Meatloaf

Meatloaf
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
2 eggs
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup chopped onion

1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce

Combine beef, bread crumbs, eggs, salt, pepper, and 1/3 cup tomato sauce. In shallow baking pan shape into loaf. Bake at 375* for 1 hr. Pour off excess fat. Pour remaining sauce over loaf. Bake 15 minutes more.

The meatloaf was really tasty. I'm not a big fan of meatloaf but I wanted something different from what we usually make with ground beef. It was really easy to make and only took about 5 minutes prep time. We had the meatloaf with baked potatoes and corn.


I found this recipe on http://www.supercook.com/. It's a really neat website that allows you to put in all the ingredients you have and it finds recipes that incorporate those ingredients.

Crispy Parmesan-Ranch Chicken Breasts

Crispy Parmesan-Ranch Chicken Breasts

1 cup bread crumbs
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 (1 ounce) package hidden valley ranch dry ranch dressing mix
8 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup melted butter

Grease a 13 x 9-inch baking dish. Set oven to 350 degrees F. In a shallow dish mix together the bread crumbs with Parmesan cheese, garlic powder, black pepper and dry ranch dressing mix. Place the melted butter in a shallow dish. Coat the chicken breasts in the melted butter, then roll into the bread crumb mixture. Place in prepared baking dish. Bake uncovered for about 30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Broil for a few minutes to get them a little crispier.

We really enjoyed the Crispy Parmesan-Ranch Chicken Breasts. I did cut the recipe in half since we weren't going to eat 8 chicken breast between two adults and one 20 month old. The only thing I didn't cut in half was the packet of ranch dry dressing mix. The chicken took longer than 30 minutes to cook, although the pieces were kinda thick. We liked the flavor of it better than if you just bread the chicken with the bread crumbs and bake it. We ate the chicken with white rice, peas and the No-Knead Rolls.

I found the recipe on the Babycenter boards, in the group Cooking for Your Family. There are a lot of good recipes floating around that board that I'm going to try!

No-Knead Dinner Rolls

No-Knead Dinner Rolls

9 Cups flour
1 Cup sugar
4 cups milk
1 heaping tsp. baking powder
1 scant tsp. baking soda
1 Cup vegetable oil
2 Tbsp. salt
2 pkgs (4 ½ tsp.) Active Dry Yeast

Pour 4 cups of milk into a stock pot or Dutch oven. Add one cup of sugar and 1 cup of vegetable oil. Stir to combine. Now, turn the burner on medium to medium-low and “scald” the mixture. Before the mixture boils, turn off the heat. Allow the mixture to cool to warm/lukewarm (between 90 and 110°).

When the mixture is the right temperature add in 4 cups of flour and 2 packages of active dry yeast. Stir together until incorporated. Add another 4 cups of flour. Stir together and all to sit, covered for an hour. After about an hour is should have almost doubled in size. When is has risen sufficiently add 1 more cup of flour, 1 heaping teaspoon of baking powder, 1 scant teaspoon of baking soda and about 2 tablespoons of salt. Stir until combined.

Butter 1 or 2 muffin pans. Form the rolls by pinching off a walnut sized piece of dough and rolling it into a little ball. Repeat and tuck three balls of dough into each buttered muffin cup. Continue until pan is full. Cover and all to rise for about 1 to 2 hours.

Bake in a 400° oven until golden brown, about 17-20 minutes.

The rolls were yummy although not as good as my mother's recipe that I need to get from her. I cut the recipe in half and it made about 2-3 dozen (I forgot to count). I did have to add more flour because the dough was really sticky and I couldn't roll it into balls. I also didn't have muffin pans so I just used a 9X13 metal pan. They also took about 10 minutes longer to cook. I think they had a little too much salt and they were kinda crumbly. All in all we were happy with the result especially when we put on lots of butter because that's how we like it!

I found the recipe at http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/ She has some great recipes covering appetizers, main dishes to desserts.