Matt Cooking Stuff, Recipes

Italian Meatball Meatloaf

2013_01_30I saw a bunch of Italian meatloaf recipes, but none of them were quite what I had in mind. So I took my meatball recipe and added bread crumbs and eggs to it. Topped it with sauce and melted mozzarella cheese. This tasted just like Italian meatballs but in meatloaf form. We all loved it!

RECIPES:

Italian Meatball Meatloaf

Ingredients:

2 lbs ground beef
1 onion finely chopped
3 carrots finely chopped
2 eggs beaten
1/2 Cup Japanese panko bread crumbs
1 Tbsp minced garlic
2 tsp Italian seasons
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

Mix ground beef, egg, onions, carrots and garlic together. In a small bowl, mix all the dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients to meat mixture and mix thoroughly.

Put meat in loaf pan and cover with spaghetti sauce. I used tomato basil. Bake at 350 for 1 hour or until done. Top with mozzarella cheese and bake an additional minute of two for cheese to melt. (Mine took about an hour and a half, but I think it depends on your loaf pan)

Matt Cooking Stuff, Recipes

Creamy Chicken Pasta

2013_01_27The main ingredient in this is marscapone cheese (Or as I call it, Al Capone cheese). So if you don’t like some gangster cheese, you won’t like this. I was indifferent on this one. It was a simple tasty dish, but I was raving about it. Aya really liked it though and said it had a restaurant quality flavor to it. Ellie loved it and Aya loved it, so that makes me happy.

RECIPES:

Creamy Chicken Pasta

Matt Cooking Stuff, Recipes

Black-Eyed Peas and Cornmeal Dumplings

2013_01_26I only picked this because it was in the budget cooking section of the magazine and I had all of the ingredients on hand except for one. I really wasn’t expecting to care for this much and was just looking for an easy weeknight filler meal.

But to my surprise, I really liked this. Super simple and easy, but it had great flavor. I wouldn’t make it for guests or anything, but it was a nice hardy winter evening dinner.

RECIPES:

Black-Eyed Peas and Cornmeal Dumplings

Matt Cooking Stuff, Recipes

Roasted Cauliflower Soup

2013_01_23Most of my experience with cauliflower is with dip on a raw veggie tray. Anything tastes good goobered up in a ranch veggie dip. I don’t hate cauliflower, but it’s not something I would seek out or get excited about. Aya loves cauliflower though. So much it’s in her top three favorite vegetables. Wanting to please Aya, I decided to give this soup a try.

When it comes to cooking vegetables, roasting is always the best way to go, in my opinion. Cauliflower was no exception. I was surprised how great it tasted roasted. And once it was blended and cooked in soup form, it was outstanding! The dried bread and bacon garnish added just enough extra flavor. We both really liked this.

I served it with turkey sandwiches and a spinach salad.

RECIPES:

Roasted Cauliflower Soup

 

Matt Cooking Stuff, Recipes

Tortilla Chip Casserole

2013_01_22This was great! Aya even requested it for next week. It’s really nothing special, but it was just a nice solid meal. It was enough for a few days and it reheated well.

Just be sure to include the enchilada sauce. I totally forgot to add it with two kids fighting for my attention. I wondered why it seemed a little dry. But I added it for day two and it made all of the difference.

RECIPES:

Tortilla Chip Casserole