Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Brown Sugar Meatloaf


I had a friend in college who was always super good at cooking up meatloaf. I always tried to copy her meatloaf and it never quite came out right. When I asked her for the recipe she would just tell me she never measured anything and just threw whatever ingredients into the bowl that sounded good at the time. ARgghhhh! So finally I fished around on Allrecipes.com and found a meatloaf recipe that Jason and I both loved.

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup ketchup
1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
3/4 cup milk
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
3/4 cup finely crushed saltine cracker crumbs

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 5x9 inch loaf pan (I usually just use an 8x8).

Press brown sugar in the bottom of the prepared loaf pan and spread the ketchup over the sugar.

In a mixing bowl, mix thoroughly all remaining ingredients and shape into a loaf. Place on top of the ketchup.

Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour or until juices run clear.

Monday, March 29, 2010

Pickle Dip


This is a Barnhart family recipe. Thanks to my sister and DJ for sharing it with us and always bringing this tasty appetizer to our parties!

INGREDIENTS
8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
16 oz. sour cream
1/2 cup to 3/4 cup chopped dill pickles

Lays Wavy Original Potato Chips

DIRECTIONS
Bring cream cheese to room temperature. This is very important, otherwise your dip will be lumpy! Beat cream cheese with an electric mixer until creamy. Add sour cream and chopped dill pickles. Sometimes if we are eating the dip right away we add a little pickle juice for additional flavor.

Serve with Potato chips.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Cake Pops


A good friend of mine brought us the cutest bouquet of cake pops for Valentine's Day this year. She was in a hurry so as she was climbing in her car I yelled out the door, "how did you come up with these creations?" She said, "BAKERELLA!!!" So immediatly I went to my computer to look up this Bakerella. So cute!!! Of course my balls didn't turn out nearly as perfect as hers do, but I love the idea and there's so many ways you could decorate.

I made these cake pops for London's first bday. She got a little cake of her own and then the rest of us enjoyed these little tasty treats. The recipe is really very simple, but the entire process is a little time consuming. I think it's completely worth it!

Sloppy Joes


This is my mom's Sloppy Joe recipe; it's the best! I love to chop the veggies a little on the chunky side and sometimes saute them aside from the ground beef so they don't become overcooked. I like that little extra crunch in my sandwich.

INGREDIENTS
2 lbs. lean ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
1 bottle (12 oz.) chili sauce
1 can (6 oz.) tomato paste
3 T. brown sugar
2 T. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp. pepper
Hamburger buns

DIRECTIONS
In a large skillet, cook ground beef, onions, celery and bell pepper over medium heat until beef is thoroughly cooked, stirring frequently. Drain.

In 3 to 4 quart slow cooker, combine ground beef mixture and all remaining ingredients except buns. Mix well.

Cover; cook on low setting 4 to 6 hours.

Stir; spoon beef mixture into buns.

(If I'm in a hurry I just skip the slow cooker section and after browning my beef and veggies in a skillet, add the remaining ingredients to the skillet and simmer on low until thoroughly heated.)

Friday, March 5, 2010

Hawaiian BBQ Chicken Sandwich



In the summer we like to grill up chicken on the grill and make this yummy chicken sandwich. My mom mixed things up a little by cooking the chicken in a crock-pot, shredding it and adding the bbq sauce. We love it this way a whole lot better! More sauce for your chicken :)

INGREDIENTS
3 Chicken Breasts
1 bottle favorite BBQ sauce (we like sweet and spicy)
Hamburger buns
red onion, thinly sliced
fresh pineapple sliced in rings (canned pineapple works too)
favorite sliced cheese (we like pepperjack or mozzerella)

DIRECTIONS
Place chicken breasts in a crock pot and cook on high 4-5 hrs or low 7-8 hrs. Using a fork pull chicken apart until it is loosely shredded. Add bottle of bbq sauce and mix well. Continue heating chicken until warmed.

Lightly butter hamburger buns and broil in oven until browned. We like to fire up the grill to heat up our pineapple and get those nice little grill marks on each side but warming them up in the microwave is OK too. Assemble your chicken burger and enjoy!