Make it a Meal Meatloaf

This is a part of my month of meals series. Generally speaking I am not a huge fan of meat loaf. It's just not high on my list of things I love to eat; but! Jeff is a fan of meatloaf and who doesn't want to make their guy happy? So when I saw this recipe in the cookbook I thought, why not?

About little less than half of this loaf fed us for dinner, along with glazed carrots. I'm serving again tonight with the remaining carrots and some mashed potatoes.

Make it a Meal Meatloaf

Serves 8

1lb extra-lean ground beef

1lb ground pork

2 eggs

2T Dijon mustard

1/2C dry whole wheat bread crumbs

3 scallions, minced

2 carrots, minced

1C dried cherries

1T Italian seasoning

Pinch of cayenne

S&P

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a large loaf pan.

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients. Transfer to loaf pan, firmly packing.

Bake for 75 minutes. Set on a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes then invert to remove from Loaf pan. Allow to cool completely.

To Freeze – wrap meatloaf and freeze

Oven reheat – Preheat oven to 375. Bake for 30 minutes or until heated through.

My notes

Serve with glazed carrots and mashed potatoes. Yum! Jeff was skeptical about this one when I was making it because of the cherries. I have to admit, so was I. However, this turned out quite tasty and all 3 of us enjoyed it. I ground the fatty end of a center cut pork loin for this after talking to my butcher, it’s a versatile cut of meat.  They are usually cheaper than buying pork chops pre-cut and you get 2 smallish roasts after you cut it up. Can you say pulled pork? Mmmmmm

Better Than Takeout Asian Beef Strips

This is part of my cooking for a month series...
We had this recipe last night. Jeff and I found it to be somewhat bland* which is disappointing it seemed to have a lot of good flavors in it while I was making it. I would say this was not better than takeout but it was edible. The kid seemed to like it quite a bit.

*as I am typing this recipe I realized that I let out the red pepper flakes. So that might have had something to do with it.

Better Than Takeout Asian Beef Strips
1/2 C fresh squeezed orange juice
1 T minced orange zest
1 T minced fresh ginger
2 T rice wine vinegar
3 T shoyu
2 T honey
Pinch of hot red pepper flakes
2lbs flank steak, sliced diagonally into 1/4 in slices
1 T cornstarch
1 T canola oil
1 T sesame oil
4 C cooked brown basmati rice, cooled completely

In a large bowl, whisk together orange juice, orange zest, ginger, vinegar, shoyu, honey, and red pepper flakes. Place steak in bowl and toss to coat. Cover bowl and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Remove meat from the marinade and whisk cornstarch into marinade. Heat oil in a wok over medium-high heat. Swirl to coat.

Stir-fry the meat for 2-3 minutes add the marinade and cook, stirring, until sauce is thickened. Drizzle with sesame oil. Remove from heat and let cool completely.

To freeze
Individual Servings: Divide steak and rice into 1qt freezer bags or freezer and microwave safe containers.

For a crowd
Place steak and rice in 2 separate 1 gallon freezer bags, removing as much air as possible before sealing.

To reheat
Let steak and rice thaw in fridge overnight.

Microwave method
Reheat individual servings in the microwave on high for 2-3 minutes or until heated through.

Oven method
Preheat oven to 350F. Place rice in a baking dish and top with steak.  Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes or until heated through.

My notes
I got this out of the freezer Sunday night after dinner. The rice was still rock hard when I got it out to start cooking at 5:30 yesterday. so that was a bit of a problem. I also didn't like the fact that there were no vegetables in this dish so I added some bell pepper. Jeff said mushrooms and onions would be good as well. I also used agave in place of honey as my honey had crystallized. Oh and my store doesn't have shoyu or basmati brown rice so I used soy sauce instead of shoyu and regular brown rice instead of basmati.

Ultimate Beef Chili

Ultimate Beef Chili Stew
Jeff staunchly maintains a stance that chili does not have beans in it. I personally do not have a problem with beans in my chili. But to make him feel better I changed the name of this to stew... but to me it's chili.


From EatingWell: January/February 1999
12 servings (1C) | Active time 1 hr | Total time 3 1/4 hrs

Ingredients
1 lb beef round, trimmed and cut into 1/2 in chunks
1 1/2 T canola oil, divided
3 onions, chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
6 cloves garlic, minved
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and finely chopped
2 T ground cumin
2 T chili powder
1 T paprika
2 t dried oregano
12 oz dark or light beer
1 28oz can diced tomatoes
8 sun-dried tomatoes (not packed in oil) nipped into small pieces
2 bay leaves
3 19 oz cans dark kidney beans, rinsed
1/4 C chopped fresh cilantro
2 T lime juice

Chopped peppers and onions

Preparation
Season beef with salt and pepper. Heat 1 1/2 t oil in a dutch oven over medium-high heat.  Add half the beef and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned on all sides, 2-5 minutes.  Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels.  Repeat with another 1 1/2 t oil and remaining beef.
Reduce heat to medium and add remaining 1 1/2 t oil to the pot.  Add onions and bell peppers; cook, stirring frequently, until onions are golden brown, 10-20 minutes.  Add garlic, jalapenos, cumin, chili powder, paprika, and oregano.  Stir until aromatic, about 2 minutes.
Add beer and simmer, scraping up any browned bits, for about 3 minutes.  Add diced tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, bay leaves, and reserved beef.  Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until beef is very tender, 1 1/2 - 2 hrs.
Add beans; cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until chili has thickened, 30-45 minutes.  Remove bay leaves. Stir cilantro and lime juice.  Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.

Nutrition
235 calories; 5 g fat; 1 g sat; 2 g mono; 24 mg cholesterol; 31 g carbs; 17 g protein; 11 g fiber; 496 mg sodium; 582 mg potassium

Tips & Notes
Make ahead tip: Cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days or freeze for up to 2 months.  For a hot, smoky chili, add 1 T chopped chipotle pepper in adobo sauce.

1/2 way thru

Finished chili - stew

Notes from Me!
I bought top round stew meat. Otherwise I didn't change anything. It's headed to the freezer as we speak.