Cheesy Salsa Mini Meatloaves

Creepy, of Tiptoeing Through the Tulips sent me to Rachel, at A Southern Fairytale, for this easy-yet-wonderful recipe for miniature Mexican meatloaves. They were a big hit at our house tonight. A fun way to serve meatloaf, these are sure to please adults and kids alike. (Kendall even liked hers a lot, in spite of the fact that there were onions in it!)

This recipe is so easy, I'll bet I can record it all here from memory, without even looking at the recipe. (Yeah, yeah, I'll need the pics, but I never said I was Carnack the Great!)

Ingredients:1 lb lean ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion (more, if you like)
12 saltine crackers
1 egg
1 1/2 cup shredded Mexican cheese (divided)
1 cup salsa

First, preheat the oven to 400 degrees and spray a muffin tin with cooking spray.
Mix the ground beef and onion...
crackers... (Who knew crackers could look so artistic?!)
and egg...Stir it up well. Then add 1 cup of the cheese and 1/2 cup of the salsa. I like ChiChi's, obviously, but you can be a rebel and use what you like.)
Mix well...
Now, if you know me well, you know that I'd sooner scoop my eyeballs out with a rusty spoon than touch raw hamburger, so I put a sandwich bag on my hand before dividing the mixture into the twelve "cups."
Next, use a teaspoon to make a little "well" in the center of each loaf.
Place on foil-lined baking sheet, but don't use this kind, because I HATE it! (I always forget that it's too wide for my oven until right as I'm trying to shove it in there!)
Rachel recommends just letting it "sit" for a while, to let the flavors meld. You could certainly put it in the fridge for a few hours, or you could leave it on the counter and take care of this...
And this....
And then remember how much you love this stuff and need to add it to your grocery list...(Seriously, I have never given two hoots about the scent of my dishwashing liquid, until I smelled Dawn botanicals Honeysuckle and Rain scent.)

Then, have a brainstorm about a future blog post about "Favorite Things."

Okay, when you're ready, pop them in the oven and bake "20-22" minutes. Rachel's oven only took 18 minutes. Mine took 22. (I used a meat thermometer to make sure they were at least 180 degrees, since I was making them for the first time and didn't want any trips to the ER for ecoli poisoning.)

Then, take them out, top with remaining salsa and cheese, and return to the oven for three minutes.
The recipe makes 12, but I ate three before I remembered to take this photo!
These would be great for individual meals in the freezer (if they last that long!) Everyone loved them!

Visit A Southern Fairytale for many, many other terrific recipes!

Theresa's Beans

I'm certain that my SIL, Theresa, is an excellent cook (my brother looks healthy, and we've shared a few recipes), but I never get to taste many of her other dishes, because this one is always requested at family gatherings. Super easy, and very delicious!

Ingredients:1/2 lb. bacon (there's no getting around this one--so yummy!)
1 lb ground beef (or for you health nuts, I suppose you could use something less fattening)
1/2 to 1 whole onion, chopped
1 cup Ketchup (or Catsup for you Yoopers out there)
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp dry mustard
2 tsp vinegar
3 cans (15-20 oz) baked beans (I just use whatever kinds I have on-hand)

First, cook the bacon and chop it into pieces.Reserve the grease if you have no regard for your health, and saute the onions in that next. Today, I just cooked the ground beef and onions together and left out the bacon grease. (Not because I felt like being "healthier," but simply because I forgot! Besides, beef grease or bacon grease-either way, you're gonna die of heart disease, right?)Add the ketchup, brown sugar, mustand, and vinegar to the drained ground beef and onions. Mix and simmer 15 minutes. I accidentally skipped this step today, and it turned out delicious anyway, but next time, I'll probably follow directions! (And yes, I was spacey today. What else is new?)

Add the beans and bacon. Mix and bake in 350-degree oven 45 minutes (covered) or cook in a crock pot for about 4 hours.I'm sorry I do not have a photo of our delicious meal of chicken, corn-on-the-cob, pistachio salad, Theresa's beans from dinner tonight, but we honestly ate every single bit of them, and I had nothing to take a photo of when it was all said and done and I remembered. That should be proof enough for you that making these beans will make you popular (but you might never be able to bring anything else to a family gathering, so beware!)

Company Egg Bake

Grandma 4444 is a great cook, and she's always generous with her recipes. (For proof, check out Best Ever Pasties and her Cherry Torte!) Today's recipe is a big breakfast hit when company comes. You put it together the night before and just bake it in the morning. Perfect for tailgate breakfasts, Sunday brunch, or the morning after the Halloween party, when the house is full of bleary-eyed, nauseous drunkards with headaches. It's easy peasy, too...

Ingredients (mostly stuff people often have on-hand)6 slices of bread
6-8 slices of Kraft American Singles
ham or sausage or bacon (cooked)
1/2 of a green pepper, diced
1/4 onion, diced (or more, if you like onion breath)
mushrooms, if you are not a big baby and can handle them
1 dozen eggs
1 cup milk
salt and pepper to taste

First, butter your 9 x 13 pan.
And no, that's not "dirt" on the pan. It's stonewear; the "dirtier" it is, the more "seasoned" the pan is, and a seasoned pan is a wonderful thing :) Next, remove the crusts from the bread...
Tear it up into pieces and place them in the pan, like so...
Unwrap the cheese slices. For some reason, these gave me a hard time tonight; each little flap tore off, rather than working with me to get the cheese out neatly. On the bright side, that was the most difficult part of this recipe--(See, I told you it's easy-peasy.)
Place cheese slices across the bread.
Top with your ham or other meat. I used 1/2 of the package this time.
Next, clean your mushrooms. Remember, you clean mushrooms with a towel, not by running them under the sink until they are slimey!!
Dice your onion and green pepper, too, and then sprinkle them over the meat.
Pretty as a picture, huh? (Of course, if you are serving picky eaters, you may leave any of these ingredients out.)
Crack the dozen eggs and add salt and pepper "to taste." For you newbie cooks out there, that means you have to guess. This is how much pepper I used. I also added about 1/4 tsp of salt (you can always salt your portion again later.)Add the milk to the eggs and whisk them til they're nice and frothy.
Pour the egg mixture over the yum in the pan.
Cover and place in the fridge overnight. In the morning, remove the cover and place in the oven set at 250 degrees for 45 minutes. Raise the heat to 350 degrees and bake another 15 minutes.

Serve with salsa, if you like (and a side of Ibuprofen, if necessary).

Festive Tossed Salad

Got so many requests for the recipe for this salad I made Mom's 80th birthday party that I thought I should put it up here. It's always a big hit. I didn't have time to take the blow-by-blow shots, but I've got the recipe and a few pics here for you....

Ingredients:10 cups Romaine lettuce, torn
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
onion, finely chopped
2/3 cup vegetable oil
2-3 teaspoons poppy seeds
1 Braeburn apple, cored and cubed
1 pear, cored and cubed
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/2 to 1 cup cashews
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese

In a blender, blend sugar, vinegar, lemon juice, onion, and salt until well-blended. Gradually add oil while continuing to blend on low. Then, add the poppy seeds and blend a little more. Pour into dressing container.

Prepare lettuce. Just before serving the salad, mix lettuce with dressing and place in a BIG bowl. Top with apples, pears, cranberries, cheese, and cashews (I like to leave it all on top and let people dig in from there (because it is so pretty!)

Enjoy!

Taco Pie

Ever since she had Taco Pie at a friend's house, Kendall has been asking me to make if for supper. I'm very glad she kept badgering me, because it was delicious and easy. If you've ever made tacos, you can easily make Taco Pie. (Seriously, a monkey could do it.) Here's how....

Ingredients:1 lb. ground beef
1/2 cup water
1 pkg. taco seasoning (we like Ortega)
1 pkg. Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
1 1/2 cup Fritos Corn Chips, broken up
8 oz. cheddar cheese, grated
8 oz. sour cream
Lettuce and tomatoes for serving

First, prepare the meat per package directions (that's what the water is for).

While the meet is cooking, open the crescent rolls and arrange them like this in a pie pan...
Use your fingers to spread the pieces until you have formed a hole-free crust.
Next, take a tomato and place it in the middle of the crust.
Only kidding! (I was in a silly mood.) Take 3/4 of the Fritos and sprinkle them over the crust.
Top with the taco meat...
Then, the sour cream...
And the cheese....
Finally, top with the remaining Fritos...
Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes. (I baked mine an extra five because you have to add time when baking with stoneware.)

Meanwhile, prepare the sides (the sour cream turned out to be unnecessary, but it's in the pic, so you'll just have to suck it up, sorry.)
Forgot to take pics of the finished product until it was half gone!
Voila!
Sorry about some of the blurry photos; I don't know what I did wrong. Fortunately, I did everything else right; this was a big hit!