Lemon Barbecue Meatloaves

Somehow May has slipped through our fingers.  In a matter of weeks now school will be done and Emily will embark on another summer of adventure.  I am envious, a little.  I remember the anticipation of June and the promise of long, lazy summer days.
She spent the long weekend at her dad's, and judging by the texts I received throughout the weekend I suspect she was a little homesick.  I collected her Monday evening on my way home and we both turned in early.
On Tuesday she had no school, and mid-day I got a phone call.  She had found the recipe she wanted to make for supper.  I put her off for a day, as I had plans to go out with the girls, and she was supposed to babysit later.  The recipe she chose called for cooked, frozen meatballs, so I suggested she set it aside for the following week and make something else.  With some grumbling disappointment she quickly suggested meat loaf.  Meat loaf is a meal that lends itself to fall or winter days, but it has been rather cool and rainy.  I pulled out one of my favourite cookbooks, one well perused and falling apart and tuned quickly to the recipe for Lemon Barbecue Meatloaves.  It was already bookmarked, the page stained; it is an old favourite.  She looked it over and decided to give it try.
When I left for work Wednesday I advised her to peel 4 or 5 potatoes when she got home, and to dice them and put them in cold water.  It is not a speedy process for her yet, so I figured she could get a head start on that part of the meal.  When I arrived home she had done as I suggested, but the potatoes looked more like they had been minced for hash browns than cubed for boiling, but the job was done.
While Emily began collecting her meatloaf ingredients I minced an onion for her (some how, for someone who had just minced 5 potatoes, she would have only diced the onion) I also ran a few slices of bread through my manual food processor to make her some fresh bread crumbs.  To ground beef Emily added the onion, breadcrumbs, lemon juice, an egg and some seasoned salt.  I showed her how to shape the mixture into six small loaves and once they were in the oven she began making the barbecue sauce.
After 15 minutes she removed the meatloaves from the oven and spooned sauce over them, finally topping each one with a slice of fresh lemon.
The meatloaves were as good as I remember, the sauce sweet and tangy.

Lemon Barbecued Meat Loaves

1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef                               1/3 cup packed brown sugar

2 cups fresh bread crumbs (about 4 slices)            1 teaspoon dry mustard

1/4 cup lemon juice                                                1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/4 cup minced onion                                             1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1 egg                                                                       6 thin lemon slices

2 teaspoons seasoned salt 

1/2 cup ketchup

Preheat oven to 350F.  In a large bowl combine ground beef, bread crumbs, onion, egg, lemon juice and seasoned salt.  Mix well and shape into six individual loaves.  Place in a greased baking pan.

Bake 15 minutes.

While the meatloaves are baking prepare the barbecue sauce.  Combine ketchup, brown sugar, mustard, allspice and cloves.  Mix well.  Spoon the sauce over the meatloaves and top each with a lemon slice.  Return to the oven and bake 30 minutes longer, basting occasionally with remaining sauce.  Serve any remaining sauce on the side. 

Gnocci With Chicken & Four Cheese Sauce

Spring is rapidly becoming summer, and I am finding it harder to find time to write, even these brief posts.  This week has been busy enough we haven't found a night for her to cook.  Hopefully next week will be better organized.  Then again, Emily is babysitting more too, and that often shifts the evenings too.
I tripped across this recipe a week or so ago and suggested it to my chef in training.  She thought it looked good so the decision for last Monday.
I helped Emily slice chicken breasts into thin strips when I got home,  She had an onion already chopped, and the garlic minced when I walked in the door.
As it happened I had thawed out twice as much chicken as we needed.  I put half of the strips into the fridge and made chicken fingers a couple of nights later.  I had also purchased the larger bag of gnocci, so we had the second half another night with a lovely garlic & thyme butter sauce.

While the water for the gnocci was coming to a boil Emily browned the chicken and onion in hot oil.  I had neglected to purchase rosemary, so we left it out.  Once the chicken was done Emily stirred in the garlic and cooked it another minute.  To the chicken Emily stirred in a can of four cheese pasta sauce and seasoned it with black pepper, simmering it for 5 minutes or so, until it was heated through.  In the meantime she had cooked the gnocci.  She drained it and stirred the pasta into the sauce.  It was delightfully simple and very good.  I had never cooked gnocci before and will definitely be adding it to the menu more often.  It cooked quickly, which is always a bonus.

Gnocci With Chicken & Four Cheese Sauce

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts,                1 jar (650 ml) Four Cheese pasta sauce

      cut into thin strips                                                  1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

1 onion, chopped                                                         1 package (500g) gnocci, cooked

1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary                         2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley    

2 cloves garlic, minced         

Heat a tablespoon of oil in a large, deep skillet.  Add chicken, onion & rosemary, cook 6-8 minutes, until the chicken is done.  Stir in garlic, cook one minute longer.

Add the pasta sauce & pepper, simmer until heated through.  Stir in gnocci and parsley.                               

Spinach & Potato Frittata

It's Mother's Day.  Like lots of holidays, especially the rather arbitrary ones, it tends to make some of us reflective.  It's always been an emotional day for me, although it is better than it used to be.  Before Emily was born Mother's Day celebrations in church were painful, as more often than not, it seemed, it was not my weekend with my sons.  We were supposed to shift the schedule around so I got Mother's Day & he had them for Father's Day, but somehow that never seemed to work.
I had a few epic battles with my ex mother-in-law when she was still my mother-in-law....the kind that strengthen one's resolve to be a beloved mother-in-law when the time came.  I love my mother dearly, and I admire her immensely.  She is an amazing woman, but like all mother/daughter relationships there have been some rocky places.  I know Emily and I will likely have our share, she is not yet a teenager.  Regardless of all of that the best name I have ever worn was that of "mom".   Further musings on that matter however is grist for another mill.
Last weekend Peter brought me a couple dozen eggs from a friend he was visiting, and while eggs are never in over abundance, this seemed a good opportunity to suggest quiche, or some other egg based dish to Emily for her menu.  After all eggs are generally inexpensive and readily available.  Having a few of these kinds of dishes in one's recipe box is always good for a fast and easy meal.  I suggested this recipe to Emily and she seemed to think it was a good idea, so we were off.
When I got home on Monday night I showed her how to cut a thin slice off the side of a potato to give it a flat surface to make slicing it into thin slices easier.  Once the potatoes were sliced she cooked them until they were just tender in hot oil, before stirring in spinach, green onions and garlic.  When it came time to add the egg mixture though she kept stirring, rather than letting the eggs cook into a solid, slice-able dish, so our frittata looked more like scrambled eggs.  Nonetheless it was  very tasty.  I made a fruit salad to go with it rather than a lettuce salad, which made a nice change of pace.

Spinach & Potato Frittata

2 Tablespoons olive oil                             salt & pepper

6 small red potatoes, sliced                       6 eggs

1 cup torn fresh spinach                             1/3 cup milk

2 tablespoons sliced green onions*             1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

1 teaspoon crushed garlic

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Place the potatoes in the skillet, cover and cook about 10 minutes, until tender but firm.  Mix in the spinach, green onions and garlic.  Season with salt & pepper.  Cook 1-2 minutes, until the spinach is wilted.

In a mixing bowl combine eggs and milk.  Pour over the vegetables, sprinkle with cheese.  Reduce heat to low, cover & cook 5-7 minutes, until the eggs are firm.

Meatball Subs with Marinara Sauce

Emily's school has a hot lunch program in which, once a month, the students are given an opportunity to order & enjoy a meal from a local restaurant.  Sometimes it's pizza, other months have been wraps and sliders from another eatery.  In April it was Subway.  Emily opted for the meatball marinara, which she ordered the last time Subway was the restaurant of choice.  As we filled out the order form and she began raving about how much she loooovves these sandwiches, I commented that perhaps she could find a recipe and make her own.  This struck her as a novel idea, and two weeks ago she did just that.  This past week was uncommonly busy with other thing, we never got around to having Emily prepare a meal, and last weekend was busy....I regrettably never found (ok, made) the time to write.
In any case, meatballs marinara.  As easy, if mildly labour intensive as I suspected.  I thawed a couple packages of ground bison and stopped at the store for canned tomatoes, submarine rolls and spinach.  I even indulged in a bag of preshredded Italian blend cheese, a time saver.
Emily combined the meat with an eggs, minced garlic and a chopped onion. Her initial chop was rather coarse, so I rescued as  many bits as I could and ran them through my food chopper, then readded them.  She was annoyed, but I pointed out no one wants huge chunks of onion in their meatball.  Once everything was seasoned and well blended Emily shaped the meat into ping pong bal sized balls and arranged them on a baking sheet and baked for about 12 minutes.
While the meatballs were baking she made her marinara sauce.  We did find recipes on line that used bottled sauce, but there's no learning in that.  She combined garlic, tomatoes, parsley and oregano and simmered it all together, stirring in the meatballs once they were cooked.
We spooned meatballs and sauce into the submarine rolls and added the shredded cheese.  The original recipe also advised shredded fresh basil or arugula, I opted for spinach.
Emily had also made oven fries as a side dish.  Dinner was great, as always.  The next day I cooked spaghetti and reheated the sauce; just as delicious.

Meatball Subs

Meatballs:

1 1/2 pounds ground beef                             1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 large egg, beaten                                        2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1 cup bread crumbs                                       1/4 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped*

1/4 cup grated Parmesan                               salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 400F.  Combine all the ingredients and mix well, without over mixing.  Divide meat into meatballs (the original recipe advises dividing the meat into 4, and then each quarter into 4 balls, we just made manageable sized meatballs)  Place, evenly spaced, on a non stick baking sheet and roast for about 12 minutes, until cooked through.

* We used about a tablespoon dried parsley, I was out of fresh

Marinara Sauce:

2 tablespoons olive oil                                     1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

4 cloves garlic, crushed & chopped                 1 -28 ounce can crushed tomatoes

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes           2 tablespoons chopped parsley

1- 14 ounce can chunky style crushed tomatoes 

salt & pepper

Heat the oil in a deep sauce pan, add garlic, and once it starts to sizzle add the herbs and crushed red pepper.  Allow to infuse for about 30 seconds then add the tomatoes and season with salt and pepper.  Bring to a simmer and simmer until meatballs are done.

Combine meatballs & sauce.  Top sub buns with meatballs, sauce, shredded cheese and  place under the broiler until the cheese is melted, add spinach/arugula/basil

Oven Fries: 

4 medium, white skinned potatoes, cut lengthwise into 8 wedges, tossed with 1-2 tablespoons olive oil & grill seasoning, or coarse salt & pepper.  Place on a non-stick baking sheet and roast 20 minutes, until just tender.  Stir after about 10 minutes to avoid sticking.

Easy Baked Taco Pie

I don't know about your house, but in mine tacos are always a win.  It doesn't matter if they're beef, or fish or made with ground chicken instead of beef.  Like chocolate, salsa makes everything better.  For me it's a trip back to childhood, Mom made tacos regularly, I think before they were even a "thing".  My dad loved them, and all the particular fillings had to go in in a very specific order.  For the life of me I don't know what that order is, but I know, that while I don't put all the same things in my taco, the order is just a critical.  You have to get the layers right so everything mingles properly.
In any case Sunday night, when it was time for Emily to choose her recipe, she happened upon a handful of taco pie recipes.  One called for perogies.  It did sound good, but awfully heavy.   I dug a little deeper down the rabbit hole of internet recipes and found this one that looked pretty easy and had all the right ingredients but would be a change of pace.
I double checked the pantry and made sure we had everything and we settled into a quiet Sunday evening at home.
Monday night Emily browned 2 pounds of ground bison with a chopped onion.  The recipe only called for 1 pound of meat, but that always seems so scant to me.  But I am a carnivore.  Skip the veg and pass the meat, please.
To the browned meat she added a can of diced tomatoes and 2 cups of frozen corn (again, more than the recipe required but, hey....life is for living).
Once this mixture was heated through Emily layered the meat with tortilla shells, more meat & shredded cheese, and more tortillas.  After it had baked for about half an hour she removed the casserole lid and added another layer of cheese, baking it another 5 minutes.
It was so good I neglected to take a picture.  A salad would have been a good addition, but that called for more organization than I could muster.  We had pita chips & dip on the side instead.  Sour cream and a spoonful of salsa was the perfect topping for each serving of the casserole, adding just a little hit of heat along with the cool creaminess of the sour cream.

Easy Baked Taco Pie

1  (or 2) pounds lean ground beef                 1 - 2 cups frozen corn, thawed & drained
1 onion, chopped                                           6 whole wheat tortillas (6")
1 tablespoon chili powder                              1 cup shredded cheese (we used a mixture of cheddar &   1 can (520 ml) diced tomatoes, undrained       Monterrey Jack, the recipe called for Kraft Mexican                                                                               style shredded cheese)   Use more if you like


Heat oven to 375F.  Brown meat & onions on medium high heat in a large skillet.  Add tomatoes and corn; cook 5 minutes more, until heated through. stirring occasionally.
Spoon 1 cup (2, if you doubled the meat)   into a large, round casserole.  Cover with three tortillas, overlapping if necessary to fit.  Top with 2 more cups of meat mixture and 1/2 cup cheese (or more if desired) Cover with remaining tortillas and remaining meat mixture.  Cover.  Bake for 25-30 minutes, until heated through.  Top with remaining cheese; bake uncovered, 5 minutes longer, until the cheese is melted.  Cut into wedges.  Top with sour cream, salsa, chopped green onions and/or cilantro if you like.                                                  

Cranberry Chicken

Another busy week.  It seems they are getting busier all the time, even though I can't quite pinpoint any real changes in our schedules.  Then again lately by 9:15 I'm all in and feeling like it's midnight.  Thankfully Emily is becoming more helpful and lightening the load more than a little.  She balks from time to time, but it is rare, I admit, and usually the reminder that she's got it better than a lot of people pulls her back in line.  She as fretting the other day about her tablet not having enough memory, and wanting me to dash into Staples right now for a new SD card.  I was tired & not a little frustrated when I finally snapped at her, "There are children in this world who don't have a roof over their heads and you're crying because you can't play enough stuff on your tablet!"  A little harsh, but, tears over things that really don't matter in the grand scheme of things irritate me.
Anyway.  Sunday afternoon she began perusing cookbooks and magazines for what she wanted to cook.  She found a recipe for Moroccan Chicken with couscous that sounded pretty good, but I really didn't want to buy a rotisserie chicken.  And, honestly, I wasn't in the mood for couscous.  I flipped through one of my notebooks, looking for something easy.  I suggested Chicken Primavera, or Kung Pao Chicken, then showed her the recipe for Cranberry Chicken.  I was surprised she chose it, since she generally skips the cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Still, it's a good recipe, and easy.  I dug some chicken breasts out of the deep freeze Monday morning, and stopped on my way home for cranberry sauce and French dressing (not something I usually buy, preferring Ranch & Caesar).
When I got home I had her start the rice, since brown rice takes about three times as long as white, but I think it tastes better (ok, it tastes like something.  White rice is only a vehicle for sauce).  Emily stirred together a can of cranberry sauce, a packet of onion soup mix and the French dressing.  She was preparing to line a baking sheet with parchment for the chicken before I pointed out the sauce would be everywhere if she did that.  I handed her a baking dish instead and she arranged the chicken in that, before pouring her sauce over the chicken  and putting it in the oven to bake.

Dinner was very good, again, as always, and we had leftovers for lunch the next day, which is always a bonus.

Cranberry Chicken

1 -16oz can whole berry cranberry sauce                    Juice of half a lemon (about 1 1/2 tbsp)

1 packet onion soup mix                                              2 pounds chicken

10-12 ounces French dressing (1 small bottle)           

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Combine all the ingredients except the chicken.  Arrange the chicken in a baking dish, pour the sauce over.  Bake 30-45 minutes, until done.*

* I used boneless chicken breasts, but bone-in chicken works too.  Boneless chicken needs less cooking time.  This also makes a lot of sauce, so 1 - 250 ml bottle of dressing is ample.

Fish Tacos

Easter week was busy, as holiday weeks seem to be.  We were away at my mother's for Easter.  It was wonderful to spend time with the family, eat well and celebrate the resurrection.  Life is good.  We didn't come home until Monday afternoon, so Emily didn't cook until Wednesday.  Her aunt has been in possession of our Fish Taco recipe for some time, but she wanted to see the method, and try them first, which I absolutely understand.
 I had heard about fish tacos for ages, but, loving beef tacos, couldn't quite imagine them.  Emily talked me into going to Taco Time one day a year or so ago when we were shopping.  I figured for $2.50 I could try a fish taco and not be out much if I decided they were not for me.  As it turned out I thought they were quite tasty and came home and did an internet search for a recipe. When I emerged from the rabbit hole that recipe searching on the internet can be I had found I recipe I thought would work.  It has had a few modifications, but has become a favourite in our household.  I'm not a fan of reheated fish, but these I will do a  leftover lunch the next day.
Emily waited until her aunt arrived to make the marinade, while I assembled the coleslaw for a topping.  I used packaged coleslaw and bottled dressing, but to the dressing I added a splash of lime juice and a generous pinch of chili powder to give the dressing a nice kick.
Once my sister arrived Emily combined vegetable oil (she used canola, but I usually use olive oil) lime juice, garlic, cumin and chili powder.  Into this mixture she added several Basa filets, and after about 15 minutes took them out to the barbecue.
The fish did not take very long to cook and before long we were enjoying our tacos.  Into soft shells (which I prefer to the hard ones, but use what you like) we put a filet half, topping it with peach mango salsa (a nice change, a little sweeter, than traditional salsa) sour cream and the spicy coleslaw.

I suppose you could add in any other toppings you like, but the simplicity of these flavours is rather nice.  I neglected to take a picture, so you'll just have to take my word for it.  They are delicious, fast and easy.


Fish Tacos

Juice of 1/2 a lime (1- 1 1/2 tablespoons)
1 medium clove of garlic, crushed
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Combine & marinate mild white meat fish filets (basa, tilapia, cod, etc) for about 15 minutes.  The marinade can be doubled easily if you are doing more than about 3 filets.  Grill, bake or pan fry the fish until done.  Top with peach mango salsa (or whatever you like) sour cream & coleslaw.