Vegetable-Infused Meatloaf

If you haven’t guessed from the name of this blog, I live in the Midwest.  Out here in the great corn ocean, we like our meat products, and one of my comfort foods as a kid was meatloaf.  My dad would often spoil us by making mini-meatloaves with different toppings (bbq sauce, spaghetti sauce, etc) so we could feel like we had more choice.  This is typically a winter meal in my house.  We had a cold day last week and took advantage of the temp to make these.  I baked two and froze one for a later meal!

My toddler is a pretty good eater most days, but sneaking a few extra vegetables into a meal can’t hurt! He chomped this up, and even at the leftovers the next day (which he never does usually!)

Vegetable-Infused Meatloaf

(makes two loaves)

2.5 pounds ground beef
1 c oatmeal
3 eggs
1 medium onion, quartered
3 carrots, peeled and chopped into 2 inch pieces
1 lightly packed cup of kale
4 oz white mushrooms
1 small red pepper, seeded and quartered
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon oregano

Optional: 2 tablespoons of butter

Topping
1 cup ketchup
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1. Preheat oven to 350.  Lightly spray oil into two standard loaf pans.
2. Place onions, carrots, kale, mushrooms, and red pepper into a blender (see pictures) and chop very finely.
3. (Optional) Saute vegetable mixture in the two tablespoons of butter.  I skipped this step this time, and it still tasted lovely.
4. Mix vegetables with rest of loaf ingredients, using hands to knead.
5. In a small separate bowl, mix the topping ingredients.
6. Distribute meatloaf mixture evenly into loaf pans and spread topping.
7. Bake in the oven until meat is no longer pink, about one hour.  A meat thermometer should read 160 when inserted into the center.

Not an ad for the Ninja, but it did make quick work of these veggies.

Not pretty, but it bakes up pretty tastily!

Chili and Cinnamon Apple Cornbread

Yes, this is going to be as delicious a post as the title suggests…

I think we all have those foods that, as a kid, we pooh-poohed without giving them a chance.  For my husband, it was eggplant.  For me, tuna, chicken salad, and chili.  The dislike for chili came from being served it so often that I just couldn’t appreciate it.  Now, my family served up chili with a big scoop of cottage cheese in the middle and sometimes macaroni noodles, but otherwise the flavor was pretty standard fare… except that we were always eating tomatoes my father had canned.  I realize now (older, wiser, blah blah blah) that garden fresh tomatoes can really make the best chili. And so do fresh peppers and fresh onions, if you’ve got them on hand.  I was pretty pleased that all I had to buy for this recipe was the meat!

Eggplant “Pizzas”

I might be the only person in the world to absolutely adore eggplants; heart, soul, and mind.  Their color is gorgeous (even the word “aubergine” is delectable).  When eggplant season comes around, you better believe I’m eating eggplant every day.

My husband had never had an eggplant before I met him. My husband had never had good eggplant before I met him.  His grandmother had made a gloppy mess: seedy, flavorless, and unsalted.  He was noticeably not excited when I mentioned eggplant was on the menu.  I changed his mind, and if you give me the chance, I can change yours, too.

Stuffed Peppers

It’s pepper season, and around here there is much rejoicing.  Last year my peppers received too much moisture and had a blight, but this year I’m so pepper-hungry that I can’t even wait to let them ripen to a sweet red before picking them.  That can only mean one thing:  Stuffed peppers.