Go ahead and throw it all in the pot.

Cut the chicken in same size cubes as well.

Make sure the chicken stock covers everything.

In the meantime, I prepped my crust. I pricked it all over with a fork and threw it in the oven for 5 mins to pre-bake it so it wouldn't get soggy when I put everything in it.

Let's start the gravy then.

I melted some butter and threw in the onion I had prepped. 

Add in some flour and seasoning and mix it up!

After the gravy has thickened, add in the veggies and chicken.

Into the pie crust!

Top that bad boy, prick him again, and throw it in the oven. 

About halfway through, the edges started to get brown. This is when I covered the edges with foil.

Buttery, savory, yummy chicken pot pie. How golden you look. 

Chicken Pot Pie

3 Chicken Breasts, cubed

1/2 C Carrots, chopped

1/2 C Peas

1/2 C Corn

2 Small Potatoes, cubed

1 Can Chicken Broth

Chicken Bouillon

4 TBL Butter

4 TBL Onion, chopped

4 TBL Flour

1/2 Tsp Salt

1/4 Tsp Pepper

1/4 Tsp Celery Seed

2/3 C Milk

A few ladles from the chicken broth

2 Pie Crusts

Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees.

In a pot, combine the chicken, carrots, peas, corn and potatoes. Add the chicken broth, chicken bouillon, and water to cover. Cook for about 15 mins, or until the chicken is done and the veggies are soft. Skim regularly. Remove the chicken and veggies, reserving liquid. 

Prepare bottom crust. Place into pie pan and prick with fork. Bake for 5 mins, then remove and set aside.

In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the onions and cook until translucent. Stir in the flour, salt, pepper, and celery seed. Slowly whisk in the milk and some chicken broth. Simmer over medium-low heat until thickened.

Add the chicken and veggies and combine well. Pour into prepared pie crust. Add the top crust and pinch around edges. Make a few holes for steam to escape. Bake for 30-35 mins, covering edges with foil about halfway. Let sit for 10-15 mins, the slice.