Archive for October, 2009
Italian Meatloaf
October 29th, 2009
A big hit with our family. Serve with a salad and crusty bread. We almost always have scalloped potatoes or macaroni and cheese with meatloaf. Make extra . . makes fantastic meatloaf sandwiches!
Make an extra meatloaf, partially cook, let cool to room temp, and freeze.
For the sauce, I used Spaghetti Sauce with Veggies which I had canned.
Italian Meat Loaf
2 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1-1/2 pounds ground beef
1 cup bread crumbs
1 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1 T. Worcestershire sauce
1 T. Balsamic Vinegar
2 T. chopped fresh basil
2 T. chopped parsley
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1-1/2 c. marinara sauce
1/2 c. mozzarella cheese
Preheat oven to 350.
Saute onion, pepper and garlic in olive oil. Remove from pan and allow to cool. Once they’re cool, mix all ingredients except marinara. Pat into a greased loaf pan. Top with marinara sauce. Bake uncovered for one hour.
Allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.
Posted in 
Tags: 
Taco Soup
October 1st, 2009
This is one of those recipes that I’ve adapted to our own tastes. We love frozen corn so I put more corn than most recipes call for. DH doesn’t like kidney beans so I use black beans. Also, with the ground meat, this sounds gross but I boil mine first, then drain it, let it cool, crumble it and brown it with a little oil. I like my ground meat in soups/stews to be real crumbly with no big chunks.
This soup freezes very nicely.
Taco Soup
2 lb. ground meat, browned and drained
16 oz. frozen corn
2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can Rotel tomatoes
1 – 2 cans crushed tomatoes (depending on your preference)
1 can chicken broth
1 cup water
1 package Taco seasoning mix
1 package Ranch dressing mix
Dump everything in the crockpot and cook 8 – 10 hours on low. Add more water if necessary to get the consistency desired. Or, simmer on top of the stove for an hour or so.
We serve it with grated cheese and tortilla chips. I add a spoonful of sour cream to my bowl also.
