Meatloaf Dinner

Ingredients:
2lbs ground beef
2 eggs
1/2 cup ketchup
3/4 cup warm water
3 TBSP brown sugar
1-2 TBSP worschestershire sauce
1 package of onion soup mix
1 1/2 cups dry bread crumbs
4 potatoes
6 carrots
1 medium onion
salt and pepper

Instructions:
1. Beat eggs in bowl. Mix in ketchup, warm water, brown sugar, worchestershire sauce, onion soup mix and bread crumbs. Let sit until liquid is absorbed.
2. Add ground beef and mix until well blended. If you are like me, I hate using my hands. Use a potatoe smasher.
3. Form into a loaf and place into a 9 x 13 pan lined with foil. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
4. Scrub potatoes and quarter. (like for smashed potatoes, but with skins) Cut carrots in half and slice onion. Arrange potatoes, carrots, onions around meat loaf, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Seal with foil and bake for 1 1/2 hours.

Review:

Pros: Easy. Great one dish meal. I made the meatloaf, then cleaned up and chopped up the potatoes, carrots and onion and then pulled it out. It might not have been a full 30 minutes, but the top was done. It reminds me of a tin foil dinner.

Cons: I thought there was alot of ground beef for one loaf, so I actually ended up freezing half of the ground beef mixture. Which is fine, because it's pre-made for next time.

Approximate cost: $6-8 (depending on price of meat) I'm working on making an cost sheet for ingredients to make determining the cost better.

Easy Pasta Primavera

Ingredients:
8 oz of uncooked fettuccine or linguine (This would be good with a penne pasta too)
1 TBSP olive oil
1 cup of broccoli flowerets (frozen will work too, just thaw before, don't cook them)
1 cup of caulifowerets
2 medium carrots thinly sliced (about 1 cup)
1 cup of frozen green peas, rinsed
1 small onion chopped (about 1/4 cup)
Alfredo sauce
1 TBSP grated parmesan cheese

Instructions:
1. Cook noodles as directed on package.

2. In 12 inch skillets, heat oil over medium-high heat cook broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, peas and onion for about 6 to 8 minutes, stirring frequently until vegetables are crisp-tender ( or however you like them)

3. In a medium bowl or serving dish, put fettuccine, vegetables and alfredo sauce.
Gently toss until even coated. Top with parmesan.

BONUS!F or those of you looking for an easy alfredo sauce: heat 1/2 cup of butter, 1/2 cup of whipping cream, and 1 clove of crushed garlic until butter is melted and mixture starts to bubble (stirring frequently) reduce to low heat and simmer for about 6 minutes or until it thickens. Stir in 3/4 cup of grated parmesan and 1/2 tsp of salt

Review:

Pros: Michael and I loved this dish and it probably serves 4-5 and we only had one serving left. We then fought over the leftovers. It was great with just some french bread with it. It has lots of vegetables, so it doesn't feel as heavy with the alfredo sauce. It was really easy and quick to make and made a complete meal.

Cons: Alfredo sauce always has lots of calories.

Approximate cost: $3.50 (without alfredo sauce, but you can buy a jar for about $2)

Peppermint Cocoa Crinkles

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup of butter

1 3/4 cup of sugar, divided

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

Frosting

1/2 cup crushed candy canes

Instructions:

Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in medium bowl, set aside. -- I usually don't do this step, but with this recipe it does work better. Also, it helps to run your whisk through it and make sure it is mixed up.

Melt butter in sauce pan over medium heat; cool slightly. Add 1 1/4 cups sugar, whisk until smooth. Whisk in eggs, on at a time. Stir in vanilla. Stir into flour mixture just until blended. Refrigerate for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350, grease cookie sheets. Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Roll in remaining 1/2 cup of sugar in a bowl. Place on sheets with plenty of space -- I do 12 per sheet on my 11 x 15.

Bake 12 minutes. Let cookies cool completely.

Placed crushed candy canes on wax paper. Spread frosting on the bottom of cookie. Place second cookie on, bottoms together to create a sandwich. Push them together until frosting starts to appear on the edge. Roll through candy canes.

Review:

Pros: We love these at Christmas time, they are a nice twist on an old favorite (homemade oreos). They turn out perfect almost every time. I've also made these the regular way (soften the butter and whip the sugar in, then eggs & vanilla and dry ingredients) and they have still turned out. They are even good if you run out of frosting and just dip them in milk.

Cons: It always makes less than you think, because it takes 2 cookies to make a sandwich and it's like eating twice as many calories per cookie.