Quickie Expat Meatloaf and Biscuits

 

  I don't know about you, but I'm a big fan of having kids in the kitchen.  Sure, it creates a bigger mess, and maybe slows things down a bit, but cooking as a family is something that my husband and I make a serious effort to do.  I really believe that it builds confidence while teaching kids about what's in their food (which usually gets them to eat things they might not normally be inclined to try).

 

That said, there are moments when getting a kid to eat a vegetable is like pulling teeth from a snow leopard.  When veggie strikes come up, and this expat mama is craving some "American" style food like meatloaf, it makes it pretty darn easy to sneak in some vegetables. 

 

Now we have visited meatloaf before...there's "sneaky meatloaf" and also a couple of different ways to eat meatloaf when you have leftovers...but this recipe was made on the fly on a day when I had one egg in the house, some spinach, a couple of heels of bread, and some leftover pasta sauce.  I pureed the spinach in with the sauce, toasted and blitzed the bread in the blender, and mashed it all together with the egg in a large bowl.  After that, I baked it for about 40 minutes in a 350-degree oven, and voila, dinner!  The best part?  Kyle and Laela made Laela's favorite biscuits, and voila, we had ourselves a tastylicious American style dinner that took so little effort, Laela and her Daddy wound up playing "biscuit dough" for a half hour.  Fun times.

 

For this easy peasy meatloaf, you'll need:

• 1lb ground beef/meatloaf mix
• 2 heels of bread (toasted and then crumbled in food processor/blender)
• About 1 cup of pasta sauce
• 1 cup spinach (pureed)
• 1 egg
• salt and pepper to taste

 

Wednesday I'll be sharing a super easy cupcake recipe that Laela and I like to make when we're craving cupcakes, and don't feel like making a ton of effort!

Meatloaf 4 Ways!

I have a confession...when my husband is on business trips, I eat way more popcorn than a normal person would ever consider consuming...and I tend to live on leftovers.

During Kyle's last business trip, I made Laela and I some delicious turkey meatloaf. You might be thinking, "meatloaf? How boring! How on Earth can anyone live on meatloaf for a week?!" Well, let me tell you this- meatloaf is awesome. You can eat it cold on a sandwich (some people like it with mayo, others with ketchup, or some top it with tons of lettuce, tomato, onion, cheese and/or pesto). You can eat it hot and steaming with mashed potatoes, veggies, and brown gravy. You can chop it up, mix in some bbq sauce in a medium hot pan until it's well heated, put it on a bun and yum! You've got a tasty sandwich!

My latest discovery for leftover meatloaf may very well be my favorite. I cooked some hericots verts (french green beans) in a medium-hot pan with 2 cloves of finely sliced garlic, 1/2 a roughly chopped tomato, about a tablespoon of olive oil, and some salt and pepper. Once the beans were good and crispy, the tomatoes were oozing flavor, and the garlic was clear and aromatic, I transferred the green beans to a plate.  In the same pan (without turning off the heat) I drizzled a small bit of olive oil (about a 1/2 tsp), chopped the meatloaf to bits (2 servings), threw in 3 chopped up basil leaves, 1/4 cup of chicken broth, and added the other half of the roughly chopped tomato to the mix. I cooked it on medium heat for about 2 minutes, then let it reduce for about 30 seconds on high heat, stirring to make sure nothing stuck to the pan. Man oh man, was it ridiculously delicious. It was like a gourmet meal for the lazy...or the very tired mama.

This meal is proof that no matter how tired you are, you don't have to grab the phone and order that take-out that's just going to make you feel awful.  Sure, it's fine for once in a while, but if you have a life like most people, you're busy, and it's easy to get in a take-out rut.  Do yourself a favor, Drop the phone, and try cooking. This dinner took less than ten minutes to throw together.  The meatloaf itself is only 5 minutes or less of prep.  Plus, the more often you try new techniques and recipes, the more quickly you will be able to get things done in the kitchen.  Be a fearless home cook!

For a really great meatloaf recipe, click here. Just replace the 1lb beef for 1lb ground turkey (I prefer 1/2 dark and 1/2 white for meatloaf).

Once you've tackled that meatloaf, give this one a go! There are more ingredients/steps involved, but it's really delicious! (and it's great for sneaking some vegetables into your anti-vegetable family members!)