Honey BBQ Meatloaf

Not gonna lie, we did not love this meatloaf - maybe I did something wrong but it's really dense and heavy, flavor is good it's just a texture thing. But don't let that stop you from making the sauce either on  this meatloaf or experiment with other versions - the sauce is great! I will find other things to put this on for sure. To be fair, I didn't bake this in one pan but divided it into 2 round pans - maybe that changed the outcome. 

It has a secret ingredient that sounds weird but works... I think my sloppy-joe from scratch blog is still my highest viewed post, and it also has the unusual secret  - grape jelly! So don't just look at this and think 'well that doesn't sound good' hahah because it is!! It is good! 

I'll post the whole recipe and you can try the meatloaf for yourself, maybe you'll like the results - if nothing else tho I hope you'll try the easy sauce:

Mix together 1 cup bbq sauce, 1/3 cup honey, and 1/3 cup grape jelly (they use it to glaze the meatloaf but there will other delicious ways to use this sauce - crockpot meatballs is the first thing to come to mind). 

HONEY BBQ MEATLOAF

• 2 pounds ground beef
• 1 pound ground pork
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• ½ cup milk
• ½ cup fine dry breadcrumbs
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ¼ cup onion, finely chopped
• 1 cup barbecue sauce 
• ⅓ cup  honey
• ⅓ cup grape jelly

• Pre-heat oven to 350°F. Spray a large loaf pan (6½ x 10-inch) with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, ground pork, beaten eggs, parmesan cheese, parsley, salt, and pepper. Mix together until just combined.
• In a medium bowl, combine the milk, breadcrumbs, garlic, and onion.
• Add milk mixture to the meat mixture being careful not to overwork ingredients.
• Add the meat mixture to the prepared loaf pan, pressing the meat in tightly.
• In a separate bowl, combine barbecue sauce, honey, and grape jelly. Mix well.
• Spread half of the bbq mixture over the top of the meatloaf.


• Bake for 40 minutes.
• Spread the rest of the sauce over the meatloaf.
• Bake for 20 more minutes. The meatloaf is done when its internal temperature is 160°F.
• Allow the dish cool for about 5 minutes before cutting and serving.

recipe found here 


63.6.23: starch madness: scalloped potato update

3.6.22: 🔥 week 10

3.6.21: double barley posole

3.6.20: paper masks and feathers 

3.6.19: stuffed poblano peppers

3.6.18: arranging daffodils

3.6.17: shamrock wreath

3.6.16: crock pot white chicken chili

Tip-sy Tuesday: K-Cup Reusable Coffee Filter

Dave makes himself a whole pot of coffee in the morning, and I have a single serve Keurig K-Cup. I haven't found a K-Cup brand or flavor that I love so I don't actually look forward to my morning cup other than the ritual of holding a hot mug - but when I take some of his coffee brewed in the pot I enjoy it so much more. That led me to thinking about the reusable filter that came with the machine but I have no idea where it went, and that maybe I should try putting my own coffee into one of those and seeing if it tastes better. I ordered one from Amazon and sure enough, adding my own grounds makes a big difference. Also for the cost of the filter and a bag of coffee I'm saving money over purchasing K-Cups. 

So, my tip for today is to check out the reusable filter (if you drink the pods, if you drink out of a coffee pot then never mind this tip!). 

 PS: in case you didn't know - if you have a single-serve coffee maker that has 5 needles to puncture the pod, you have to get a filter that looks like this one, not the kind that only has one hole in the center of the top. They include a red rubber piece that fits under the lid to plug up the 4 outer needle holes so you can use this kind even if you have a coffee maker that just has one needle. 

PSS: I'll still keep pods on hand for when we have people over, cleaning and filling the reusable pods for multiple cups of coffee is way too much work and time consuming!

3.5.23: 🔥 week 9

3.5.22: turkey forestiere

3.5.21: green wreath

3.5.20: goldenrod update

3.5.19: TT: prep bowl

3.5.18: Tesha's crockpot potato soup

3.5.17: ahi tuna with 2 sauces

3.5.16: champagne and chambord 

PVC Toilet Paper Holder

Check out this idea I just saw at hgtv (scrolling thru organizing ideas) for a toilet paper holder made from PVC couplings - I am for sure going to do this. It reminds me of our wine bottle holders - click here for that post, I enjoy finding other purposes for unexpected items.

I think this TP holder is interesting, practical, shouldn't be hard to make, and fun! You can find the directions for how they made this on their site (or click the link below) - it's 4" PVC couplings cemented together and attached to a shelf to hang on the wall. I'd rather not have the shelf, unless I can't come up with another way to mount this piece. 

Now where am I going to put it...that'll be the hardest part hahaha. Whatcha think - 👍 or 👎? 

found here at hgtv, click for directions or go to hgtv.com and search for PVC Toilet Paper Holder. I'll update once I've made mine.

3.4.23: Words

3.4.22: blueberry muffins 

3.4.21: tiktok pasta by Brooke

3.4.20: baked mushrooms

3.4.19: DIY car air freshener

3.4.18: Sheryl's chili

3.4.17: cream cheese feta dip

3.4.16: make a kids travel snack dispenser 

🔥 Around the Campfire (week 9)

Dear Campers ~ 

Here's a quick recap in case you missed anything at camp last week:

Posts ~

2/25: 🔥 week 8

2/26: marinated cheese appetizer

2/27: TT how to make brown sugar

2/28: boursin chicken

2/29: kitchen sink cookies 

3/1: P's pot pie

3/2: words

What's Cooking ~

• JAR pot roast, mashed potatoes, roasted carrots
• fettuccini in mushroom sauce with Italian sausage, caesar salad
• baked salmon with crab topping, roasted asparagus 
• grilled chicken, orzo salad (with tomatoes, feta, parsley, olive oil, Italian seasoning, s/p)
• T-bone steak, microwaved baked potatoes, wedge salad
• baked pork chops, buttered noodles, roasted green beans

Miscellaneous stuff keeping me busy ~

• read 'Before We Were Innocent' by Ella Berman, a Reese's Book Club pick which I should have remembered that I'm not usually a fan of her picks haha. It's about 3 best friends, and 2 storylines that toggle between something that happens 10 years ago and present day. I just didn't like any of the characters, didn't really care what happened to any of them (then or now!) and was bored. I did finish it hoping that something would turn it around for me, but overall I didn't love this and I really didn't like how it ended. There, you've been cautioned haha. I'll go ⭐️⭐️1/2
• read 'Spook Street' by Mick Herron, #4 in the Slough House series (made into a tv series called 'Slow Horses'). I don't like the tv version but am enjoying these books. I think this one is my favorite. It's basically about British intelligence agents who get sent to work at 'Slough House' after they screw up cases - I might not be making it sound good haha but they are. Don't start with #4 though, if you want to read them I'd suggest starting with book #1 so you know the characters. 

That's it for this week! See you next week for more projects, crafts, recipes, whatever we can think of to make at camp - bye :)

Sincerely ~

Jill

camp counselor

3.3.23: starch madness: yogurt bagels

3.3.22: St. Patrick's gnome

3.3.21: red and green enchiladas

3.3.20: TT: copycat Old Bay seasoning 

3.3.19: 🔥week 9

3.3.18: host an Oscar party

3.3.17: Brooke decorates her phone charger

3.3.16: photo class - self portraits

3/2 ~ Words

3.2.23: starch madness: french bread pizza

3.2.22: ribbon mask leash

3.2.21: TT no stick foil tip

3.2.20: breaded baked eggplant

3.2.19: arugula with pancetta salad

3.2.18: Gracie's watercolor mermaid

3.2.17: two bean salad with mustard vinaigrette 

3.2.16: framed calendar pictures

 

Pot Pie by Paige

My niece sent me her recipe for pot pie that sounds really good, even if she did call it 'ghetto' hahaha. Here's how she makes it, in her words:

my quick and easy chicken pot pie is ghetto but it is so yummy lol! made in under 40 minutes. 

ingredients include: 

-One rotisserie chicken (or any cooked, shredded, chicken of your choice) 

-one bag of frozen veggies 

-one cup shredded cheese 

-one  8oz can of cream of chicken soup. 

-one 8oz can of cream of mushroom soup. 

-one can of buttermilk flakey biscuits (is that a can? A tube? Not sure, you decide just one of them okay) 

-1-2 tsp of butter 

- seasoning of your choice. (I use pepper, salt, onion powder, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. 

Add your chicken, your frozen veggies, both cans of soup, and your cheese to a dish season it all up and mix it all together. Press this mixture into the bottom of a baking dish. Once it’s all layered in the dish, I like to cut my biscuits into halves and layer them on top of the chicken mixture, then melt some butter and brush a little of it on top of the biscuits before cooking. I then bake for about 20 minutes or until one side of your biscuits are cooked. I then flip the biscuits so one side doesn’t get cooked while the other side stays soggy. I don’t have an exact time I would keep it in for, it’s done once your biscuits are visibly cooked to your liking and the chicken mixture is bubbly goodness! 

3.1.23: starch madness: starchy foods

3.1.22: TT microwave baked potatoes

3.1.21: make a bracelet out of pretty ribbon

3.1.20: 🔥week 9

3.1.19: boho sling bag

3.1.18: password keeper

3.1.17: Julie's key lime pie

3.1.16: organize the spice drawer

Kitchen Sink Cookies

Janis left half of a bag of potato chips at my house which is a no-no for me. I cannot resist chips! So before I ate the rest of the bag I decided to try a recipe for cookies containing potato chips (I can resist sweets way easier than salty chips haha). These turned out great, and they're a great way to clean out the snack and baking drawers! It's pretty much a basic chocolate chip cookie dough, with pretty much anything you can think of to add thrown in. 

For my kitchen sink cookies I used semi-sweet chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, caramel chips, broken pretzels, potato chips, and coconut flakes. I had Lay's potato chips which are really thin, the recipe notes to use thick chips so they don't break down as easily in the dough - I just gently folded mine in after everything else and they worked just fine. 

The recipe is pretty long because of all of the notes the author added - I'm just copy and pasting the original. 

Kitchen Sink Cookies

The perfect cookie recipe for cleaning out the pantry, these Kitchen Sink Cookies are full of fun mix-ins. Salty, savory, crunchy, and chewy, these cookies are a delightful treat.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 15minutes minutes

Cook Time 12minutes minutes

Total Time 27minutes minutes

Servings 32 servings

Calories 208kcal

Author John Kanell

Equipment

• Baking Sheets
• Parchment paper
• Mixing Bowls
• Electric or stand mixer
• 2-tablespoon scoop
• Wire cooling rack

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter softened (227g)
• ¾ cup packed light brown sugar (165g)
• ½ cup granulated sugar (100g)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 2¼ cups all-purpose flour (270g)
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1½ cups semisweet chocolate chips (270g)
• 1 cup crushed potato chips (45g)
• ½ cup chopped pretzels (25g)
• ½ cup toffee bits (120g)
• flakey sea salt

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350F. Line large baking sheets with parchment paper.
• In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, sugars, and vanilla together on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
• Beat in the eggs, one at a time, stopping to scrape down the bowl between eggs. Beat each until well incorporated before adding the next.
• To the mixing bowl, add the flour, baking soda, and salt. Beat on low speed just until combined. Add the chocolate chip, potato chips, pretzels, and toffee bits and stir in by hand until evenly distributed. Using a 2 tablespoons scoop, scoop the cookie dough and place on the lined baking sheets 2 inches apart. Sprinkle the top of each dough ball with flakey salt.
• Bake one sheet at a time for 12 minutes or until the edges turn golden. Let cool for a few minutes on the pan, then transfer to a wire rack and cool completely. Store cookies in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Notes

• Room temperature butter and eggs will mix more evenly. If your eggs are cold, place them into a bowl of warm water for a couple of minutes. Doing so will quickly bring them to room temperature if you have forgotten to take them out of your fridge beforehand.
• I highly recommend using a triggered cookie scoop. A cookie scoop ensures that all the kitchen sink cookies are the same size, so they bake evenly. If you bake cookies regularly, then it’s worth purchasing!
• Measure your flour correctly to avoid dry and dense cookies. Adding too much flour to the batter is the most common mistake people make. The easiest way to measure is by using a digital kitchen scale. If you don’t have one, fluff your flour with a spoon, sprinkle it into your measuring cup, and use a knife to level it off. Avoid packing the flour into a measuring cup.
• Don’t skip ​lining your baking sheets with parchment paper. The parchment paper helps the cookies bake evenly and prevents them from spreading too much. It also prevents the bottom of the cookies from getting too dark.
• You can reserve some mix-ins to press into the top of the cookies after they come out of the oven or before baking for a prettier presentation.
• It’s alright if the cookies do not look done right out of the oven. They will firm up as they cool on the baking sheet. If you bake them to doneness, they’ll be hard after cooling.
• Use good-quality thick, crispy chips like Ruffles Original potato chips as they hold up well and have more of a crunch to them. Thinner chips break down more in the cookie.
• When crushing the potato chips, avoid crushing them into crumbs. You want there to be texture still.

Nutrition

Calories: 208kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 31mg | Sodium: 314mg | Potassium: 107mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 241IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 17mg | Iron: 1mg

recipe found here at preppy kitchen. 

What else can I add to the cookie dough?

The possibilities are endless for the cookie dough add-ins! You can add sprinkles, crushed cereal, chopped nuts, peanut butter chips, white chocolate chips, mini peanut butter cups, chocolate chunks, dark chocolate chips, dried fruit, M&M’s, shredded coconuts, marshmallows, butterscotch chips, and more! Just make sure you don’t go over 3½ cups of add-ins like in the recipe.

2.29.20: homemade bloody mary mix 

2.29.16: oscar party 

Boursin Chicken

I have no idea how I stumbled on this recipe for chicken in Boursin sauce, but I'm sooooo happy I did! We love this dish - it's easy and quick (and the sauce is money).

Here's the recipe as written; I pretty much followed it except I omitted the onion and parsley, and substituted Boursin basil and chive flavored cheese. I was concerned that there aren't very many ingredients and I omitted 2 of them - wasn't sure if there would be enough flavor, but the basil and chive Boursin on its own was terrific. Also, I didn't cut the chicken in half, instead I butterflied the breasts so they were thinner and cooked quicker. We put the extra sauce on pasta, it would also be great on mashed potatoes or rice. Yum. 

• 2 large chicken breasts 
• 1/2 t. garlic powder
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 T. olive oil
• 1 T. butter
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 3/4 cup chicken broth 
• 1 (5.2 oz.) package of Boursin Fine Herbs & Garlic cheese, softened 
• 1-2 T. chopped parsley, optional

• Cut the chicken breasts in half lengthwise to get 4 thinner pieces. Season them with the garlic powder and some salt & pepper.
• Add the oil and butter to a skillet over medium-high heat and let it heat up for a few minutes. Cook the chicken for about 5-6 minutes/side or until cooked through, then transfer it to a plate.
• To the skillet, add the onions and sauté for about 5 minutes or until softened and lightly browned. If the pan seems dry, add a small splash more olive oil.
• Add the chicken broth and the Boursin cheese to the skillet. Stir until you've got a smooth sauce. Let it bubble for 5 minutes, then stir in the chopped parsley if using.
• Add the chicken (and any plate juices) back into the skillet and let it warm through for a couple of minutes. The sauce should be thicker by now (you can always cook it a bit longer if need be). If it's too thick, you can add another splash of chicken broth. 
• Season with salt & pepper if needed (I find the sauce fairly salty when using regular broth) and serve immediately.
  

  

  
  

  

  
  

  

  
  

  

  
  
  recipe found here at salt and lavender 
  
  

  2.28.23: TT: snickerdoodle white choc chip cookies

  
  

  2.28.22: tater tot sausage breakfast casserole

  
  

  2.28.21: 🔥 week 9

  
  

  2.28.20: make your own dryer sponges

  
  

  2.28.19: cucumber 'sushi' appetizer

  
  

  2.28.18: March step challenge

  
  

  2.28.17: tip for how to clean the oven window glass

  
  

  2.28.16: grilled steak and chicken salad