recipes

As much as I enjoy cooking dinner each night for the family, I usually want something quick and easy.  So, I’m warning you right now, if you are looking for quick and easy, this is not the recipe for you.  Unfortunately, meatloaf needs to cook for awhile.  But this recipe is really tasty!  So I recommend either prepping the meatloaf the night before, so its ready to just cook in the oven.  Another option is to either make this recipe in muffin tins or form into burgers, to cut down on cooking time.  I plan on trying out both of these alternatives soon since this recipe is so tasty!

This is the chili garlic sauce that I used on the sauce.  We buy this at HMart but I’m sure it’s available at most Asian grocery stores.  I served the meatloaf with roasted potato wedges.

Asian Meatloaf
Prep Time:  20 minutes
Cook Time:  1 hour

Ingredients:
Cooking spray
1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
3 Tbsp milk
1 1/4 pounds ground meatloaf mix
1/4 cup sliced scallions
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
4 ounce can drained, chopped water chesnuts
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tsp chili garlic sauce

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and coat with cooking spray. In a small bowl, combine the panko breadcrumbs with the milk and let sit for 5 minutes.

In a large bowl, mix the panko crumbs, ground meat, scallions, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, water chestnuts, garlic, salt and pepper. Once it is well mixed, shape into a 5-by-8-inch oval on the baking sheet.

In a small bowl, stir together the ketchup, brown sugar and chili garlic sauce.  Spread half of the mixture over the meatloaf, spreading to cover. Bake  in the preheated oven for one hour, or until a thermometer inserted into the center reads 165 degrees F.  Halfway through cooking, brush remaining glaze on the meatloaf and continue cooking. Let rest for 10 minutes before slicing.

Adapted from Every Day with Rachael Ray.

For my busy family, the slow cooker is a kitchen tool necessity.  I love being able to throw everything into the slow cooker in the morning and have dinner ready when needed. Today I decided to share with you five slow cooker meals that my family has really enjoyed.  In no particular order, here are five slow cooker recipes worth making!

1.Slow Cooker Cola Barbecue Beef – This slow cooker beef from Melanie Makes was so tender and delicious!  This was the first time I cooked a chuck roast in the slow cooker.  However, since making this recipe it hasn’t been the last!  Another plus of this recipe is that unlike most beef slow cooker recipes, this one doesn’t require you to sear the roast before putting into the slow cooker.

2. Slow Cooker Stuffed Peppers – These stuffed peppers from Damn Delicious were a pleasant surprise.  I rarely make stuffed peppers, but this recipe had me questioning why I don’t make them more often.  Besides pre-making the rice, which I did in the slow cooker the night before, there is no other pre-cooking for this recipe.

3. Slow Cooker Lentil and Brown Rice Tacos –  This is another recipe from Melanie Makes.  (Can you tell it’s a favorite food blog of mine?!!)  These are a vegetarian family favorite.  They are a flavorful and filling taco that even the kids enjoy.  This recipe has made several appearances on our weekly meal plan, which is a rare occurrence!

4. Crockpot Potato, Cheddar and Ale Soup – Writing about this soup from Pink Parsley reminds me of how tasty it was and how I should make it again while the weather is still cool.  There’s a little bit of prep work for this – peeling and cutting the potatoes and some microwaving of the potatoes with some other ingredients for five minutes.  At the end you need to blend the soup, which I highly recommend doing with an immersion blender.

5. Queso Crockpot Chicken Chili – This chili from Pinch of Yum was delicious!  We ate it almost like a dip using tortilla chips.  Again, this is another recipe that I think will be making another appearance on our menu soon!

Happy September!  Today is the kiddos first day of school.  My daughter starts 4th grade and my son starts 2nd grade.  We had such a great summer and they were NOT looking forward to heading back to school.  They were looking forward to seeing their friends and meeting their new teachers.  They were not looking forward to early bedtimes and homework.  However, with Labor Day and the Jewish holidays, I don’t believe they have a full week of school in September, so they have some time to adjust to this whole back-to-school thing.  Hopefully I will be able to adjust as well.  Returning from our Disney trip and then getting thrown right into the whole school/activity schedules and routines has me a little stressed.

I have mentioned before how much my kids love breakfast for dinner.  And while I wasn’t able to grow any of my own zucchini, (even though I tried!) they are always cheap enough at the grocery store.  For those of you lucky enough to have a garden full of zucchini, I am jealous!  This pancake recipe is a great way to use some of them up and sneak some additional veggies into your child’s breakfast, or in our case, dinner.  When my son heard what I was making for dinner, I of course got a response of “but I don’t like zucchini pancakes!”  He then proceeded to eat 4 of these pancakes at dinner.  This was a winning recipe at our house!

Zucchini Pancakes
Recipe adapted from Two Peas & Their Pod

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoon granulated white sugar
2 cups almond milk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups grated zucchini, squeezed dry
Maple syrup and butter, for serving

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon brown sugar and white sugar.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the almond milk, melted butter, eggs, and vanilla extract. Pour liquid ingredients over dry ingredients, stirring until just combined. Fold in the zucchini.

3. Heat a large pan or griddle to medium heat. Spray with cooking spray. Pour about a 1/2 cup of batter onto heated skillet. Cook until surface of pancakes have some bubbles approximately 3 minutes. Flip carefully with a spatula, and cook the other side until lightly browned, an additional 2 -3 minutes. Continue making pancakes until all the batter is used. Serve pancakes with butter and maple syrup, if desired.

Soup in April?! This Shrimp Marinara Soup recipe was in Cooking Light’s May 2014 issue, so, yes, soup in April is totally acceptable!  Although this past weekend was GORGEOUS, today is supposed to be rainy and in the 50’s.  Perfect soup weather to me. I don’t cook with shrimp often, but I should.  Especially because my little guy loves shrimp so much. This meal was super quick and easy….I mean, 25 minutes or less easy!  And the kids loved it!  If you have kids that are not very adventurous eaters you many want to try this recipe out. It has pasta and marinara sauce, both ingredients that most kids are familiar with and like.  You can try cutting the shrimp up into smaller pieces, so they’re not so intimidating. Feta is pretty tangy, especially for those not familiar with the taste. However, my daughter, who is not a big cheese eater, enjoyed this soup even without the feta.

Shrimp Marinara Soup
Recipe slightly adapted from Cooking Light, May 2014

Ingredients:
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup white wine
2 cups unsalted vegetable stock
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup uncooked orzo
2 cups lower-sodium marinara sauce
16 ounces large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 ounce, feta cheese, crumbled (about 1/4 cup)

Directions:
1. Heat a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the olive oil, coating the pan. Add the oregano, pepper, and garlic and sauté for  30 seconds. Add the wine and cook 1 minute. Add the vegetable stock and 1/2 cup water to the pan; bringing to a boil. Stir in the orzo and cook approximately 6 minutes.  Stir in the marinara sauce and the shrimp, cooking approximately 4 minutes until shrimp are done. Spoon soup into bowls and top with approximately 1 Tbsp. crumbled feta.

A couple of weeks ago, we posted our recipe for “Blackened Catfish.”  To accompany the fish, the Weekend Chef made these Buttermilk Hush Puppies.  For those unfamiliar, hush puppies are deep-fried cornmeal batter, often associated with Southern food.  They remind me of the corn fritters that my mom made us growing up, but smaller, and with cornmeal instead of flour. The Weekend Chef prefers chunkier hush puppies, so he added some canned corn to the mix to add some texture. They came out of the fryer hot and crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside.

Buttermilk Hush Puppies
Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com courtesy of Mama Smith

Ingredients:
1 quart vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs, room temperature
1 cup cornmeal
1 1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup canned corn

Directions:
1.  Heat the quart of oil in a deep fryer and preheat oven to 200 degrees F.

2. Whisk buttermilk, 1/4 cup vegetable oil and eggs in a medium sized bowl.

3. In a large bowl combine the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt.  Fold the buttermilk mixture and canned corn into the cornmeal mixture until just combined.

4.  When deep fryer is ready, drop tablespoon sized balls of batter into the oil, frying approximately 3-5 minutes.   Then turn each ball and fry an additional 3-5 minutes until each ball is cooked evenly and golden brown.  Remove the hush puppies with a slotted spoon and place on paper towels to drain.  Transfer the hush puppies to a baking pan and place in preheated oven to keep warm until ready to serve.