Tag Archives: dinner

Meatloaf: Success!!!

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My son is not a bad eater but he has foods he loves and food he hates – there seems to be no in between. Our biggest problem is vegetables. I can easily list the vegetables he will eat:

  • raw baby carrots with ranch dressing
  • corn on the cob
  • fresh tomatoes diced on pizza
  • pasta sauce
  • potatoes, sliced or as wedges homemade baked fries and also white mashed potatoes (god forbid if we use yukon gold potatoes)

and that is about it. One thing he is good about is trying the new food – he will at least take one bite but, that one bite will determine his love-hate relationship with that food.

As an attempt to broaden his favorite meals, help me stop cooking two meals and provide healthy meals, I tried out a new meal. The meal was Meatloaf with a ketchup sauce, homemade mashed potatoes ( I say homemade, as my husband was a box mash potato person before I came along) and frozen peas and corn (to keep it simple).

The recipe for the meatloaf includes carrots and zucchini. This was not an attempt to hide vegetables in his food, I want him to know how to make good choices later on. So, after the first bite I showed him what was in it.

The meal  was a huge success for all of us….my son for the first time turned to me and said “Mummy can you make this again, soon”. I was beaming when I replied “of course”.

Recipe (modified from Weight Watchers Magazine September/October 2006 edition)

3/4 cup uncooked oatmeal
1/2 cup 2% milk
1/2 cup organic chicken broth
1/2 cup carrot, grated
1/2 cup zucchini, grated (1 small zucchini)
1/2 onion, grated
2 garlic cloves, grated
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 tsp whole seed Dijon mustard
Pinch of salt
Pinch of coarse ground pepper
1-1/2 tsp fresh parsley
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1-1.5 pound ground beef (5% fat or less)
1/4 cup ketchup

  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. I use a silicon loaf pan (5 x 9 in.), you can line this with foil if you wish.
  2. In a kitchen whizz, I grate the carrot, zucchini, onion and cloves.
  3. In a bowl, combine oatmeal, milk, broth, grated vegetables, egg, mustard, salt, pepper, parsley and oregano.
  4. Gently mix in the ground beef to this mixture until just combined. I use my fingers to mix in the ingredients.
  5. Spoon mixture into the loaf pan and level out.
  6. During baking at the 45 min mark, I pour of some of the excess liquid and spread the 1/4 cup ketchup over the top.
  7. Bake for 1 hour or until the internal temperature of the meatloaf is 165 degrees F. Remove from the oven and let stand 10 minutes.
  8. Slice and plate with the mashed potatoes and cooked peas and corn.

As there are only 3 of us, I made one left over meal for my husband’s lunch and the rest I wrapped and placed into the freezer (once it cooled) for a future meal.

Summer Herb Pesto

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The basil in our garden went chaotic this year and I needed to find a good use for it. Everyone suggested Pesto. I found a great recipe on allrecipes.com. I am not a huge fan of pesto – it is a little too strong, but the spinach and other herbs in this recipe complement the taste and makes the pesto a little more subtle. All the herbs came from our garden.

  

I made two batches and it looks like I will still have a third batch before my basil is done :-). I froze my pesto into 2 inch ice cubes (this large ice cube container I found at Crate and Barrel but it is now available at West Elm as well). I plan on defrosting them into small glass containers for Christmas gifts.

    

We also used the fresh pesto to make tortellini pasta with a pesto sauce, and a chicken pizza with pesto sauce. Both were great but I preferred the pizza.

  

A few of my favorite things: Savory Pies

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Pies! Pies! Pies! oh I miss Georgie Pie – a fast food chain that was around when I was a kid in New Zealand.

  

(Photo credits: kiwianarama.co.nz; georgiepienewzealand.blogspot.com)

When I go home to New Zealand, one of my must haves are meat pies. Meat pies and ketchup are part of our culture, hence on my list of one of my favorite things.

I have three savory pies that I love…smoked fish pie, the classic bacon and egg pie and lastly the potato top pie (filling is typically mince with vegetables – mince=ground beef with gravy for the US folks 😉 ). Here are the recipes for the bacon and egg pie and the potato top pie – I hope you enjoy them 🙂

Bacon and Egg Pie (makes 4 individual pies)

Ingredients 

1 sheet Pillsbury Pie Crust
5 eggs (lightly beaten)
1/2 onion (diced)
4 slices Canadian bacon (diced)
salt and pepper
1/4 cup frozen peas (optional)
1/2 cup grated cheese

  1. Preheat oven at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C)
  2. Unroll the sheet of pie crust, cut out the 4 circles – you may need to re-roll edges to get the 4th one. Place each into the pie dish.
  3. Place the chopped onion,  bacon and frozen pies on the bottom of each pie crust.
  4. Add the egg mixture, salt and pepper over the top to cover the filling (~3/4 fill). I stir the ingredients slightly.
  5. Sprinkle the cheese on the top
  6. Place in the oven for 30 mins or until the egg is cooked through
  7. Take them out of the oven and let stand and cool for 5 -10 mins
  8. Serve with either ketchup or a tasty tomato relish (my preference ;-))

NOTE: The egg will rise to look like a mountain – don’t worry as when it cools it will deflate slightly.

Potato Top Pie (makes 4 individual pies)

Ingredients

Mashed Potatoes:
2 russet potatoes (peeled and diced)
1 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup milk
salt

  1. Cook potatoes in salted boiling water for ~15 minutes.
  2. Drain the water when cooked, add butter and milk and mash. Allow to cool.

Mince:
1 tsp oil
1/2 pound ground beef (250 g mince)
1/2 onion (diced)
2 tsp flour
1/4 cup beef stock
2 Tbsp Ketchup
salt and pepper
1/4 cup frozen peas

  1. Heat fry pan, add oil.
  2. Add the onions and cook until clear.
  3. Add ground beef and brown.
  4. In a cup add the flour and slowly stir in the stock, you are making a gravy – you don’t want lumps :-). Add it to the ground beef.
  5. Add Ketchup, seasoning and 1/4 cup of frozen peas.
  6. Take mixture once heated through off the heat and put aside to cool.

Pie
1 sheet Pillsbury Pie Crust
1/2 cup grated cheese

  1. Preheat oven at 400 degrees F (200 degrees C)
  2. Unroll the sheet of pie crust, cut out the 4 circles – you may need to re-roll edges to get the 4th one. Place each into the pie dish.
  3. Put a 1/4 cup of the mince in each of the pie crusts, fill 3/4 of the pie.
  4. In a piping bag, add mash potatoes. Pipe the potatoes in to rosettes on the top of the mince mixture. Cover the top completely with rosettes.
  5. Sprinkle with Cheese (you could add a sprinkle of paprika for color on the cheese).
  6. Cook for 15-20 mins or until the top becomes golden.
  7. Take it out, allow to cool for 5 mins. and server with ketchup ;-).