Muffin pan Meatloaf

I got this recipe from the Good Housekeeping Children's Cookbook and it was a huge hit with the family! I didn't have all of the ingredients so I adapted the recipe to account for those differences.

Here is my version:

Muffin Pan Meatloaf

Ingredients

• 1 small onion
• 2 cups of frozen corn kernels (thawed)
• 1 large egg
• 1 lb of ground beef
• 1/2 lb of ground turkey
• 1 cup bread crumbs
• Salt, pepper, garlic powder to taste
• 2 tsp rosemary
  
  
  Directions
  
  1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
  2. Spray the muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray (I didn't have that, so I just rubbed the cups with canola oil)
  3. Finely chop onion
  4. In a large  mixing bowl, mix the ground beef, ground turkey, finely chopped onion, egg ,  corn, and egg. Use your hands to mix it all until well combined.
  5. Add the seasoning and bread crumbs. Use your hands to work those in too.
  6. With your hands make large meatballs that will fit into the muffin pan cups and stick out a bit.
  7. Place the muffin pan in the oven for about  40 minutes. Use a meat thermometer to make sure the meatloaves are cooked through. The meat should reach between 165 and 170 F.
  8. The meatloaves should be nice and browned on the outside.
  9. Serve with roasted vegetables and rice.
  
  
            

          

         

This recipe was easy to make, it's pretty healthy and it's different. The kids liked helping make it too, so that was fun.

Do you have any special recipes that the kids enjoy helping with?

Homemade Fruit and Energy Bars

I started making these fruit/energy bars for my older daughter who is an athlete and trains hard for part of the year. During that time, she relies heavily on "power bars" that she eats before or after practice. I decided to make my own healthy fruit bars as a way to save money and to ensure that my daughter is not consuming too much sugar.

My daughter absolutely loves these!

Fruit Bar Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 cup of dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup of dates
• 1/4 cup of oats
• 1/2 cup of raw whole almonds
• 1 tbsp of honey
• a small handful of semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)

Instructions

• Put the cranberries, dates, oats and honey in a food processor and mix until everything is well chopped (small pieces).
• Crush the almonds separately (almonds will turn to powder in the food processor).
• Mix the crushed almonds with the rest of the ingredients and stir well.
• Cut small pieces of plastic wrap and have them ready for wrapping the fruit bars.
• Take a handful of the mixture and work it in your hands to form bars (ours are never perfect, they are a different size each time)
• Making the bars is the hardest step because the mixture sticks to your hands. I've added a video to show you how I do this step.
• Once you have a bar, place it on the plastic wrap and start to roll the bar into the plastic, molding the bar as you wrap it.
• Refrigerate the bars to set.
• They should be eaten with 10 days.

This is what I used, but any brand will do.

Almonds from Sam's Club and Wegman's
Cranberries.

This is what the mixture looks like after
processing.

Wrapped fruit bars.

Another one.

A quick note about the process: rolling and shaping these little suckers are a major pain. They stick to your hands but don't want to bind. You have to patiently work them until they are semi together, then use the plastic wrap to shape them better. Here's a short video showing you the rolling/shaping process. Hope this helps!

Substitutions:

If you don't like dates, you can use other dried fruit. I've made these with dried cherries and it turned out great.  You can also use walnuts instead of almonds.

If you make these, stop by again to let me know how you like it. And if you made any changes, I'd love to hear about that too!

Frozen Watermelon Treats

There's nothing more refreshing on a hot summer day than watermelon. We love watermelon here in our house. Last weekend I bought a whole watermelon thinking we were having lots of people over for a barbecue. Well, it turned out to be not so many people and I was left with a lot of watermelon.

I didn't want it to go bad so here's what I did with it. With one simple recipe, I made 3 different watermelon treats: watermelon ice pops, watermelon "italian ice", and watermelon frozen drinks. By the way, I like home made treats (or anything else for that matter) because it is fresh,  healthier and I know all the ingredients going into it. No chemicals, nothing processed!!

Here's the ridiculously simple recipe!!

2 cups of watermelon (no seeds)
1/2 cup filtered water
Fresh Mint leaves
1 tbp of sugar (optional)
Ice cubes (for the frozen drinks only)

Put everything in the blender. Blend well to get the right consistency. Pour into ice pop holders or small dixie cup and freeze. For the frozen drinks, add the ice cubes and blend again to get a "frozen margarita" consistency. Use whole fresh mint leaves to decorate. Serve right away!

Enjoy! and Happy Homeschooling Adventures!

What are some of the frozen treats you like to make at home? Share, please!

Homemade Guacamole Recipe

I absolutely LOVE guacamole! I can't get enough of it. We make it at almost every celebration here at our house. Until today, I always made guacamole using a powder mix that you can get at any supermarket. That's how I thought guacamole was made, avocado and a mix. When I went to the store and couldn't find the little guacamole mix packets, I panicked. I kid you not! How would I make my beloved guacamole. Lucky for me, I have a husband who is a chef and a foodie! He quickly whipped up the best tasting FRESH guacamole! I'll never buy a guacamole packet again! The best part is that it is healthy and I know all of the ingredients that are going into it.

Here is the recipe. We ate the guacamole with Trader Joe's Tortilla chips that were so good. Actually, the tortilla chips were delicious and healthy without any dip, the guacamole just enhanced it.

Guacamole recipe

1 medium avocado
1 plum tomato
1/4 small onion chopped
1tsp chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp salt
Juice of 1 lime


Chop tomatoes, onions, and cilantro, mash guacamole mix all ingredients. That's it.

You've got a natural, healthy snack for your kids and a delicious appetizer for any party.

Possibly not the best picture, but truthfully guacamole is not pretty.

Trader Joe's Veggie and Flax seed tortilla chips with guacamole.

Trader Joe's Veggie and Flax seed tortilla chips with carrots, tomatoes, spinach and more!

10 Health benefits of avocado
http://www.healthdiaries.com/eatthis/10-health-benefits-of-avocados.html

10 Health benefits of tomatoes
http://healthmad.com/nutrition/10-health-benefits-of-tomatoes/


Find me at Meet Penny's Weekend Pot Luck Link up!



Enjoy!