Kid Creations - Mini Meatloaves

My oldest has decided I'm boring in the kitchen. He has reached the tender age of 8 1/2 and is "bored" with my menu choices. The child is a budding foodie. He has exotic and varied tastes and I love that about him.

In our house, whenever I hear complaining, I figure that person needs to come up with a solution to whatever problem is bugging them. Since I wasn't doing the complaining about the food, I didn't think I need to change. I pulled out the kid cookbooks and said, "pick what YOU want to make for dinner". He actually thought about it seriously, read through the cookbook, and then showed me his pick...Everyday Drumsticks. This recipe is from a very old Betty Crocker's Children's Cookbook that my Mom used to cook from as a child.

The recipe actually cracks me up. In essence, it's a meatloaf on a stick, creating a "drumstick". I figured we really didn't need weapons sticks at the table, so we settled on just the "drum" part of the recipe. These have nothing to do with what you usually think of in terms of drumsticks. There is no chicken involved in the recipe. It's an easy recipe that Super Bear made ALL by himself. I seriously did not help him except to stir the cranberry sauce. See?? I told you to buy those extra bags of cranberries over Thanksgiving and put them in the freezer.

Mini Meatloaves
1 lb ground beef (I used venison)
1 c soft bread crumbs
salt and pepper
2 eggs
bacon (optional)
2 c cranberries
1/2 c water
1/2 c sugar
zest of one orange
1 tsp nutmeg


Combine all in a large bowl and knead with your hands to really get it mixed well. Shape into mini balls or rectangles. Wrap with 1/2 bacon strips. Place on a slotted baking sheet or wire rack on top of a baking sheet to catch the grease. Broil for 10 minutes. Watch carefully for burning bacon!


In the meantime, combine cranberries, water, sugar, zest, and nutmeg into a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the cranberries are popped and soft. The mixture will thicken. Serve over meatloaf.

Easy Roasted Chicken

Crunchy, crispy skin - that's what half of my family goes for. I am in the other half with tender, moist meat. Whichever side you pick, this roasted chicken has it all. It's as easy as picking up a rotisserie chicken from the deli and much tastier, not to mention cheaper. For about $.70/lb you can easily get two, maybe three meals out of a whole chicken. It's a great meal to make for company since it looks very delicious. My favorite recipe for roasting chicken comes from a Dacor oven cookbook. It's meant for a convention microwave (I was lucky enough to get one of these beauties when we moved into our house and it is incredible) but I have converted the recipe to a traditional oven for those of you mere mortals. Superpowers are found in the convention microwave. Where else can you bake brownies and muffins, turn around and roast a chicken, nuke some frozen veggies and top it all off with popcorn? If you have a convection microwave, you don't need anything else (well except an oven big enough for Thanksgiving day).

Roast Chicken

1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground coriander
dash of pepper

5-6 lb roasting chicken (thawed, emptied of disgusting giblets, rinsed with water and patted dry)
2 tbsp margarine, melted
1/2 c minced onion (and yes, I've substituted 1/4c dried minced onion)
1/2 c plain yogurt (again, I've used Greek and when desperate vanilla, but I wouldn't recommend strawberry)
1/2 c half and half (or whipping cream or whole milk)
1 tsp turmeric (this I never have, but I'm gonna invest one of these days)
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. The official recipe says to combine the first three spices and rub them into the chicken. I'm not a fan of rubbing chickens. When I get that intimate with them, I only think about our Girls in the backyard, not good for my appetite. So I cheat and combine all the spices with the melted butter, yogurt, and half and half. Then you spread this mixture all over the chicken with a sauce brush  - no touching necessary. Once the chicken looks like a kid who's overprotective mom slathered them with a little too much sunscreen, you are ready to cook.

Put in the oven for about an hour. The white meat should no longer be pink and the leg should come out easily. Take it out of the oven and let it rest for a while. You can build the chicken a little teepee out of foil to keep it moist during it's naptime if you like.

There it is, no trussing, tying, stuffing or even touching the bird. A very easy main dish. Keep napkins nearby when eating this, because it's crispy, crunchy, moist AND tender! And leftovers are perfect for any meal calling for cooked chopped chicken. Although, it's likely you won't have enough leftovers because this stuff makes the best chicken sandwiches.

The RIGHT Way to Eat Chili

All month long we've been participating in this Eat From the Pantry Challenge inspired by my favorite coupon blog. Here is what I've learned about my cooking habits after doing it for 3 weeks:

• I have enough food in our house to feed my family for three months at any given time! I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a crazy thing.
• I am terrible, really terrible about planning a menu ahead of time. My cooking is guided by "what I feel at the moment" so I'm constantly changing the menus I had planned.
• We have leftovers at least twice a week and call it Refrigerator Night. We just pull everything out and each person decides what they want to eat from the stash. I usually make so much on cooking nights we would be wasting food if we didn't do this. 
• I love to cook but not the same things over and over. I don't cook the same thing twice in one month, sometimes I won't cook that same thing twice in one year. We love variety so eating the same thing over and over just doesn't work for us.
• I can't live without lettuce and milk. I did breakdown midway and buy both of those things along with some grapefruit. 

When we have dinner, we almost always have a meat and a couple of different frozen or fresh veggies (which thanks to my neighbor we have enjoyed carrots this week and last). I often serve homemade bread if we are not having rice, pasta or potatoes. Many times, the husband and I will have salad to go with our meal. The kids will only eat salad if it has ginger dressing on it. And only the Makoto Ginger Dressing will do the trick. This stuff tastes JUST like what you get at a Japanese Steak House. If you like those house salads, don't waste your money trying other ginger dressings from the store, because they are terrible. Makoto is really fresh and gingery tasting. (FYI, Makoto also carries the white sauce they give you for your vegetables.)

Here's what we ate for dinner this month while we were trying to whittle down our stockpile:

• Venison Chili with Beans - served over rice with cheddar cheese and sour cream; the kids love it this way (pictured above)
• Vegetable Beef Soup and Sourdough Cornbread - leftovers I stored in the freezer
• Spaghetti - a Christmas gift from my amazing Aunt Sharon
• Corn Potato Chowder - with homemade bread and salad
• Roast Chicken and Sauteed Cabbage - the chicken roasts quickly in my convection microwave that came with our house
• Spinach Salad - will post my soon-to-be-sister-in-law's tasty dressing soon 
• Chicken Broccoli Devine - hubbie's childhood fave
• Venison Meatloaf - with corn and mashed potatoes, comfort food at it's best
• Homemade Pizza - with sourdough crust
• Venison Stroganoff over Egg Noodles- I tried a new recipe we didn't like, I'll go back to the onion soup and sour cream deal next time
• Baked Fish with Parmesan Cream Sauce
• Venison Tacos - using the chip and dip tray method
• Tomato Soup and Grilled Ham and Cheese
• Sweet Meatballs with Rice - you know the kind of sauce made with grape jelly and chili sauce
• Pumpkin Ravioli with Chicken Sausage - will post more on this later as I used wonton wrappers to make the ravioli and it was very easy
• Spiral Sliced Ham with Cherry Sauce- frozen ham leftover from Christmas a friend gave me cherries her mother had canned and I made up a recipe for the sauce
• Breakfast for dinner - omelets (from our fresh eggs), sourdough pancakes, and venison sausage
• Broccoli Cheese Soup - leftovers I froze, made with lamb stock and very yummy

For this week, we had the chili last night. We'll have stirfry one night, but I have no idea for the rest of the week. I imagine it will involve chicken, since I'm kinda tired of venison. I'm excited about going to the grocery store and giving in to my gluttony and desire just to cruise the aisles. Ahhh, fresh fruit, crisp veggies, and dairy products, how I long for you. I'll have to be careful not to overspend on next Monday!!

Pesto Chicken - Fast and Easy

So what do give to the man who has everything when he turns 60? A party of course! My Uncle turned 60 this month and we threw him a party with all the family. Well my Uncle is a very healthy eater - organic and whatnot, so I knew I had to step up my game. I made grilled chicken tenderloins based with homemade pesto (see recipe below). We had potato salad with a vinegar base instead of mayo, fruit salad, deviled eggs, fresh bread and for dessert watermelon sorbet and birthday cake.

Pesto

4 c basil leaves

3 cloves of chopped garlic

1/2 c pine nuts

1/2- 1 c olive oil

1 tsp salt

1/2 c grated Pecorino (or Parmesan) cheese

Put basil, garlic, and nuts in the food processor and blend.  Add oil through the hole in the top as it processing.  Finally add salt and cheese.  Freezes beautifully in small baggies or the Food Saver Vac Seal. Course, you could use this over pasta, but I like to think of new uses, like chicken, fish, or even on crusty bread.  Thin it out with more oil and some vinegar and you have a salad dressing.