happy monday everyone! this is a particularly exciting monday for myself...as it is my turn to put together a delicious meal and blog about it. i'll be honest, this has been on my mind alllllllll day. i'm steph. registered dietitian (don't let that scare you away) and graduate student. i'm originally from kansas city (so expect some barbeque entries to come) a daytime job plus night time school means i don't always have a lot of time to put into my meals. for this reason, my style equals quick. aaaaaaaaaand fine....healthy too. this doesn't mean i won't sneak in an occasional fatty filled tasty treat. everything in moderation!
tonight i am putting together a super easy meatloaf for the girls. i derived this recipe off of kraftfoods.com a while back. it is not uncommon for me to throw together a meatloaf at the beginning of a busy week. you can make it as big as you want and eat off of it for several meals. i LOVE taking leftovers for lunch. another beautiful thing about meatloaf...you can spin it a bunch of different ways. mexican. barbeque. cheeseburger. or tonight...italian! if you've got some hamburger meat and an egg in the fridge, you've got the potential for a great meatloaf.
so here's the drill. first, check your ground beef (or turkey)....meaning...check the date...and check the fat content. yes, i went there. try to pick the 90% or leaner meats! throw your meat in a large bowl, crack an egg, and roll up your sleeves. i use parmesean cheese instead of bread crumbs in an effort to lower the carbohydrate content in the meatloaf. just eyeball it! then add oregano, thyme, italian seasoning, salt, pepper....whatever looks good as you rummage through the spice cabinent. then....get messy. use your hands to combine the meat conconction. add 1/2 jar of spaghetti sauce (doesn't matter what i kind. i usually just pick the one with the lowest sugar, but do what you gotta do). eventually you want to form your loaf.
next, toss some yellow squash or zucchini in a saucepan with some cooking spray (why use oil when spray will do?). i went with frozen yellow squash tonight...my particular produce section was looking a little weak on options. saute for a bit, add some fresh cut mushrooms..throw in remaining jar of sauce. put your loaf in a pan, add the sauce...and heat over to 375. cover with foil and cook for at least 25 minutes....it may depend on the size of your loaf. this is where a meat thermometer comes in handy. then take the foil off, add some 2% mozzarella cheese and put it back in for about 10 minutes. tonight i will be serving meatloaf along side a spinach and pear salad with poppyseed dressing. mmmmm. i love cooking for my friends....but not as much as i love cooking with them. a particular shout out to my dear friend marie who will always be invited to my house for dinner. the best thing about marie walking into your kitchen...she gasps loudly and then says "STEPH!!!" as if you've just mastered the art of all things cookery. never gets old! there's the doorbell. time to enjoy!
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