Pasta and Meatballs Meatloaf

(adapted from Better Homes and Gardens)

Pasta and Meatloaf - two very basic and staple meals in this household... you can imagine how wowed I was when I stumbled upon this mash up of mini meat loaves stuffed with pasta and then placed on a huge piece of garlic bread.  Oh holy delicious! I had to make it and did and we ate until our bellies burst. It was absolutely easy to make and you should really give it a go. Really really.

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

1 1/2 lbs ground beef

1/2  Cup dried penne pasta

3 Hoagie buns - make sure you find wide ones. I wasn't able

    to so I found a wide fresh baguette loaf from the bakery,

    which worked fantastically.

1  Medium onion (chopped)

3  Garlic cloves (minced)

2  Eggs

3/4  Cup milk

2/3  Cups fine dry italian bread crumbs

1/4  Cup grated parmesan cheese

2 Teaspoons Italian seasoning

1 Cup pasta sauce

1 Tablespoon olive oil

Shaved parmesan cheese

Parsley

Garlic Butter

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Boil the penne noodles, drain and set aside to cool.
3. Cut each bread roll into half (for a total of 6 individual pieces).
4. In a skillet, saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil. Medium heat.
5. In a bowl, combine the eggs and milk - whisk gently.  
6. Next add the bread crumbs, bread crumbs and grated parmesan cheese.
7. Fold in the ground beef and cooked pasta.
8. Form six mini loaves. Don't worry about them being perfect The mixture will be soft and lumpy.
9. Place the loafs on a baking pan (cookie sheet) and bake uncovered for 25-30 mins or until completely cooked thru.
10. Butter the bread with the garlic butter and bake for 10 mins or until golden brown.
11. While the bread is baking, heat up the pasta sauce.
12. Spread sauce on each slice of bread, sprinkle with some shaved parmesan then top with a meat loaf. Sprinkle some more shaved parmesan and garnish with parsley.
13. Serve with a side of pasta sauce for dipping.

Its that easy! Make pasta, make meatloaf, make garlic bread. Put it all together and Mmmmmm.

Enchilada Stacks

I don't know why I felt I had to be overly cautious when making these, aside from the fact that it was my first time trying. I'm somewhat disappointed in how it looks but the taste is oh so good, even as leftovers the next day. And with green tabasco.  Next time, and there will be a next time, I am going to totally up it and fill it without hesitation and have it oozing and dripping with goodness.

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:
1 package of tortillas (I used the 8 inch - 10 pack ones).
1 lb lean ground beef (although honestly, next time I may opt for 1.5 lbs)
1 can red enchilada sauce (20 oz)
1 package taco seasoning 
Shredded cheddar cheese (8 - 16 oz or more if you like cheese)
1 can refried beans (16oz)
1 can diced green chilies (or you can cut fresh ones)
Scallions to top

* Note - add any other additional ingredients you like in your enchiladas.  The taco seasoning isn't a necessity, you can just use enchilada sauce mixed into the beef, however I found it needed an extra something so I threw in the seasoning.

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Brown ground beef in a skillet.  

Add 1/2 cup of the enchilada sauce to the ground beef and stir.  Add the taco seasoning now too if you plan to use it.  Take it off the heat and set aside.

Spray a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray.  This is important to do otherwise the first layer of tortilla will stick to the baking sheet.  

Place one tortilla on baking sheet and top with a layer of beef followed by cheese, then the diced green chilies. Pour some enchilada sauce over it. I did not measure out how much I used, i just poured loosely. You can do more or less per your taste.

Next, add a tortilla on top  and spread a layer of the refried beans. 
Layer three will be the same as layer one. 

Keep following this pattern for five tortillas, but when you get to the last (top) tortilla, dip it in enchilada sauce and set on top.  Sprinkle with cheese and then cover the whole stack with foil.

Bake for 30-40 minutes.  Remove foil, add a thin layer of enchilada sauce and some more cheese. 
Bake uncovered for 5 minutes so the cheese melts.

Garnish with the cut scallions and serve!

Sloppy Devils

Who doesn't love an all American classic on a Sunday - Sloppy Joes!  So in the spirit of Halloween, I've decided to make Sloppy Devils.

What You'll Need:

• 1lb Ground Beef
• 1 Can Sloppy Joe Mix (or you can make your own)
• 1/2 Red Bell Pepper
• 12 Slider Buns (I used the potato roll kind)
• Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

Directions:

• Cook your ground beef and add the sloppy joe mix as instructed on the can.
• Make little horns with the bell pepper.
• Scoop the sloppy joe onto the buns and top with a pile of the cheese.
• Cut two small slits on the top of the bun and insert the horns.
• Devour the devils. Like a devil.

Baked Bloody Rats

Halloween is a big favorite in our house. I'm pretty sure its up there with Christmas, if not even more - from the decorations, to the dressing up, to the trick or treating and gobs of sugar consumed, to the pranks, and now the newest addition of Halloween cooking.  I hunted around for some good ideas this season and came up with a handful of things that were fun and easy to make and some even a little gross looking, like these baked bloody rats. Plain and simple, they are meatloaf balls stuffed with gooey melted cheese and covered in spaghetti sauce. Baked and served on a bed of mashed potatoes, they were absolutely delicious despite the ewwwww's I got when I set the plates down at the table. Success!

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

Rats ~

• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1/2 c. dry bread crumbs
• 1/4 c. milk
• 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 tsp salt and pepper or preferred meatloaf spices.
• 1/4 c onion, minced
• 1 egg
• Cubed mozzarella cheese

Sauce~

• 1 Jar of Prego or whatever spaghetti sauce you like.

Decorations~

• Carrots
• Dry Spaghetti Noodles
• Raisins

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix ground beef, chopped onions, bread crumbs, egg, and seasonings.

Take out a palms worth of meat mixture (about 1/3 cup) and roll it into a ball.

Press it out somewhat flat and add about 3 blocks of the cheese in the center. 

Mold the meat around the cheese and shape it out to a point - like a rats body. 

Place your rats in a baking pan or sheet and  then add spaghetti sticks in the rear for the tail.  The noodle will cook just fine when you bake these suckers.

Pour the Prego sauce over the rats to completely cover them.  Its ok if you get sauce on the tail.

Cover the entire thing with aluminum foil and bake for about 45 minutes.

Now take the aluminum off and you will have what looks like a total mess. The cheese may have oozed out too.

Bake for another 20 minutes, uncovered. Scooping the sauce around the rats, spoon it over them from time to 

time so that it glazes a little.

                                                                                                         

To decorate your rat, simple circle cuts of carrots will serve as the ears. You don't have to cook them, although if you insist, you could steam them. I'm too lazy to bother. Make two slits in the rats head and press the carrots in there.

For the eyes, I just grabbed a couple raisins, and then for the whiskers I broke off six pieces of dry spaghetti noodles and stuck them in the face. 

Place your rats on a bed of mashed potatoes or spaghetti noodles and pour some of the sauce around it to give it a bloody trail. How cool are these?!!

Meat Demons

 

(adapted from Taste of Home)

Meat Demons are the greatest little evil meat pies ever!! These things started out as pumpkins but once carved and cooked they took on a totally different feel and thanks to a fellow meat demon lover (I don't even know if that sounded right), they have officially been dubbed: Meat Demon -  instead of Pumpkin Turnovers.. or something equally lame like that.

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

• 1/2 pound ground beef
• 1tbs chopped onion
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 cup yellow mustard
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 2 tubes (16.3 ounces each) large refrigerated flaky biscuits (Pillsbury Grands is perfect).
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• Nonstick cooking spray

DIRECTIONS:

So ideally, you need a couple tubes of Pillsbury biscuit dough. I didn't have any and I wasn't about to run out to the store,  so I resorted to using Pillsbury Crescent dough because I had at least four tubes of that. The outcome is pretty much similar, its just much more of a pain to have to roll it into a ball and flatten it out. The major plus of using the biscuit dough is that its already round and you just have to cut it in half (two flat pieces).  The point here is that it can be substituted with what you have available. 

What a pain!! Make sure you buy the biscuit dough instead and save yourself the time! There are 8 perfect biscuits in each tube. Carefully slice each one in half so you have 2 disks (this will be the top and bottom of the turnover).  If you use other dough like I did, just roll it into a ball and flatten into 3-4 inch disks.

Pre-heat the oven to 350.

Cook your ground beef in a skillet with the chopped onions. You can add salt, pepper, or whatever hamburger seasoning you'd like.  Once cooked, add the shredded cheese and mix it in, followed by the ketchup and mustard.  Blend completely.

Spray a baking sheet with the nonstick spray. 

Place one disk down and scoop about a tablespoon worth of the meat mixture into it. More if there is room.

Carve out your pumpkin, ghost, demon face in the 2nd (top) disk, and place it on top of the meat mixture.  

Pinch all around the sides to seal the pocket.

Lightly brush the surface with the egg and bake for 10-15 minutes or according to the dough package.  You basically want the outside to be a nice golden brown. 

 

                   

DINNER IS SERVED!