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Monday, August 10, 2009

Meatloaf on Monday or Making Do

Yes. I'm going to preface again. This may be a huge "duh moment" or maybe you'll think "why aren't I doing that." Maybe you'll think I'm really pathetic. Sometimes my ideas and expectations are a lot bigger than my energy level, money, or undivided attention. Sometimes things are just harder for our family--I don't want to miss out on anything because of that. If there is a way that I can save money or make do I am all over it!!

I like the idea of Menu planning and KNOW that it will save me money in the long run. I like the *idea* of Once a Month Cooking and LOVE the book Dinners in the Freezer,it just doesn't work for us, right now. I read about a family in Family Fun magazine and I'd like to adapt their adaption :) Remember this Planner I have been raving about where she suggests you double a recipe a week before the holidays. With all that swirling in my head...

Here is what works for me:
What I WANT to do: Once a month or so our whole family takes a Saturday morning or a free evening and makes a BUNCH of one of our favorite dishes...We use the food processor to chop a ton of onions. We're all chopping and mixing and joking and making meatloaf and then for the next few months we make meatloaf once a week. Then we get together and make meatballs. Then....I have run out of meals :) My daughter and I don't eat dairy, my son follows the Feingold diet and doesn't eat tomatoes. We don't eat a lot of casseroles....ANY SUGGESTIONS?

My other dilemma has been the money up front to make more than one meal a day. We were recently given a gift card to a store that had this
on sale. I stocked up on the ingredients for how I make meatloaf :) Not sure if I recommend it but what I do is half ground turkey/half ground beef, oatmeal, spicy mustard, egg, and water.

We quit using Teflon and I have yet to replace all of our baking dishes. I gathered what we have:

and I mixed the meatloaf in my trusty Tupperware freezer containers for better transfer later :) I baked them for 45 minutes and then took out the extra three to cool. I left tonight's dinner (including baked potatoes) to cook another 15 minutes.

I didn't exactly have the time to do this tonight. We had a death in the family and I cant believe I'm planning a trip to ANOTHER funeral (I was on the phone alot) my children didn't do their normal chore and my two year old cried and then ran around outside like a Banchee....but this will give me more time later for training on meatloaf nights...RIGHT??









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12 comments:

Tania @ Larger Family Life said...

OK, so you may not get around to meal planning or bulk cooking but I bet you get a whole lot of other things done. Give yourself credit for that!

Sorry to hear of your loss too.

Tania (via SITS)

Mommys Online Garage Sale said...

Stopping by from SITS to say Hi.

Cute little helper you have there.

Jennifer said...

I love the idea of cooking ahead like that. Unfortunately, I have a small freezer {side by side fridge} so I only freeze extra sauces, chili, etc. But I'd love to make up extra meatloaves like you did. Great idea! =)

We are big turkey eaters here- turkey meatballs, turkey italian sausage, turkey burgers! We love it!

Lani said...

I try to do the cook-ahead thing too.. but I have a hard time too. And what is it about meatloaf? My kids are the pickiest eaters but they will go to town on meatloaf:) I add bread crumbs, parmesan, and finely chopped green beans to mine to sneak in some extra veggies:)
Stopping by form sits!

Chéz Waldon said...

Life just scoops you up and keeps on going doesn't it?
Meatloaf sounds wonderful!
I am still marveling that I have a graduate...where's my little baby?

lil misses' mama said...

Thanks for your sweet comments about my niece's birthday presents! You are too kind!

MamaOtwins+1 said...

stopping by from sits. We put bbq sauce and breadcrumbs in our meatloaf. I've been trying to think of other things we do that don't include dairy - but I just realized we put cheese in almost everything!

Mom2fur said...

You're really funny. I haven't heard anyone mention a 'banshee' in years! My sister actually played one in a St. Pat's play when she was about 3, roughly 50 years ago.
Here is a barbecue beef recipe that is super easy that you might like. It freezes nicely, then all you have to do is pick up some burger rolls for it:

BBQ Beef:

2 lbs. ground beef
1 envelope dry onion soup mix
1/2 t salt
1/2 t pepper
1 1/2 C ketchup
2 T brown sugar

Brown the ground beef, then stir in the remaining ingredients. At this point, you can put it in the freezer. The original recipe stops here, but I like to add a little barbecue sauce (fudge it, I don't measure--how much depends on how sloppy you want it). I don't add the sauce before freezing, but after I'm reheating it in the pan.
My 19-year-old likes it a lot, and he's hard to please!

Re: meatloaf--my favorite involves crushed up Ritz crackers and barbecue sauce!

Kimmy said...

I'm terrible at menu planning. I just go day by day but then that cost me literally cause then we end up going out to eat. :o/ LOL

Just stopping by from SITS!

mub said...

Happy Saturday Sharefest!

I don't have a lot of room to do bulk cooking, even if I like the idea of it! Do you guys like stir fries? Those are easy to put together and you can usually pre-chop the veggies and portion out the meat to put into the freezer for later.

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