I'll be the first to say it, I'm not perfect. I'm not an expert. Not a parenting expert, not a lifestyle expert, not a cooking expert, or even a time management expert. I just know what works for me and my family. Most of the time. There are times when I forget to buy a cake mix and have to take the kids to pick up some cupcakes to take to school for their birthday, or pick up a cake after work because I didn't get one baked in time due to my busy schedule. I feel horrible, and will always remember this year, and make no mistake, it won't happen again....Until 1/6/16.
Today was a split shift for me, and I was scheduled to work until 8 tonight, so David was in charge of the cooking. Spaghetti and meatballs it is. David asked if he was in the blog, because he felt that he was doing the majority of the cooking this week. Apparently he doesn't appreciate all my prep work to make his cooking easier. I told him that yes, he was in the blog, so he'd better behave himself. When I came home from work he was cleaning the kitchen!!! I gotta tell you that I had very mixed emotions when I saw this. I didn't know whether to be territorial of my kitchen, or turned on watching him clean up the mess. I can tell you that I definitely felt appreciated, and he gets major brownie points for that.
When the family eats spaghetti, I make spaghetti squash for myself. The recipe for the meatballs came from my grandmother's recipe box. Picture a 1970's avocado green box with recipes from Betty Crocker. So I guess the recipe is essentially Betty Crocker's, but I will give the credit to my wonderful grandma - my dad's mom. This recipe is called Three-way Beef Loaf. Not the most appetizing name, but it makes a meat loaf and then enough meat balls for 2 different meals. My family loves meat loaf, so most of the time I cut the recipe into 1/3, and make just the meat loaf, but sometimes I will make the recipe in full, and then freeze the meatballs, for occasions just like this evening. We had another kale chopped salad with the spaghetti tonight.
Today happened to be my son's 10th birthday, and I did indeed forget to buy a cake mix. I was scheduled to work until 8 this evening, but had a cancellation, which happens a little too often in my line of work. I took off early, and went to the store to pick up a cake to surprise my son. I made it home an hour early, and we were able to sing happy birthday, and enjoy some cake before their bed time.
Three-Way Beef Loaf
3 eggs, beaten
1 1/4 C milk
1 C dry bread crumbs or 4 slices bread,torn into small pieces
3 pounds ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1. mix all the ingredients. Press half in an ungreased loaf pan, 9x5x3 inches. Cover and refrigerate for up to 24 hours.
2. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Spoon remaining beef mixture into ungreased jelly roll pan, 15.5x10.5x1 inch; pat into oblong, about 10x6 inches. Cut oblong into 1 inch squares; separate squares. Bake uncovered 20 minutes. Divide squares between two 1-quart freezer containers. Cover and label; freeze up to 2 months.
Bake beef loaf uncovered in 350 degree oven 1 1/2 hours. Top with catsup. 6 servings
I can make the meat loaf from memory. My family loves it. I do make some changes that they don't know about. Instead of bread crumbs, I use oatmeal, and for some reason, I leave the salt out of 99% of all recipes I follow. I just don't put it in. Sometimes, the meal ends up a bit bland, but most of the time, it's perfectly fine, and you can't even tell.
Tonight, I made me spaghetti squash and the salad, all David had to do was make the spaghetti, and then take the meatballs out of the freezer, and put them in the sauce, while the sauce cooks/heats up over a medium-low heat.
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