About Me

Words to describe me include: fun-loving, kind, caring, outgoing and up for a new adventure. Some of my interests in a nutshell, gardening, crafts, cooking, the outdoors, camping, hiking, photography, and creating positive relationships.

Monday, September 6, 2010

On the menu: Meatloaf, Asparagus, and Cream Cheese Drop Cookies with Fresh Raspberries

For dinner tonight, Steve declared this his Ultimate Favorite meal EVER!  
Edit: I now use herb flavored bread crumbs, 8 oz.

Things I changed from the recipe below: 
  • I used 1# ground turkey and 1# pork sausage.
  • I added a packet of dry onion soup mix.
  • I did not have any crackers, so I crushed up 8 oz. of seasoned croutons.  
  • It is very important to follow the directions for baking, use a 9x13 and shape it into a loaf in the 9x13 so it does not get too mushy or juicy.  




Meatloaf:

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds ground beef
  • 1/2 onion, chopped
  • 1 (10 ounce) package saltine crackers, crushed
  • salt to taste
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon steak sauce
  • 2 eggs
  • 3/4 cup water

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
  2. In a large bowl, combine the beef, onion, crushed crackers, salt, ground black pepper, steak sauce, eggs and water and mix well. Transfer to an ungreased 9x13 inch baking dish. Form into a loaf about 6x10 inches.
  3. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 1 hour, or until center is completely cooked.
Asparagus:
Put a little oil in the bottom of the pan, cooked until the tips started to turn brown.  Then sprinkled a little parmesan on top while still in the pan.  Take out once the parmesan is melted.  I forgot to add a fresh clove of garlic, I have done that in the past.  However, the asparagus without the garlic worked well with the meal, due to the amount of spices in the meatloaf.  
 On tomorrows agenda:
I'm going to make these cookies but I'm not going to put in coconut and candied cherries.  I will be topping them with fresh raspberries before baking them.

Cream cheese drop cookies with vanilla, coconut, and candied cherries. 
Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup butter
  • 2 packages (3 ounces each) cream cheese, room temperature
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tablespoons milk
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup toasted coconut*
  • pecan halves or halved candied cherries

Preparation:

Cream together the butter, cream cheese, sugar, salt, and vanilla. Add egg and milk; beat well. Stir in the flour and toasted coconut. Drop cookie batter from teaspoons onto ungreased baking sheet then press a pecan half or cherry half into the top of each. Bake at 325° for 18 to 20 minutes. Remove cookies to a rack to cool.
Makes about 5 dozen cream cheese cookies. *To toast coconut in the oven, spread coconut on a baking sheet in a single layer. Bake at 325°, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 10 minutes.