Lemon BBQ Mini Meatloafs

Making miniature meatloafs are an awesome and unique idea for a potluck or a big family dinner.  It also makes children feel special that they get their own individual meatloaf.  Meatloaf doesn't have to be boring, either!  Use a variety of methods to spice it up and make something new, or just a new sauce to top it with!



Basic Meatloaf:

1.5 lbs ground chuck
3/4 c. oats
1 egg
1/4 c. lemon juice
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tsp salt


Mix leatloaf ingredients all together and form into 6 mini loaves.  Put them into an skillet with room to add sauce.  Cook 10-15 minutes, until mostly done.

Sauce:
1/2 c. ketchup
1/3 c. brown sugar
1 tsp mustard
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
1-2 drops Tabasco sauce

Mix all ingredients together and pour on top of meat loaves and cook until done.  You can also peel and cut up carrots, potatoes and green beans to cook in with it for a one dish meal.  A few drops of Tobasco sauce adds flavor but very little heat.

For a pot luck, or party, you can form the meat into meatballs and cook the same :)  You can also substitute bread crumbs for the oats, and put any kind of topping on them that you like.  Another idea is to put your meatloaf mixture into muffin pans to form and bake for a while, giving them all a uniform size and shape.  To make a healthier version, try substituting half of the ground beef for ground turkey.  Add in plenty of chopped celery, peppers and onion to keep the meat mixture moist as it cooks.  For a flavor variety, try some ground pork! So many options with meatloaf!

Dressed Chicken Breasts with Angel Hair Pasta

Common household ingredients blended together to create a yummy dish!  

1 c. Ranch salad dressing
1/3 c. Dijon-style mustard
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, pounded thin and halved
1/2 c. butter or margarine
1/3 c. dry white wine
10 oz angel hair pasta, cooked and drained
chopped parsley

Directions:
     In a small bowl, whisk together salad dressing and mustard; set aside.  In a medium skillet, saute chicken in butter until browned and transfer to a dish.  Cover to keep from drying out and to keep warm.  Pour wine into skillet, cook over medium high heat, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the skillet, about 5 minutes.  Whisk in dressing mixture.  Blend well.  Serve chicken with sauce over pasta; sprinkle with parsley.

Cheese Stuffed Shells

This is a fabulous Italian dish that my family loves!  I hope that you love it too, and be sure to experiment around if you want to add a meat to it, try ground beef, italian sausage, or chicken!  There is plenty for four for dinner with leftovers for those lunches during the week!


2lb ricotta cheese
8 oz shredded mozzarella cheese
8 oz italian blend cheese
1/4 c. grated parmesan cheese
2 TBS italian seasoning
1 tsp minced garlic
1 box giant shell pasta
1 TBS dried onions
2 eggs
dash pepper
1 jar spaghetti sauce ( or make your own)

Optional:
1 pkg frozen chopped spinach, thawed and thoroughly drained
1 lb ground beef or italian sausage
italian sausage links


Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.  Bring a large pot of water to boil and cook shells for 10 minutes. You do not want them to be completely done.  In a medium bowl, combine ricotta, eggs, parmesan, italian seasoning, garlic, onions, black pepper, half of mozzarella, half of italian and onions.  If you are adding another stuffing, this is when you mix it in.  If you are adding cooked meat, make sure you cook it completely before mixing it in to the cheese.  When the shells are finished, cool them completely in cold water and drain.  Spray an 9x11 baking pan with non stick spray.  Use a tablespoon to fill the shells and sit the in the baking dish.  Once all shells are filled, top with spaghetti sauce and then cheese.  Bake, uncovered, for 20-30 minutes. Serve hot.

Puppy Treats

My wonderful mutt loves these little treats!  It doesn't take long to make them and it adds variety to their diet.  Keep them in the fridge and be careful, if you don't get them dry enough in the oven, they will mold like bread does.



Ingredients:

1 lg egg
2/3 c. broth (your choice of type)
2 c all purpose flour
3 TBS quick cooking oats

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a medium bowl, beat together egg and broth, add in oats and slowly add in flour.  This will make a dough.  Line a baking sheet with foil.  Dust a little flour on the counter top and you can roll out the dough and cut with cookie cutters, you can use a spoon or a small scoop, or you can roll out "worms" and use a sharp knife to cut them into little bite size pieces.  I made the bite size pieces out of worms to make treats for training. Bake for 7 min and check to see if they are cooked through.  They are meant to be crunchy.

You can use any kind of broth you have handy, but broth from cubes or cans are *very* high in sodium.  Save a little broth from your next roast, ham or chicken :)

Aunt Ruby's Caramels

This is my ex mother-in-law's recipe, and very tasty!  I STRONGLY urge you to use a candy thermometer.  You can pic one up at a good Kroger or Super Wal-mart very reasonably!

Ingredients: 
1c. butter
1 lb light brown sugar
1c. light corn syrup
1 (15 oz) can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 tsp vanilla (optional)
Chopped nuts (optional)

Directions:
     In a 2 qt saucepan, melt butter slowly.  While butter is melting, butter a 9x13 baking pan and set aside.  Stir in sugar and syrup and mix well.  Add condensed milk , stirring constantly (stove should be on med to med-high heat).  Continue stirring and cook to 240 degrees (soft ball stage).  It will take a while to get to the correct temp.  Be patient and keep stirring.  If you turn the heat up, the butter and sugar will scorch.  When caramel reaches 240 degrees, remove from heat and stir in nuts and vanilla, if desired.  Pour immediately into the buttered baking pan.  Be careful if you want to lick the spoon or thermometer!  They are still very hot,but you will know right away if it is going to turn out right!  When caramel has cooled, cut into squares and wrap in wax paper or dip in chocolate. I also had a friend at work tell me that you can dust cornstarch over undipped caramels to keep them from sticking together, but I have not tried that yet.

Pizza Pockets/Calzones

So I like to make pizza pockets and pizza rolls, I think it's well known that Raven likes pizza. Loves it. I have a simple recipe that is semi home made that you are going to love.

Shopping list:
Pizza crust from the refridgerated section
pepperoni
mozzarella cheese
parmesan cheese
1 can tomato sauce
italian seasoning
garlic salt
granulated garlic
dehydrated onions
nonstick spray


Preheat your oven to the temperature the pizza crust dictates. While preheating, open the tomato sauce and pour into a small sauce pan set to low.  Add the onions, granulated garlic, and italian seasoning to the tomato sauce.  Start with about 1 teaspoon of each and increase it until you have it almost where you want it, then let it simmer.  The flavors will intensify as it cooks.  Cover the sauce and simmer until the pizza roll/calzone is finished cooking.

Roll out the pizza dough into a large rectange and cut in half.  Place on a lightly greased cookie sheet.  In each half, spread in some parmesan cheese (the cheap grated kind for spaghetti works fine), pepperoni, mozzarella cheese and anything else you like in your pizza.  Make sure you use only one side of the dough, and leave a space at the edge on the side you have placed the filling.  Fold over the dough and press the seams to seal well.  Spinkle the top of the calzones with garlic salt and bake until golden brown.  Serve with the sauce.


As an alternative, you can make pizza rolls.  There are a few ways to do this.  You can buy frozen yeast rolls at the grocery, or you can use a regular yeast dough (Pillsbury makes a good mix). You want to let the dough rise the first time, then take each ball and squish it down flat, place a cube of mozzarella and some pepperoni, a sprinkle of parmesan on it and pull the dough around and seal it, placing the seal on the bottom.  Lightly spray the top of the rolls will a cooking spray and sprinkle with garlic salt. Bake until golden brown.