Best Meatloaf Ever!

My dad and mom need a little help every now and then when it comes to cleaning around the house and cooking. They do what they can at their age, but us girls don't mind helping out at all. Dad and I were talking about their upcoming meal that I would be taking them. I have to be careful with them because they really don't like some foods that my family is use to making during the week. For instance, we love Italian, Mexican meals with lots of tomato and wide variety of flavors. Dad had some frozen ground beef, so I mentioned a meatloaf. My dad's lite up saying that he had not had a meatloaf in a very long time. Alrighty then! Here we go! The only meatloaf I've ever made, which was many many moons ago, was from a box that Doug brought home one day.

I go to my faithful Pinterest and the title to this recipe caught my eye.  It said "Best Ever Meatloaf."  It sounds so simple and delicious, but different from what I've ever had.  I was so moist and delicious!

Meatloaf

• 2 pounds ground beef
• 1 cup crushed Ritz crackers
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1/3 cup onion, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 3/4 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup apricot preserves
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 5x9 loaf pan with cooking spray and set aside. In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, crackers, egg, milk, ½ cup ketchup, onion, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Mix together with your hands until thoroughly combined.
2. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Place the pan on a rimmed baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven for 1 ½ hours. 
3. In a small bowl, combine ¾ cup ketchup, brown sugar, apricot preserves and Worcestershire sauce. Mix well. Spread half of the mixture evenly over the meatloaf halfway through baking. Reserve the remainder of the sauce for dipping/topping. Let meatloaf sit for 15 minutes before slicing and serving.

I put the last remaining sauce on top of the loaf the last 30 minutes of baking.  Because I used the ground beef that was my dad and mom's, it did make greasy.  I would recommend ground chuck, lean beef or ground turkey.

I prepare this the night before, it was so simple and easy to prepare.

Happy Baking!! 

 

Tortilla Bowls with Mango Chicken Salad

We wanted to try something different, getting tired of the same old, same old. What do I do? Look through my bookmarked recipes in Pinterest.

I LOVE Chicken Salad and I'm so glad that I bookmarked this recipe because it was

 AWESOME!

There is a party in your mouth when you incorporate all of these wonderful flavors. So let's get to it.


Mango Chicken Salad

4 cups cubed or shredded cooked chicken (I used chicken tenderloin because it is easier to prepare and cook)
1 peeled and diced mango
1 peeled and diced avocado (how to make sure your avocado is ready - the avocado should be firm to the touch, not soft or mushy the color should be a dark green. )
1 tablespoon lime juice
1/2 red bell pepper (you can use more, if you love bell pepper.  I can't eat too much or I will regret it)
1/4 cup of chopped fresh cilantro (if you are not big on cilantro, like me, you can use less.  You want just enough for a nice mild flavor)
1 cup shredded lettuce
1/2 teaspoon salt

Combine all the ingredients above in a big serving bowl.  Make sure your chicken is cooled.  The recipe called for 1/2 cup of red onion, but I'm not a big red onion fan, so you can add or omit.  You can't mess up a chicken salad.

The recipe recommends a homemade vinaigrette, but I chose using the following:
1/3 cup Lite Ranch Dressing
Sprinkle Ground Cumin seasoning

Add the dressing to the salad and toss gently until coated.  You may want to add a little more ranch dressing, if you have more chicken then suggested.  It's up to you, but you don't want it to over take the taste of the other flavors.  If you want to try the vinaigrette, well here's the recipe.

Vinaigrette 
1 Tablespoon wine vinegar
1 Tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 Tablespoon fresh orange juice
1 Tablespoon honey
1/3 cup Canola oil

Mix together and toss gently in the salad.

Now, you need bowls to put your salad in.  This was so much fun to make and delicious!

Bowls
4 flour tortillas (I used the small 8"-10" rounds)
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
sprinkle salt (the recipe called for 1/2 teaspoon, but it seemed like it was too much per tortilla.  I would suggest a generous sprinkle of salt instead.)
Olive oil for brushing

Heat the oven to 400 F degrees.  Brush oil on tortillas.
Sprinkle cumin and salt evenly over oiled sides of tortillas.  Press tortillas, seasoned side up, in muffin tins (making into bowls) and place in oven for 5-7 minutes or until semi crispy.

You are ready to have a fiesta.  I honestly don't believe you'll have any salad left over, once you find out how delicious it is.  For some reason, you do have some left over for tomorrow, just note that your avocado will turn a little dark.  It will still be okay to eat, it just won't look very appetizing.  If you need step by step tutorial CLICK HERE!

Your mouth thanks you!