BBQ Bacon Meatloaf

   I had some interest in this recipe on Facebook so I thought I would post the recipe, as well as all the changes I made, so I can refer back to it. If I can brag a little bit, I'm really good at starting with a recipe and making it my own. But I'm not always the best at coming up with a recipe out of thin air so this is a recipe that I found on a blog (thank you Pinterest) and I added and changed some ingredients. And since I didn't take any pictures of the process and haven't researched copyright and plagiarism laws yet (as far as blogging goes) I must give credit to the original recipe. Plus, if you absolutely love Bacon, you'll probably want to try her recipe first. We are not huge bacon fans, though I like it more now than I did before (pregnancy sure changes everything! That is, previous pregnancies... Don't need to start any rumors!) so I used less bacon and put it into the meatloaf, not around the meatloaf.

   You will first need your favorite BBQ sauce. The original recipe has one but I decided to use the one from Grandma's Molasses:

• 1/2 cup Ketchup
• 1/4 cup Molasses
• 2 T vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar)
• 2 T Dijon Mustard (I used whole grain mustard, the same that's in the meatloaf)
• 1 T Worcestershire Sauce
• 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
• 1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper
• 1/4 tsp Hot Sauce

Combine all ingredients. Ready to serve.
Optional: Mix everything in a small sauce pan and bring to a simmer for 10 minutes. Turn off heat or leave on low until ready to use.

BBQ Bacon Meatloaf adapted from Barbecue Meatloaf by Simply Scratch
   My recipe serves 4

• 1 lb Lean Ground Beef (I used 93/7)
• 1/2 C Chopped Onion
• 1/3 C BBQ Sauce (Plus more for basting)
• 1 T Whole Grain Mustard
• 1/2 tsp Chili Powder
• 1 tsp Garlic Powder
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1/2 tsp Pepper
• 1/4 C Bread Crumbs (I used GF Homemade Bread Crumbs, original recipe calls for Saltine crackers)
• 1 Egg
• 4-6 Slices of Bacon, precooked to the crispness that you prefer

   The following you may omit but I believe they make a juicier meatloaf and I always include in any of my meatloaves. It also makes the meatloaf go a little further and adds ingredients that your kids may not eat otherwise.

• 2 T finely diced Carrots
• 2 T finely diced Celery
• 2 T finely diced Zucchini or Yellow Squash
• (You could include the Onion from above to save time dicing)

   Put all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped or whatever size you can sneak past your kids=)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Combine all ingredients, except meat, and mix well.
3. Combine mixture with meat but do not over mix.
4. Press into loaf pan (sprayed with non-stick spray) or form into a mound on a baking sheet lined with foil. (This was my first time using a baking sheet vs. a loaf pan and I have to say, I will never go back to a loaf pan!)
5. Baste with a generous amount of BBQ Sauce
6. Cook for 35-45 minutes or until a thermometer reads 160 degrees. Let stand for 10 minutes before slicing.

**This would make an amazing meatloaf sandwich! Keep in mind, it's a bit crumbly. My meatloaf always is. I think it's because of the added veggies and low fat ratio. I will work on this but I think the dietary gain outweighs the need for a stable slice of meatloaf.
**This recipe can easily be made gluten free by checking labels before you buy and substituting your commonly used gluten free condiments for the BBQ sauce.

   I'd love to know what you think! This is my first official recipe post. I can't wait to do more and hopefully include pictures next time. My dream is to someday have my own cooking blog. We all have to start somewhere right?=)

Christmas Time

   What a fun Christmas we had! Between Christmas eve and Christmas day, we had a lot of down time at home, which doesn't usually happen around the holidays. But we also got to see our families between the two days. We did our Christmas morning on Christmas Eve, in the morning. That's confusing to say. But we switched it because of Joshs' family's schedule, I didn't want to be rushing through our morning so we could get to their house. This way, we enjoyed a relaxing morning/early afternoon opening gifts and eating a yummy breakfast. I had this ideal vision of how I wanted the morning to go...wake up early, start the gluten free dough for cinnamon rolls to be eaten on Christmas morning, make the gluten free pancake mix and start our yummy breakfast before the boys woke up. But like most days, this day did not start as planned. I got up at 5am. Enough said. Channing had woken up just after 4am and by the time I got him back to sleep it was just after 5am. I knew if I went back to sleep, that would be an end to my ideal morning. It was nice to be up before anyone else and get a lot done. I was able to make a small dent in the preperation of the cinnamon rolls, which turned into an allll day baking extravaganza. By 8am, everything was set to go but then I got hit with a nasty headache and tummy upset. So I decided to take a short nap with Channing, which of course is always a special treat, especially as he's growing so fast. I felt much better after I woke up but Josh and Lucas had already had breakfast and opened their stockings. So, we jumped right into opening presents. It was so fun watching Lucas opening presents. We also had him handout presents between Josh and I. I think he enjoyed seeing us opening presents too. He'd shriek with joy at the sight of a box and yell, "Booooox!" This year from us he got a Thomas reusable "coloring" book (uses a water pen and the page turns colors but becomes blank again after it dries), some books, matching pajamas with Channing and the big one...a train table/train set! He's been playing non-stop with it ever since! I got a new Bible (a study Bible, yay!), a pair of grey flats, pyrex bowl set, a kitchen scale and a new printer. Cooking supplies and a printer for couponing...see a trend? Josh got a new pair of shoes, Under Armour socks, pajama pants and a wallet. After presents I made breakfast, which was just about lunch time, so Lucas had pancakes for breakfast and lunch. It was Christmas after all.

The Goods



No real tree for us, for the 3rd year in a row. We've just run out of any possible space for one. And I wasn't really up for redecorating a tree every day, with two kids in the mix. So we went with a four foot undecorated fake tree.

 

Sweet Channing, always smiling

1st present...

Matching pajamas for the boys! I had originally planned for Lucas to open this present Christmas Eve and wake up in them on Christmas morning. But because we switched our present opening day at the last minute, we quickly changed them into their pajamas after this picture.=)

Too cute!

I never got a picture of them together nor did I get a picture of them that night in their matching plaid button-ups...fail. But I was too busy enjoying the moment.

Somehow, Channing kept getting ahold of wrapping paper. A few days later there was some in his diaper. Ooops!

I started the tradition of new ornaments for the boys. Channing got a pair of porcelin baby booties with his birth stats written on the soles. Lucas got Curious George, it's one of his favorite shows.

"Keeeese" for the camera. Notice all his new cars lined up.

Train and Robot movie from Grammy

Still all smiles

A few seconds later, the tree landed on him...another reason we went with a small, fake tree.

New books! A gift set I got at Women of Faith back in October. Includes a toddler nightly devotional.

Opening my kitchen scale. I am so excited to put this to use. There are quite a few gluten free recipes that use weight instead of measurements because all the flours weigh differently.

I thought he'd be so confused by the diaper box but he excitedly yelled "Box". The train pieces were inside.

Putting together the new train set.

"Where'd it go?"

Daddy building the tracks.

Loving his new train set!

"My 1st Christmas" outfit borrowed from cousin Levi. I think he looks like Mario wearing the frog suit from Super Mario Bros.

 
   I spent the rest of the afternoon finishing the cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning, the chocolates that I had been working on all week and prepping the yummy apple pie that I was bringing to Grandma and Grandpa's for family dinner. I had a lot of successes baking this week so I hope to post my favorite recipes.
   We spent the evening at my Grandparents house in Centralia eating their Christmas Eve shrimp (SO yummy!), opening presents and eating sweets! I wish my brother could have been with us. He's currently deployed in the Navy, on his way to give some relief to another ship. It was the first year in many that my step siblings have been with us on Christmas, not after, and it would have been nice to complete the family celebration with my brother. It was a fun night, chaotic at time with two toddlers and a baby and LOTS of presents. But it was really fun.
   Christmas morning I popped the cinnamon rolls in the oven in just enough time to get dressed and rush out the door with them piping hot. We spent the morning with Josh's dad, brother, sister and her two kids. I brought the cinnamon rolls and a crockpot egg casserole that I had made at 1am early that morning and let it cook overnight. It was a yummy breakfast and I was am so proud of the cinnamon rolls. I even found a frosting recipe that tastes just like the stuff from Cinnabon. I still have some in the fridge and rolls in the freezer, hmmm....midnight snack? After breakfast, came a lot more presents and we came back home so the boys could nap. For the first time in years, we were able to spend Christmas day with my mom. It was such a fun time! She spent the day here, playing with the boys and chatting while I made dinner...a crockpot turkey breast, green beans almondine, Joshs' mom's yummy hashbrown casserole and crescent rolls made from the leftover cinnamon roll dough (9 cups of flour, enough said). It was a delicious dinner! I couldn't wait for my mom to open her present from Josh, my brother and myself...a KitchenAid mixer! She was sooo excited! Thank you pre-black Friday sale at Kohl's!
   It was a wonderful Christmas season and ultimately, I'm so thankful for Jesus. Without His birth, there would be no reason for Christmas. I'm still trying to think of traditions that I want to do each year to celebrate His birth and make it special for our family. It's so hard not to get wrapped up in all the hoolabaloo that is Christmas in America. I admit, I had a hard time remembering the Reason for the Season this year. Next year, I will work on prepping earlier and spending less time "getting things done." I hope you and yours had a special and memorable year!

I have a new addiction...Pinterest and food blogs. Plus, recipes you'll want to try!

    Have you heard of it? It's amazing! It's a website to bookmark all things awesome. Recipes, clothes, organizing ideas, crafts, hair tips, all things kids, holiday inspiration. I could go on and on. The best part is it's photo driven so you don't have to remember what that recipe was called. You just go to your Recipe Board and all the recipes you've "pinned" are there to view and drool over. My favorite boards are the recipes and crafts. I could pin and pin and dream of the day I actually have time to put these ideas to work. Until then, I'll just try new recipes and pin everything else. Here's a few that I've tried or I'm planning to try in the next week...
**UPDATED 11/15/2011...

Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcakes This is probably my second favorite blog. I talk more about this recipe here.

Enchiladas Verdes This is my favorite food blog. Almost every post I want to recreate! I've never made my own enchilada sauce before until this recipe. It was delicious! I still have some in the freezer to add to some last minute enchiladas.

Gluten Free Breadmaker White Bread Only my second time using the bread maker my sister gave me and the first time I made gf bread. Success! I've been meaning to make a loaf again but our freezer is full to the max and even though I ate at least one slice a day last time, I still had a few slices go bad. I need some freezer space so I can keep a stock on hand. But if you know much about gf bread, you know that it's dry and crumbly and almost always stored in the freezer. This stuff is delicious fresh and soft like "normal" bread.

Cauliflower Pizza Crust I know, sounds completely crazy right?! It's too good to be true! I made this a few days ago and it was easier than it looks and so worth it. A handful of ingredients...cauliflower, mozzarella cheese, an egg and some spices. The best part: an expensive gf pizza crust! No more $5 pizza crust mixes. A few tips I learned from making this...If you have a food processor, use the cheese grater attachment and grate your cauliflower first, then your cheese but keep them separate because most likely you'll have lots of grated cauliflower left over. I just saved it all in a freezer ziploc and I'm going to pull out what I need. However, you could just grate enough for one batch and cook the rest for meals later in the week. It says to cook the cauliflower for 8 minutes in the microwave. I did that and the cauliflower came out dried and burnt. Thankfully, there's plenty of cauliflower leftover if you buy a whole head so I just started over and this time cooked it for 3 minutes. Perfection. I also added 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes to the crust "batter" and it was the perfect amount of spice. After baking the crust, I topped it with alfredo sauce, green peppers, mushrooms, turkey pepperoni, olives, basil, mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. You only broil it until the cheese melts, which I love because it leaves the veggies a little crispy. I had a friend try this a few days after I recommended it. Her family started a gf diet a few months ago and her kids gobbled it up! I dare you to try it.

Stuffed Peppers **I did make these, as I promised. They will now be a regular on our rotating dinners! They were so yummy! I made a few changes, I added some of the grated cauliflower that was leftover from the pizza crust. I also left out any of the seasonings as I figured the sausage would be seasoned enough. It was a good choice. It was so yummy! I didn't expect to actually like eating the pepper itself but now I know there's a reason someone came up with the idea of a stuffed pepper. And it wasn't just for looks. If you're bored with your usual meals, this is a must!
Gluten Free Zucchini Bread I made these last week. I made them into muffins so they were easy to grab and go. That's a big disadvantage to a gluten free diet, nothing is quick. And with two boys and something always planned, it's nice to have a couple muffins to throw in the diaper bag. I added my own touch by throwing in some mini chocolate chips and chopped pecans. Even my friends who eat regular flour products loved these gf muffins!

Grilled Balsamic Bruschetta Chicken **I was inspired by a similar dish I had at Gordon Biersh in Seattle during Women of Faith. Then I found this recipe on Pinterest. I used our George Forman to grill the chicken. I wanted a smaller batch of the bruschetta, and since I usually don't follow recipes exactly, my bruschetta had way too much garlic! But now I know for next time. I would definitely recommend this recipe. I served it with rice and salad.
Meatloaf Cupcakes Haha, sounds gross but check out the post and you'll see what I'm talking about. I was inspired by this idea so I tried it my own way one day. I don't ever follow a recipe for meatloaf, I always just mix in what I have on hand. But my newest and favorite meatloaf method is to put carrot, onion, garlic and celery into my mini food processor and pretty much pulverize everything. This saves a lot of chopping time and it makes the meatloaf so moist! Plus, it adds a lot of vegetables. It works great for your picky eaters.=) After seeing this recipe, I now put my meatloaf into mini bread size pans (I have a pan that has 8 mini-loafs). I bake my meatloaf until fully cooked, which by the way, it cooks a lot faster in these pans than doing it all in one loaf pan. While the meatloaf is cooking, I boil my potatoes and make the mashed potatoes. Once the meatloaf is done, I top them with the mashed potatoes and sometimes add cheese to the top, sometimes not. You could still make your gravy and add it when plating, if you don't like the cheese idea. Then I bake with the mashed potatoes on top, for another 7-10 minutes. It makes a beautiful presentation and there's no sloppy slices that fall apart because each mini loaf is a perfect serving size.

Hasselback Potatoes I made these about 2 weeks ago. They were really easy (slightly time consuming to cut the slices evenly but I only made 3 so it wasn't too bad) and they were SO yummy! Crispy on the outside, tender on the inside. I did have to cook mine a lot longer than the recipe calls but my potatoes were big so keep that in mind when timing your meal.

    I hope you enjoyed this recipe roundup. I love love love finding new recipes to try and I love sharing the yummiest ones with friends. Happy eating!