Meatloaf with Homemade BBQ Sauce When fall settles in to stay, with its foggy mornings, crisp days, and drippy nights, the first thing I think about, naturally, is food. That, and the fact that maybe this is the year to finally purchase an umbrella. Anyway, back to the food. Comfort food, to be exact, which is the perfect label for it. There's something seriously comforting in a steamy pot of soup or melty bowl of mac and cheese. The comfort food at the very top of my list, though, is definitely humble meat loaf. It was always the meal I most missed when away at college, and the one I first requested when home on breaks. It is still the first thing Keep Reading
Grilled Beef Gyros
Grilled Beef Gyros Today I am posting about beef (specifically, grilled beef gyros). After all, it's what's for dinner. For you meat lovers out there, check out Lynn Curry's new cookbook, Pure Beef: An Essential Guide to Artisan Meat with Recipes for Every Cut. It is organized by cut, with techniques and recipes for each one. Brilliant! I just got my hands on a friend's copy, and it is an excellent resource. Back to beef! This grilled beef gyro recipe is perfect for summertime. Pita bread stuffed with flavorful beef and thinly sliced vegetables, then drizzled with cucumber sauce. Yum. Both the marinade and the sauce ingredients are whirred Keep Reading
Baked Spaghetti and Meatballs — everything cooks in one dish!
Baked Spaghetti & Meatballs (recipe) My mom casually mentioned this recipe she'd made a few months ago. Oh you know, you just throw everything in one dish. Meatballs, spaghetti sauce, cheese, noodles. You don't even have to cook the noodles first. It'd be a great use for all that marinara sauce you have in the freezer. She just rattled off these details like she was talking about the weather. The weather! Come on, this is serious stuff, Mom. So, naturally, I did not rest until I had tracked this recipe down (I do that a lot) in Real Simple magazine (October 2015). And I'm glad I did because this is one of those fast, frugal, filling Keep Reading
Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes (recipe)
Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes with Creamy Coleslaw When I was a kid, I was a super picky eater; my forbidden food list was a mile long. It included, but was not limited to: onions, peppers, tuna fish, kidney beans, vegetable soup, lemon bars, and... Sloppy Joes. I don't think there was much rhyme or reason to 99% of my food aversions, but I know exactly why Sloppy Joes were banned from my mouth. Even as a kid, I was pretty sure that meat is not supposed to be sickeningly sweet. Barbecue sauce sweet, no problem. But typical Sloppy Joe recipes add 1/4-1/2 cup of sugar for this amount of meat. No thanks. My friend Debbie introduced us to this Sloppy Joe Keep Reading
All About Hamburgers: How to grind your own meat
How to Grind Your Own Meat Despite the fact that we primarily eat a plant-based diet, if my husband and I were stranded on a desert island and had to choose just one meal to have for the rest of our days, we would pick hamburgers. But not just any old burger. It would have to be a juicy, perfectly seasoned hand-packed patty in between a soft yeast hamburger bun and piled high with fresh toppings. Oh man, that would be quite an island. For the last two years, I have been wanting to try grinding my own hamburger meat. I already owned the KitchenAid food grinder attachment (Amazon), which sadly I'd only used for fruits and vegetables. I wanted Keep Reading
{Recipe} Hearty Pita Tacos
Have you done the 'Try Me FREE' Rebate at Safeway? You can pick up the above Honey Roasted Sweet Corn Green Giant steamers and work them into a one-skillet meal -- Hearty Pita Tacos. Our family loves these and they are super easy to make. Hearty Pita Tacos Adapted from Healthy Cooking Ingredients 1 lb ground beef or turkey 2 green onions 1 bag Honey Roasted Sweet Corn Green Giant steamers 1 (15 oz) can Kidney beans or whole pinto beans (or Emily's Crockpot Pinto beans not mashed) 2/3 cup taco sauce (you can reduce this to half if you have some sensitive taste buds) 1 1/2 tsp taco seasoning 6 whole wheat pitas or tortilla's Toppings: Keep Reading
Frugal Dinners: Slow Cooker Chuck Roast
Slow Cooker Chuck Roast One thing you must know about me (Angela) is that I do not enjoy cooking. I am not particularly good at it. And when I become a millionaire, I plan to hire a full time cook/massage therapist/laundry folder. That said, I thought it may be helpful to post some dinners that I scrape together to inspire those who are bent in a similar way. Here's what I made for Friday's dinner: Slow Cooker Chuck Roast You will eventually notice that I do exactly the same thing with all other beef crockpot meals. Here are my ingredients: First, I dumped a 1 lb bag of baby carrots ($1) and about 7 organic, chopped potatoes ($.50) in Keep Reading