THE Famous Family Meatloaf

For just about forever (or for as long as I can remember) we have used the same meatloaf recipe. It came from my sister's childhood cookbook (and yes, I am the mean little sister who swiped it and kept if for herself ;0) ). It is fantastic and super easy. It even transitioned with us when I started using ground turkey instead of ground beef.

 It is a staple recipe in this house and I just realized after all this time that it was never posted here. If I should ever lose this book, I'd be devastated since it's out of print and my favorite meatloaf recipe would be gone with it. So, without further ado, here it is!

Ingredients

1 egg

1/2 cup tomato sauce (I use ketchup most of the time)

1 1/2 cups bread crumbs or cracker crumbs (I've used both of those, broken up herbed stuffing or even oatmeal in a pinch)

1/4 cup chopped onion (I just chop up half an onion and throw it in there...maybe the whole one if it's small)

2 pounds ground beef (as stated before, I use ground turkey)

2 teaspoons salt (sometimes I use garlic salt)

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Break egg into a bowl, add tomato sauce and beat until fluffy.

3. Add bread crumbs, onion, meat, salt and pepper. Mix well with hands.

4. Place mixture in a lightly greased loaf pan and pat into shape.

5. Bake 1 hour and 15 minutes or until done (sometimes mine doesn't take that long).

Meatballs

I've always wanted to try and make some meatballs and even more since Abbie is always asking for spaghetti and meatballs. So, we'll soon give this recipe a whirl!

Ingredients:

2 pounds ground beef (I use turkey)
1 small onion diced
1/4 dry breadcrumbs or as needed
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 eggs slightly beaten
4 cloves garlic minced
1 tablespoon dry oregano
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black ground pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Mix together the ground beef, onion, breadcrumbs, cheese, eggs, garlic, oregano, basil, thyme, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper in a large bowl until just combined.
3. Divide the mixture into equal portions and then roll each of the portions into meatballs. Arrange the meatballs on the prepared baking sheet.
4. Bake in the preheated oven until no longer pink in the center about 8-10 minutes.

Zesty Slow Cooker Chicken Barbecue

Found this recipe online. Haven't tried it yet but hope to really soon.

Makes about 6 servings.

Ingredients:

6 frozen skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 (12oz) bottle of BBQ sauce
1/2 cup Italian salad dressing
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Directions:

1. Place chicken in slow cooker. In a bowl, mix the bbq sauce, italian salad dressing,  brown sugar and worcestershire sauce. Pour over the chicken.
2. Cover, and cook 3-4 hours on high or 6-8 hours on low.