Mmmm...mmmmm...Meatloaf?

Strangely enough one of my favorite meals growing up was my Mom's meatloaf. I know most people don't say that, but I love meatloaf. There, I said it!
I remember if I was coming home from college and needed my Mommy Meal fix my request was meatloaf, a big ol' baked potato {with tons of sour cream!}, and cream style corn. Oh yeah, baby!

I think at heart I am just a meat and potatoes kind of girl.

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Meatloaf has changed so much throughout the years. I've adapted what I remember my mom doing to what my family likes and my tastes. I add more spices to it, mainly because those are what I am obsessed with.

When I make my meatloaf, I don't really follow a recipe, just add stuff here and there, but the last time I made it, I was sure to note how much I was adding of everything. Well...kind of. I make this recipe for my family of 4 and still have some leftovers for a meatloaf sandwich or meatloaf roll-up {so yummy}.

So without further ado, here is my meatloaf recipe...drum roll...

Meatloaf

1.5 pounds ground beef

2 eggs

2 slices whole wheat bread

2-3 T ketchup

2 T brown sugar

1/2 T garlic powder

1/2 T dried basil

dash of salt and pepper

Topping

1/2 cup ketchup

2 T brown sugar

1 tsp dried mustard
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp garlic powder

Preheat over to 375. In a food processor chop up the bread to make bread crumbs. I then use my kitchenaid to mix everything together. First add the eggs, ketchup, brown sugar, garlic powder, basil, salt and pepper. Mix this all together. Then add the beef and bread crumbs until well combined. Spread the meat mixture into a greased pan. 

I don't like to use a loaf pan because it takes way too long to bake! I'm a little impatient that way. I use my little mini baking dish. 

Now mix up the topping. I put it all back in my kitchenaid so I don't have to dirty any more dishes. Once that is all mixed together, spread evenly over the beef mixture. 
Bake for 30 to 40 minutes. This will all depend on what size of pan you use. Like I said, mine is usually pretty thin, so it doesn't take as long to make. 

Then serve!

Yummy - great comfort food.

But have you noticed all the new, crazy recipes out there for meatloaf?

Awwwwwww, cute little baby meatloaves!

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They are stuffing it with Mac-N-Cheese and wrapping it in bacon? What? I'm not saying I wouldn't try this if it were in front of me. I might spend the rest of the night in the bathroom, but I'd be willing to give it a try. What? TMI?

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Now this is just gross...they put an egg in the middle?

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Spinach Meatloaf? My kids would never eat that, hell, I wouldn't eat that!

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This one is interesting...Pancetta and Turkey Meatloaf...I've heard of substituting ground turkey, but never have tried it. I think it still goes back to I'm a beef girl. ;)

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I really like this idea. My hubby wouldn't eat it, but the kids and I would L.O.V.E. it!

Turkey Meatloaf Cupcakes!

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Or how about a cake meatloaf! My birthday is just around the corner, maybe I'll request this! Only Martha would do this!

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I would definitely make this meatloaf...Chicken Parmesan Meatloaf Muffins!

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And finally, last and certainly the most disgusting, as in so disgusting that if I ever showed this to my hubby he would probably never, ever eat meatloaf again!

The hand meatloaf!

Seriously - makes me want to puke!

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I know, I'm so, so sorry. I sincerely apologize for showing you all of those and possibly making you hungry to just end it with that!

Sooooo, on that note...what are your favorite meatloaf recipes? Have you tried any of the unusual recipes? There are a couple up there that I think I might have to try even though I will always go back to my favorite. But not the hand one, please not that one!

~Amy

Copycat Ham and Cheese Subs from Pizza Pit

Back in the day, at Iowa State University, life was so easy. No, I didn't realize it back then...I don't think you ever realize how easy you have it until it changes and you add more responsibility. I mean, seriously, I barely remember having any responsibilities in college besides paying rent, getting that paper written, trying to make it to class and where is the next party going to be?

I think I slept till noon every chance I could.
I have so many memories from my college days. The best, of course, is that I met my husband at Iowa State. Short version of the long story...he chased me for 2 years or so until I finally decided I couldn't live without him and I asked him out! As any young couple in love, we have our 'special' places in Ames, IA.

Our bench at the Reiman Gardens where he proposed!

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{You can't really see our bench in this picture, but it is just to the right and that is the view - perfect!}
Side note ~ I see on the Reiman Gardens website that you can now buy time at the Gardens to propose. You can purchase champagne and a rose if you want to add to the experience. They will even hide the ring for you! That would have come in handy, cause I'm pretty sure the box with my ring in it was sliding down my hubby's pants where he was hiding it!

One of our other BIG places in Ames is the Pizza Pit.

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 We would frequent the Pizza Pit more often than I would like to admit. I would always get the Hot Ham and Cheese Sub and my hubby would get the Hot Ham and Swiss. They served it with plain ol' potato chips and a pickle wedge. I would also get an order of their garlic cheese bread! MMMMMMMM! My tummy's just growling thinking about it.

Since we live almost 3 hours from Ames, I've tried to bring that taste to our home. The hot subs are now one of our staples!

Here's what you need {again, I'm not big on measuring but I'm trying to get it somewhat written down}:
 6 Hoagie Buns from the bakery at your local grocer

1 large package sliced ham {I like thinly sliced honey baked}

1/4 cup softened butter

1 tsp Garlic Powder

1/2 tsp Garlic Salt

1 tsp Dried Basil

Sliced Mozzarella Cheese {or shredded if you don't have slices}

Sliced Swiss Cheese

Grated Parmesan Cheese

6 large pieces of tin foil.

Here's what you do:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
In a small bowl, mix the softened butter with the garlic powder, garlic salt and dried basil. You can always add more or less depending on your families tastes.

Slice each hoagie bun in half and lay them all out so you can do an assembly line.

On the top half of the bun, spread a portion of the butter. I try to put a good heaping half tablespoon on each one. I like to divide it out before spreading so I make sure to use the same amount on each and not run out. On the bottom side of the bun, lay about 6 slices of ham.

Top the ham with either the Swiss or mozzarella cheese. My hubby likes Swiss, the kids and I like the mozzarella. Also, the hubby doesn't like as much cheese so his only get a single layer. I really pile it on for the kids and I. Again, this is where you do what ever your family prefers. Then on the side with the butter sprinkle a generous amount of the Parmesan.

Put the top on the sandwich and wrap the tin foil around it. Do this for each sub. I use a marker to make either an S {Swiss} or M {mozzarella} on the foil so we know which is which.

Bake in the oven for about 15 - 20 minutes.

Serve! The kids love to take the tin foil off, this is a very exciting step at our house!

I usually serve our subs with chips and corn {sauteed with a similar butter mixture as above}.

Ahhhh, the taste brings back the memories! How about you? Do you have any copycat recipes that you've tried? 

~Amy

Ring of Fire - Taco Ring

“I fell into a burning ring of fire
I went down, down, down and the flames went hirer
And it burns, burns, burns, the ring of fire
The ring of fire”

Why does my husband sing this song every time I make the Taco Ring? I have no idea. Your guess is as good as mine. I know it is one of his favorite meals that I make {might have to do with the fact when I first started making it we were newlyweds and he was finally being fed real meals again since he didn't live in that dump of a house in college}. Back then he would see that I was making it and get so excited about this meal that he would dance around the kitchen singing Ring of Fire. {I'm sure he would be very happy to hear me tell this to everyone}
Now it is also one of my kids favorite meals as well! And of course, they all sing the ring of fire when I make it.
That was waaayyy back in 1999 when I started making the Taco Ring {wow that dates me}. I honestly can't remember if I found the recipe in a cookbook I received for our wedding {you know, one of the ones your grandma gives you from her church – still one of my most cherished cookbooks} or if I got it from going to a Pampered Chef party?
Lately, I’ve had to increase the amount I make since the kids are older now and The Boy {at only age 9 mind you} seems to be eating more than me these days!

It is a super easy meal. 

What you’ll need:
1.5 lbs Ground Beef {I use the extra lean stuff} *before when my kids didn't eat as much I used 1 lb
2 tubes of crescent rolls {I use the low fat ones} *again, when my kids didn’t eat as much I used 1 tube
1 package taco seasoning – *this didn’t change
Approximately ¼ cup water
1 bag shredded cheese {I usually use whatever kind I have in the fridge, but Cheddar or Monetary Jack work the best – I put in a couple big handfuls, not really sure on the measurement here – depends on how much cheese your family likes}
Toppings:
Whatever your little heart desires! We like lettuce, black olives, tomatoes, sour cream, salsa, taco sauce.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. In a large pan, brown the hamburger. Drain off the fat. Then add the packet of taco seasoning to the ground beef. Add about ¼ cup of water to this mixture. Mix it all together.  If you think you need a little more water you can add more. You do not want it runny though, just enough water to blend the seasoning mix with the hamburger. Once that is all mixed together, turn the burner off and add a couple handfuls of cheese {remember you can add as little or as much as you're family likes}. Mix well. 

Set this aside while you prepare the crescent rolls.
To prepare the crescent rolls, get a large cookie sheet or baking stone. Place the crescent rolls in the shape of a sun – with the wide ends of the triangle overlapping the next and the points facing out. {Ohhhh.Kayyyy. This is really hard for me to explain. So here, just look at the picture}

Then press down on the center of the crescent rolls to flatten them out a little and mush {technical cooking term} them together so you have more room for the meat mixture.
Next spoon the meat mixture on the crescent rolls.
Then take the outer point of the triangle and fold it up over the meat mixture. Tuck it in under the inner part of the crescent roll.

Now you have your ring! Yipee!
Bake in the oven for about 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
Slice and serve with your favorite toppings! 

Yummy!

Warning: Side Note Experimental Recipe!

We had leftover steak that I didn’t want to just throw away {cause it was heaven on a plate}. So I decided to make a mini Taco Ring with the steak! Genius, I know!
I took the steak and ground it up in my food processor.

Added a little bit of taco seasoning & water and warmed it up in a small pan. I added some cheese

and placed it over the crescent rolls. 

   

Isn’t it cute?

This baked for almost the same amount of time as the larger one. I did take it out of the oven about 3 minutes earlier, though.
It turned out soooooo good. I just love me some good steak! And put that good steak in a Taco Ring? PER.FECT.TION!

We served it with a side of corn that we sauteed {I'm not quite sure how to get the little apostrophe over the first e and I'm pretty sure there is another name for it than apostrophe but you know what I mean} with butter and ground cumin in the pan we made browned the hamburger so there was still some taco seasoning in it.

Over the years, I have heard some different variations of the Taco Ring. Some make it in a 9x9 baking dish and add Doritos or some add refried beans to the ring. So what about you, have you tried a Taco Ring before or a variation of it? And if you have, does your husband sing his praises to you?

~Amy

P.S.

The Hunger Games movies was A!MAZ!ING! LOVED IT! It didn't have a couple of the parts from the book that I was hoping for, but none-the-less it was awesome!

Happy St. Patty's Day ~ Crazy Hair and Green Food Anyone?!

I'm definitely not Irish, more like Swedish and Danish and {as my Dad says} some Heinz 57 {not sure what that means, so maybe I do have a little Irish in me!}
That's OK, I don't need to be Irish to enjoy St. Patrick's Day. Any excuse to have some crazy hair, make something green and just have fun!

{This is kind of a two sectioned blog-in-one, if there is such a thing. I seemed to get a little wordy today, but I just have so much to share and it is all regarding St. Patty's Day and well, that's today so I'm just going to put it all out there! [deep breath] Sorry!}
Even though St. Patrick's Day is on Saturday this year, the kids still wanted to wear their green and have crazy hair on Friday for school. So thanks again to the Cute Girls Hairstyles website that my 7 year-old daughter {I like to call her Mini-Me} has been surfing around on, we decided to try a new four leaf clover style on her. The Boy didn't want to be left out and he had all sorts of ideas to try. First he wanted me to take green pipe cleaners and wind them around his hair to stand straight up, kind of like a mo-hawk! WOW – OK? So I tried this and it just wasn't working. He had just gotten out of the shower and we were getting ready for bed, so I thought, you want a mo-hawk, we'll make you a mo-hawk. We took some of Mini-Me's pony holders and put them in his wet hair.

This way when he wakes up in the morning it will be dry and hopefully standing straight up on end. I figure his hair is usually crazy in the morning anyway so this should work great!
And, of course {wink} I was right, it did stand straight up! Throughout the night a couple of the pony holders fell out and Mini-Me pipes in that this is because the leprechauns were being naughty again and took them out while he was sleeping. They thought this was great...I don't know about you, but having little, possibly green men, running around in my room in the middle of the night really freaks me out!!!
Anyway, I took some green hairspray and a comb and ratted his hair straight down the middle, then sprayed it with the green hairspray.  I find with this stuff, if you dry it with a hair dryer right after you spray it, it stays in longer and with a mo-hawk keeps its shape better.

Then on to Mini-Me. We are in a hurry now since we have 15 minutes {THAT'S 15 MINUTES - AHHHHHH!!} until the bus gets here to take them to school. And why oh why didn't I practice this hairstyle at least once before the actual day we needed to do it, but that would take a lot of organization and time management on my part, not gonna happen!
I had opened up the  Cute Girls Hairstyles website and got the picture and instructions on my kitchen computer the night before {that was a bit organized, right?}, then got all the green pony holders, and we decided to wind green pipe cleaners in the clover. Again, the instructions on this site are a.maz.ing! I had to have The Boy, to his horror, hold the hair pieces for me while I twisted them with the green pipe cleaners. We held each pair of twists with little clips while we got the others twisted. Yikes, that is a lot of twisting!
Here is the final product of Mini-Me's hair!

Sorry, my photography skills are a little lacking.

Here are the munchkins - LOVE THE SOCKS!

OK - here is the second section:

This morning we I wanted to try and make something a little special for St. Patty's day so I found an Irish Soda Bread recipe on an awesome blog - Plain Chicken – her website is here! I didn't have any buttermilk so I googled substitutions for buttermilk and found an easy recipe here! All you need is milk and lemon juice – oh yea, I have that! We also wanted it to be, of course, you guessed it, green so we added some food coloring.
We got all of our ingredients together – Mini-Me decided to help out! We started by making our buttermilk, I used skim milk since that is what I had in the house, buttermilk sounds so fattening so I'm guessing this makes the recipe a little healthier for us! Bonus! After setting the timer for 5 minutes so the lemon juice and milk could do whatever it is they magically do to make our buttermilk, Mini-
Me measured out the flour, baking soda and salt.

When the 5 minutes was up she added in the green food coloring.

Poured the green buttermilk into the flour mixture and we have our dough. 

How easy is that?!

I should mention at this point in case you would like to know what exactly the dough looks like, my adorable, sweet Mini-Me says, "it looks like someone sneezed out a big ol' green snotty thing!" NICE!

It didn't stop her from trying out that snotty dough, though...

Gotta love her for that!

Next, pour it into the greased bread pan and bake for 35 minutes. Plain Chicken suggested serving it with honey butter, but I used up all my honey last week so we improvised and made cinnamon sugar butter instead {just added my cinnamon/sugar mixture to some softened butter} and why not make it green cinnamon sugar butter! Perfect! 
Nows the real test to see if the fake buttermilk works...sliced it up, buttered it up and does it pass the taste test of the munchkins {and Mom}? 

   

YEAH – it does! IT WORKED! I CAN DO THIS!

That's two weekends in a row now that I've baked?! What is happening to me?! Starting easy and small must be the trick!
So, what special things are you doing for St. Patty's Day? Anything fun with the kids or for you adults? The adults in our house are going to a St. Patty's Day Party tonight – Green Beer Anyone?!!

~Amy

Go-To Recipe Party!

I’ve always told my friends that I should have a party. Not just any party, but a Go-To Recipe Party. Now this isn’t a peer pressure party to sell jewelry or Pampered Chef or skin care products or even food products or cookbooks.

No, this is a party for us girls to just hang out, have a few cocktails {maybe even some new fancy cocktail recipes} or wine, have some fun appetizers {because who doesn’t love appetizers, or maybe we’ll call them hor d’oeuvres so we sound fancy} and share our Go-To meals. 

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Who doesn’t have Go-To meals? I know I do. When I don’t know what to make for supper or I’m planning my next week’s meals out, I have a list of those meals that I know my munchkins and my hubby will always eat. These are the meals that when my kids grow up and go to college and come home to visit they will say, “Mom, will you please make this! I’ve missed it sooooo much, I just need my Mommy Meals!”  

Ah yes, I can hear it now! 

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You know though, everyone says they grow up so fast, I just don’t believe it, not that I want them to grow up faster, but I just don’t feel like my little ones will ever be old enough to go to college. I'm sure my oldest sister, Sue, will disagree with me here. But that’s another post about how needed I seem to be by everyone in the house…back to my Go-To Party!

I think it would be fun to share ideas with my friends and other moms what our Go To meals are. It could be a monthly get together of us girls. Each taking turns hosting the party. Or maybe not even monthly, maybe every other month. We are, after all, super busy super moms and it is hard to get out of the house. But we can do this, right? It doesn’t even have to be a big ordeal. Even though, bigger is always better. We could each bring our own drinks, hell, even beer. We could each bring an appetizer or just let Schwan’s be our friend. Or we could make it super easy and order a pizza. I’m so good at making things easy! Who cares? 

It would Just. Be.Fun!

Then we could each bring in one or two of our Go To recipes each time we meet. Actually, we could call these get-togethers meetings to make it sound official so we have to get together! Then we make copies of our Go To recipes so each girlfriend attending can bring them home. I know a lot of my Go To meals aren’t really recipes though, so they would have to be guestimates {is that even a word} of how much of each ingredient I really put in the dish.

I think this would be so much fun! But getting it started is another story, maybe now with this blog I’ll be more motivated to start something. I figure I can at least share some of my Go To recipes here as I make them at home. Then I will have a list already made up for when I finally decide to start having these parties, um I mean official meetings.

Some of my Go To meals:

• Meatloaf – I love meatloaf! It is one of my favorite Mommy Meals. I have changed it up a little since I like more garlic and basil then my mother, but it will always be one of my favorite meals my mom makes!
• Chili – my hubby likes this to be Frito Chilio – I guess when he was in school they served Chili over Fritos. They still do as my kids are now coming home from the same school their Daddy went to and are saying they had Frito Chilio for lunch. I prefer my chili in a bowl with all my toppings, not including Fritos. But, to quote one of my hubbies favorite sayings that irritate me, “I guess that is why they make different colors of paint.”
• Taco Ring – my hubby always sings ‘Ring of Fire’ when I make this, even though it isn’t spicy??? {I'm not sure either, but whatever, he's having fun and the kids think it's funny}
• Sloppy Joe's – or as they call them in Minnesota, Barbeque's – I’m still an Iowa girl at heart so this always confuses me since I think Barbeque's are those little wieners in BBQ sauce!
• Tator Tot Hot Dish – another Minnesota thing – hot dishes – in Iowa they are casseroles!
• Homemade Pizza – we each make our own – fun, messy time with the whole fam.
• Spaghetti – sometimes with homemade meatballs, when I’m feeling creative!
• Meatball Subs – usually with frozen meatballs so it is a quick meal!

I’m finding a theme here that my Go To meals are all beef based.

Let’s see anything else without beef?

I’m thinking, thinking, thinking…

• Oh, homemade chicken nuggets! YUMMY!
• Brats or when we have leftover Chili – Chili Dogs {still has beef, I guess}
• Hot Ham & Cheese Subs – new favorite adaptation of a sub from a dive from our college days!

I think I need to come up with some more non-beef ideas. See why this party would be a good idea?! I’m still new at this blogging thing, but I’ll try and remember the next time I make one of these meals to take pictures so I can include my recipes in more posts!

So what are your Go To meals? Do you and your friends ever get together for a party like this?

~Amy

Cinnamon Mini-Bites Monkey Bread

Sometimes I get a wild hair up my butt and think I should be Becky Homemecky, well maybe a mock version of her...don't get me wrong, I love to cook, from scratch, but baking is just not up my alley and I'm honestly not that good at it. I try, but my cookies always seem to turn out flat or hollow. When I cook, there is no recipe, I just seem to know what to add, however, baking is kind of like science, you really have to know what your doing. Even when I follow the instructions to a T, I get it wrong. So usually I just buy Schwan's frozen cookie dough and that is how I bake, except when I have them in the freezer, I eat them...raw...a lot of them...

I just can't help myself!

Aaannyyway, to get to my point here, the other night my kids had a couple friends stay over night. I was actually prepared and bought the Pillsbury Cinnamon Mini-Bites for breakfast since my kids think that is my best recipe ever. Plus, they think it is super cool that they can eat so many cinnamon rolls each. However, while I was sleeping I had a wonderful dream about making monkey bread out of the mini-bites. I know, who dreams about baking, especially when they don't really enjoy baking? Me, I guess. 

When I woke up to the giggles of the children, I headed down to my computer and Googled 'Cinnamon Mini-Bites Monkey Bread', I got nothing. Then I went to the Pillsbury website and searched recipes there. Again, nothing. So I went to some random website and found a generic monkey bread recipe and decided we would just try it out using the mini-bites rather than regular homemade cinnamon rolls. Like I said, I'm mock Betty Homemecky. 

Love short cuts! 

I need to think of a name for myself when I get in one of these moods...

So I enlisted my daughter and her friend and we started away.

First we started with 2 packages of the Pillsbury Mini-Bites. 

Then we used our already on-hand cinnamon and sugar mixture. I gave each of the girls their own paper plate with the raw mini-bites and their own bowl of cinnamon sugar to avoid conflict. Then the girls rolled each mini-bite in the cinnamon and sugar mixture. 

Getting it coated nice and good.

Then we layered them in a no-stick sprayed bread pan.

Then we poured about half a stick of butter over the top! Yikes, lets not talk about this step, I'm not even going to put the naughty picture of this step! 

OK, OK, I'll put the picture. 

I mean, I took the picture so I couldn't let it go to waste! 

  I love butter, it makes me think of air popped popcorn and I soooo love that! But that is another post all together.

Sorry, again back to this post, then we baked them in a preheated oven at 375 degrees. 

Since I couldn't find a recipe I had no idea how long it would take. I think the original recipe said 40 – 45 minutes, but like I said, I don't bake so I had no clue. I set the timer for 20 minutes. Checked it and they were still gooey. Set it for another 10 minutes...still gooey. Set it for another 10 minutes...still a little gooey, but very close. Set it for 3 minutes and they were perfect. I don't know why I thought because I used mini-bites, that it would take less time, I mean I think the original recipe said to quarter the cinnamon rolls, so wouldn't that essentially make them mini-bites???? Really????? Sometimes I wonder about myself!

I took them out and drizzled them with the frosting that came with the mini-bites. 

They turned out sooo nummy! The kids all loved them, the hubby loved them. Everyone wanted more! 

I did serve them with my famous ham/Swiss/cream cheese scrambled eggs! 

See I told you I love to cook and make fun creations that everyone hopefully loves! So, do you enjoy baking or creating new recipes? What have you created lately?

~Amy