Mini Meat Loaf Muffins

 

Ever wonder what men do when they find themselves alone when the clock strikes dinnertime? After a little research, I've discovered that you can basically classify men into four groups based on the answer to this very question.

First, you've got "The Freak Out," who, in a sweaty-palms panic, dials for emergency pizza or Chinese (or both) to ward off starvation with greasy goodness. You'll find him glued to a couch at colleges and bachelor pads around the world. 

Then there's "The Settler." Thanks to a traumatizing grocery store experience where he accidentally brought home tofu hot dogs and baked Doritos, this man insists that a meal can be made without leaving the house. Thus he will dine on milkless cereal, Fritos covered in ketchup and a beer. 

Next is "The Cook," with an emphasis on those quotation marks. Although his intentions are good, after hours in the kitchen and a few dozen dirty bowls and pans, he'll eat something to the effect of an undercooked pork chop, microwaved tater tots and brownie batter. (Men can’t rationalize waiting thirty minutes for something to bake that’s perfectly tasty in five.)

And finally, there's the "The Unicorn," or so called by his friends who don't believe in his existence or his frivolous dinnertime stories. Supposedly, when alone, he prepares a delicious meal from scratch, complete with non-canned sides and *gasp* a homemade dessert!  

Now, for all you single ladies picturing a shirtless, apron-clad cutie donning a “Mr. Perfect” embroidered chef hat, take a cold shower. Those unicorns only exist in food blogs and reality cooking shows. And in Paris.

We're talking about everyday unicorns. And they're never single. Never. Because that delicious, homemade food was prepared in advanced and left by no other than...their loving wives. 

And if you happen to be a wife, like me, who from time to time finds herself flying across the country for work or a wedding, or you simply like the idea of a weekend with the girls, these little mini meatloaf muffins are the perfect stash-away meal for your man. They're quick to make, packed with protein and nutrition (also a sneaky way to make husbands kids eat carrots) and wonderfully freezable.

To save your homemade love for later, bake and let cool, then wrap each serving (two muffins) in plastic wrap and store in freezer bags in the freezer. When your hubby gets hungry, a quick nuke in the microwave is all it takes for a full belly. Alongside a salad and some homemade cookies or his favorite pie, he's set for a while. At least until breakfast. Thank goodness for Pop-Tarts.

P.S. I'm back! I've enjoyed the most wonderfully long Florida/Bahamas vacation, and a lot of nice time with family. But I'm back in the kitchen...and back in blog land with lots of great recipes to share. Stay tuned!

Dinner Meat Loaf “Muffins”

David Bonom, Cooking Light, MARCH 2006

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 2 "muffins")

Ingredients:

1  teaspoon  olive oil

1  cup  finely chopped onion

1/2  cup  finely chopped carrot

1  teaspoon  dried oregano

2  garlic cloves, minced

1  cup  ketchup, divided

1 1/2  pounds  ground beef, extra lean (raw)

1  cup  finely crushed fat-free saltine crackers (about 20)

2  tablespoons  prepared mustard

1  teaspoon  Worcestershire sauce

1/4  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper

2  large eggs

Cooking spray

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350°.

Heat the olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chopped onion, chopped carrot, dried oregano, and minced garlic; sauté 2 minutes. Cool.

Combine onion mixture, 1/2 cup ketchup, and the remaining ingredients except cooking spray in a large bowl.

Spoon the meat mixture into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Top each with 2 teaspoons ketchup. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until a thermometer registers 160°. Let stand for 5 minutes.

Nutritional Info: Calories: 276 (28% from fat), Fat: 8.6g (sat 3g,mono 4g,poly 0.8g), Protein: 28.7g, Carbohydrate: 21.7g, Fiber: 1.8g, Cholesterol: 131mg, Iron: 3.9mg, Sodium: 759mg, Calcium: 48mg.

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Warm, Stuffed Peaches & Oatmeal Cookie Peach Cobbler

Okay, so I realize I am one gigantic tease right now, dangling delicious peach recipes in front of you when your grocery stores and farmers markets are most likely fresh out. Sadly, our fuzzy friends have been replaced long ago with pumpkins, pears and gourds and won't be returning for quite some time.

So why? Why am I doing this to you? Because I love you. Because I want you to have these amazing peach recipes. And because I know that these dishes are entirely too delicious to be thrown on the back burner until next summer, where they will inevitably get lost in the shuffle of all the new grilled, frosty and tropical treats I'll be touting.

Just promise me you'll flag...bookmark...print...whatever you have to do to assure these recipes are in your hands when peaches are once again within grasp. Promise me that, and I'll promise you a delicious breakfast and dessert.

In my opinion, these stuffed peaches are one of the few bearable ways to start a morning. Who doesn't love waking up to a house filled with autumn spices and a plate of warm, soft peaches? They're stuffed with toasted almonds, graham cracker crumbs, dried fruit, brown sugar and spices, baked, and topped with warm peach nectar and creamy vanilla yogurt. They're packed with nutrition, delicious, elegant and great for company on a chilly fall morning. (Just not too late…ahem....into fall.) 

The only modification I made was to use different dried fruits. The recipe calls for tropical fruit, but I opted for a mix that included cranberries, strawberries, cherries and blueberries. (Delish!) I'm sure whatever mix you have on hand would work as well, even raisins. 

And the cobbler, now my all time favorite (and I’ve had my fare share of Grandma’s homemade cobblers) is super easy and super cute, served in individual ramekins and dolloped with a delicious oatmeal cookie batter. That's cobbler and cookies...topped with ice cream. Three desserts in my very own personal dish? Which means I don’t have to share a single bite because that’s the whole point of the personal dish? Um, yeah, it's my all-time favorite cobbler.

If you simply cannot wait, I suppose you could use canned peaches for the cobbler, (eek!) although I don’t recommend using canned peaches for anything but food drives. I intend to experiment with other fruits myself. Apple cobbler...berry cobbler...I assume they all could benefit from a chewy, spiced oatmeal cookie crust, don't you?

But for the stuffed peaches, well, I’m sorry, you’ll definitely have to wait a bit to taste this heart-warming breakfast. Like I said…I’m a tease.

But I promise…from here on out, it’s all foods that you can not only look at and read about, but also make. Imagine! Isn't that just...ahem...peachy?

Warmed, Stuffed Peaches

Maureen Callahan, Cooking Light, JULY 2006

Yield: 8 servings (serving size: 1 peach half and 1 tablespoon yogurt)

Printable Recipe Card (Does not include my notes)

Note: You can prepare and refrigerate the stuffing before you go to bed, then assemble and bake the peaches in the morning. Enjoy one peach half as a pre or post-workout snack. Or have two stuffed peach halves with an eight-ounce glass of skim milk or one ounce of string cheese for breakfast. The peach halves also are a nice addition to a brunch buffet.

Ingredients:

4  peaches, halved and pitted

1/2  cup  dried tropical mixed fruit (such as Sunkist brand)
(I used a mix of dried strawberries, cranberries, blueberries and cherries)

1/4  cup  slivered almonds, toasted

2  tablespoons  graham cracker crumbs

2  tablespoons  brown sugar

1/4  teaspoon  ground allspice

1  (12-ounce) can peach nectar

1/2  cup  vanilla yogurt, divided

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350°.

Scoop out peach pulp to form a 2-inch circle in center of each half. Reserve pulp, and finely chop. Combine pulp, dried fruit, toasted almonds, graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, and allspice. Divide the pulp mixture evenly among peach halves. Place stuffed peach halves in an 11 x 7-inch baking dish. Add nectar to pan. Bake at 350° for 40 minutes or until peaches are tender. Drizzle peach halves evenly with liquid from pan. Top evenly with yogurt.

Nutritional Information: Calories: 134 (17% from fat), Fat: 2.5g (sat 0.7g,mono 1.3g,poly 0.5g), Protein: 2.2g, Carbohydrate: 27g, Fiber: 2.1g, Cholesterol: 2mg, Iron: 0.5mg, Sodium: 30mg, Calcium: 39mg.

Oatmeal Cookie Peach Cobbler

Cooking Light, JUNE 2009

Yield: 12 servings (serving size: about 1 cup)

Printable Recipe Card

Note: You can make this in individual ramekins with one dollop of dough on top of each. The baking time remains the same.

Ingredients:

Topping:

1/2  cup  granulated sugar

1/2  cup  packed brown sugar

1/2  cup  butter, softened

2  teaspoons  vanilla extract

1  large egg

4.5  ounces  all-purpose flour (about 1 cup)

1  cup  old-fashioned rolled oats

1/2  teaspoon  baking powder

1/2  teaspoon  salt

Filling:

11  cups  sliced peeled peaches (about 5 pounds)

1/3  cup  granulated sugar

2  tablespoons  all-purpose flour

2  tablespoons  fresh lemon juice

Cooking spray

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350°.

To prepare topping, place first 3 ingredients in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and egg; beat well. Weigh or lightly spoon 1 cup flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine 1 cup flour, oats, baking powder, and salt; stir with a whisk. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture; beat at low speed until blended. Cover and chill 30 minutes.

To prepare filling, combine sliced peeled peaches, 1/3 cup granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, and fresh lemon juice in a bowl; toss to coat. Spoon mixture into a 13 x 9–inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Dollop 12 mounds of chilled dough over peach mixture at even intervals. Bake at 350° for 40 minutes or until lightly browned and bubbly.

Nutritional Information: Calories: 307, Fat: 9.1g (sat 5.1g,mono 2.4g,poly 0.7g)

Protein: 4.5g, Carbohydrate: 54.1g, Fiber: 3.8g, Cholesterol: 38mg, Iron: 1.6mg, Sodium:177mg, Calcium: 43mg.

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My Halloween Costume Made You a Snack (Grilled Portobello Burgers)

Today, I’m writing about my Halloween costume for a chance to score a sweet camera from the lovely ladies over at The Secret’s in the Sauce. But instead of just showing you my costume, I thought I’d let my costume do a guest post. 

Meet Rain, a non-conforming, ironic fashion wearing, patchouli-reeking dirty hipster. And her boyfriend, Noah.

RAIN:

i almost didn't agree to do this post because blogging is so mainstream and conformist. but then i thought, blogging from my iphone while sipping a fair trade latte at a nontraditional coffee shop/venue/turtle farm is like, totally deck, so I’ll drop a few lines.

(p.s. i only use lowercase letters because their value is totally underestimated, just like mine. isn't that poetic? shuhhh...)

last night, after the greasy haired girls concert, i was majorly craving something vegan and nontraditional, but I was fresh out of soy chips. good thing my boyfriend noah had some shrooms in his window garden, so we made these.

i love the fact that they're burgers, but there's no burger. so ironic. 

i hear these are like, totally tasty and everything, but I actually didn't eat one. i try to keep to a strict diet of American Spirit cigarettes and brunch. It keeps my skin nice and pasty and helps me grow rainbow colors in my hair. but for all you three-meal-a-day conformists out there, don't worry, this recipe is so easy, you can make it with one hand tied behind your back holding a pabst. 

first, make a marinade with garlic, olive oil, balsamic vinegar and soy. mmm. i had soy sauce last night at a hole-in-the-wall, underground thai joint. yeah, i'm cultured.

while the shrooms are marinating, put the peppers on the grill. make sure they're organic peppers carried in a reusable hemp bag from whole foods or trader joes or I'll shoot judging laser beams your way through my gigantic black-rimmed glasses.

finally, grill the shrooms and the buns and smash it all together. you're done at this point, so it's perfectly cool to burn some incense, put on an indie electrocrap vinyl record and hold a small vigil to remember what you've just gone through. 

oh, and please ignore the non-slr camera pics and the totally traditional food styling on this blog. i wanted to put the burger on the sidewalk, step on it, add some vintage buttons and take an off-centered, de-saturated photo with my Polaroid camera, but Rachel made me use her photos. Such a poser.

 

I’m out. Noah and I are going to down a few bronsons, then ride to the thrift store on our fixed gear bikes to buy some ironic t-shirts. Peace.

Wow, thanks, Rain. Now, while Ms. Hip didn't try these burgers, I absolutely did and WOW. Simply awesome. My hubby, Noah…err…Luke, inhaled them even though they don’t contain meat, which is pretty much the one requirement for a good burger in his book. 

The mushrooms are super tender and juicy, the red pepper mayo has a wonderful smoky pepper flavor and the onion rolls are THE PERFECT bun for this sandwich. All in all, it's an awesome burger. If it's too chilly to grill, your broiler should work just fine, or a stove-top grill pan.  

or you could just grill outside when it's cold, cause that's like...so nontraditional...shuuhhhh...

Grilled Portobello Burgers with Roasted Red Pepper Mayo

Yield: 4 servings

Bill and Cheryl Jamison, Cooking Light, May 2003

Printable recipe card


Note: Meaty and versatile, marinated portobello mushrooms make great burgers. Half of a roasted bell pepper is stirred into mayonnaise for the sandwich spread. Use the leftover bell pepper as a pizza topping, in salad, or tossed with pasta.

Ingredients:

1/4  cup  low-sodium soy sauce

1/4  cup  balsamic vinegar

2  tablespoons  olive oil

3  garlic cloves, minced

4  (4-inch) portobello mushroom caps

1  small red bell pepper

Cooking spray

1/4  cup  low-fat mayonnaise

1/2  teaspoon  olive oil

1/8  teaspoon  ground red pepper

4  (2-ounce) onion sandwich buns

4  (1/4-inch-thick) slices tomato

4  curly leaf lettuce leaves

Preparation:

Combine first 4 ingredients in a large zip-top plastic bag; add mushrooms to bag. Seal and marinate at room temperature for 2 hours, turning bag occasionally. Remove mushrooms from bag; discard marinade.

Prepare grill to medium heat.

Cut bell pepper in half lengthwise; discard seeds and membranes. Place pepper halves on grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 15 minutes or until blackened, turning occasionally. Place in a zip-top plastic bag; seal. Let stand 10 minutes. Peel. Reserve 1 pepper half for another use.

Finely chop 1 pepper half; place in a small bowl. Add mayonnaise, 1/2 teaspoon oil, and ground red pepper; stir well.

Place mushrooms, gill sides down, on grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 4 minutes on each side. Place buns, cut sides down, on grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 30 seconds on each side or until toasted.

Spread 2 tablespoons mayonnaise mixture on top half of each bun. Place 1 mushroom on bottom half of each bun. Top each mushroom with 1 tomato slice and 1 lettuce leaf; cover with top halves of buns.

Nutritional Information: Calories: 251 (30% from fat), Fat: 8.4g (sat 2.3g,mono 3.7g,poly 2.1g), Protein: 7.3g, Carbohydrate: 37.9g, Fiber: 2.4g, Cholesterol: 0.0mg, Iron: 2.2mg, Sodium: 739mg, Calcium: 81mg.

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Spicy Snack mix

I’m celebrating Halloween with The Secret’s in the Sauce for a chance to win a sweet camera. Today it's all about something we made for Halloween. Enjoy!

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Halloween is all about candy.  Lots, and lots of candy. The holiday itself is practically a piñata, bursting at the seams with chocolate bars, caramels and tootsie pops. But what about those of us with a salty tooth? The sort of people who would happily down a plate of nachos over a bowl of ice cream? The weird ones who top their chocolates with salt? The annoying dates like yours truly that go out for dessert and coffee and end up ordering fried mozzarella sticks and beer? What does Halloween have to offer these people?

Well, among the caramel apples and the cider mill donuts and the overflowing bags of candy, there’s one salty treat that I couldn’t get enough of this year.

Now, I’m not huge a fan of popcorn. And I loathe pretzels. Cereal sans the milk? Blah. And let’s just say in my opinion, plain ‘ol peanuts are much better suited for peanut butter than straight-from-the-jar popping. But all mixed together and coated with a garlicky, spicy, buttery sauce and baked to crispy perfection? Delicious.

So, I hereby give to you, a falltastic snack that will satisfy even the biggest salty snack addicts out there, and may even lure in few sweet freaks for a much needed sugar high hiatus.

 

And while it may have been the perfect snack for toting under butterfly wings or witch capes to a hopping Halloween party, it’s also delightful for munching on any day of the year, whether in front of the TV, behind a hand of cards, or on top of a pillow during a slumber party gossip sesh.

And to make things even better, the recipe is wicked easy, although I did make a few alterations to the original recipe. I added the protein-packed peanuts so I could pass it off as a meal (ha!), reduced the popcorn and maybe...just maybe... I cheated and used butter-flavored popcorn when I was supposed to use popcorn "without fat." So sue me.

Try it. You’ll love it. It’s like Chex Mix, but way better, healthier and cheaper than the bagged stuff. And far better for our poor post-Halloween bodies than raiding the candy stash of those younger and weaker than us. Although, I say go for both: salty and sweet. Bite of candy. Bite of snack mix. Smile. Just leave a few tootsie rolls for the kids.

Spicy Snack Mix

Yield: 4 cups (serving size: 1 cup)

Cooking Light, January 1993

Ingredients: 

3  cups  popped corn (air or microwave popped without salt or fat) 

(I reduced the popcorn and added dry-roasted peanuts) 

1  cup  crispy corn cereal squares 

1  cup  tiny salted pretzels 

1  tablespoon  butter, melted 

1  teaspoon  chili powder 

1/4  teaspoon  ground cumin 

1/4  teaspoon  garlic powder 

1/4  teaspoon  salt

Preparation:

Combine first 3 ingredients in a large zip-top heavy-duty plastic bag; set aside.

Combine butter and remaining ingredients in a small bowl; add mixture in bag. Seal the bag and shake to coat.

Spread mixture evenly into a 15- x 10- x 1-inch jellyroll pan. Bake at 275 degrees for 30 minutes, stirring twice. Cool completely; store in an airtight container.

Nutritional Information: Calories: 64 (25% from fat), Fat: 1.8g (sat 0.3g,mono 0.6g,poly 0.8g), Protein: 1.4g, Carbohydrate: 10.8g, Fiber: 1g, Iron: 0.7mg, Sodium: 256mg, Calcium: 6mg.

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