Mozerella Stuffed Meatloaf

I am in love with this recipe. Before when I made meatloaf, we ended up pulling out the ketchup for flavor, and that's when the meatloaf already had a sauce. This meatloaf needs no ketchup. It's a great mix of meat and cheeses and a sweet sauce to cover. Probably my picky eaters favorite dish.

Ingredients

Meat Loaf:

1 1/2 lb ground beef

3/4 C oatmeal

1/4 C chopped onion *I've never added this 

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 beaten egg

3/4 cup milk

mozzarella cubes and slices

Sauce:

2/3 C ketchup

2 tsp mustard

4 Tbsp brown sugar

Directions:

Combine all ingredients, except the cheese. Put half of mixture in a loaf pan. poke mozzarella cubes throughout the meat. Top with mozzarella slices. Put rest of mixture on top and poke in more mozzarella cubes. Cover with sauce. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit  for 1 hour. 

Out comes cheesy, meaty goodness. Enjoy!!

Chicken Cordon Bleu

Here is a more sophisticated recipe that has me hooked. It's a delicious stuffed chicken recipe with a white wine sauce. My picky eater loves it! Somebody posted this recipe on a website that I frequent, and I made it that night. 

Original recipe found here.

Ingredients 

6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

6 slices Swiss cheese *I used mozzarella, just because I don't like swiss
6 slices ham *bacon works too! Either way, yum!
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon paprika
6 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup dry white wine *I use a dry riesling from Chateau Ste Michelle, a local winery
1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions
Pound chicken breasts if they are too thick. Place a cheese and ham slice on each breast within 1/2 inch of the edges. Fold the edges of the chicken over the filling, and secure with toothpicks. Mix the flour and paprika in a small bowl, and coat the chicken pieces.
Heat the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat, and cook the chicken until browned on all sides. Add the wine and bouillon. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes, until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.
Remove the toothpicks, and transfer the breasts to a warm platter. Blend the cornstarch with the cream in a small bowl, and whisk slowly into the skillet. Cook, stirring until thickened, and pour over the chicken. Serve warm.

 Enjoy!!

Caprese Pasta

You are going to learn quickly that I love Italian type foods, especially with tomatoes and basil in them. This is a dish that I got from my best friend. Another great dish to bring to potlucks. Makes a great side or entree. Goes great with garlic bread. My picky eater loves it, as long as I throw in diced up tomatoes instead of cherub tomatoes. I personally prefer the cherub tomatoes. It's sweet and tangy, and pretty healthy if you look past the pasta. 

Ingredients

1 box of penne pasta

2 cartons of chreub tomatoes, or 2 tomatoes diced up

Julienned basil

1 big block of fresh mozerella cheese, diced up

brown sugar to taste

garlic powder to taste

salt and pepper to taste

Olive oil and Basalmic Vinegar to taste

Directions

Very easy recipe. Basically cook your pasta according to directions on box. Once finished cooking, add your olive oil and vinegar, and toss with tomatoes, basil, and cheese. Add the sugar and seasonings to taste. I know some people that prefer to eat this cold, and some people like to eat it hot. I actually prefer it at room temperature. Anyway.. you can't lose!

Tomato Basil Soup

Here's a special treat.. a recipe of my own creation.. or adapted from a recipe that I improved upon. ;)

This is my go to dinner when I want to make things easy, and it's yet another food that my picky eater really enjoys. It goes great with tomato/basil grilled cheese sandwiches.. and lucky you will get a recipe for that too.

Tomato Basil Soup

Ingredients

3 cans of diced tomatoes

1/2 C heavy cream

1/2 C butter

Julienned basil to taste.. I use a lot

Salt and pepper to taste 

Directions

Throw the diced tomatoes in a blender and puree until smooth. Pour into large soup pot. Add heavy cream, butter, basil, and salt and pepper. Cook until butter is melted and soup is bubbly.

Easy huh?

Tomato Basil Sandwiches

For 1 sandwich:

2 slices of bread

2 or 3 slices of tomato

3 basil leaves, or 2 if they're big

2 slices of mozzarella cheese

butter to spread on bread, or Pam to grease griddle (I prefer butter)

You know how to make a grilled cheese sandwich, right? Just butter 1 side of each  slice of bread, or spray Pam on a hot griddle. Lay bread down with a slice of cheese on each piece, and tomatoes and basil on 1 slice, put the 2 slices together, and cook until cheese is melted. I also add salt and pepper to the tomatoes, your choice of course!

These go great together, or by themselves. Be careful you don't eat the whole pot of soup yourself, there's a lot of calories in that butter and heavy cream. ;)

Tamale Casserole

This isn't necessarily for your picky eater, but you'll enjoy it! I personally loved it as a kid.. Emma, not so much. I got this recipe from my mom.. not sure where it comes from beyond that. I made it for my girl friends and they wanted to try it with sour cream, and I say it tastes great with or without. It is so easy to make, and great for potlucks.

Ingredients

4 large Tamales *never tried it with fresh, I use the frozen Baja Cafe Tamales, and I use all of them because they're small. If you use those, be sure to thaw them first.

1 Large can of red beans *I use 2 normal size cans of Chile Beans (without the chile)

1 Large can of chile w/out beans *Once again, I use 2 normal size cans

1 can red enchilada sauce

2 cans sliced black olives

grated cheese

Directions 

Put ingredients in a large baking pot, in order listed. Bake at 350 degrees (fahrenheit) for 45 minutes covered and then 45 minutes uncovered.  That's it!!

I always add more cheese at the end because it all sorta melts into the center. This makes a lot, but leftovers taste just as good. Enjoy!

Lasagna Roll Ups

This is not my recipe or picture, I got them both from this site: http://blogchef.net/lasagna-roll-ups-recipe/

 

This is what we had for dinner tonight, and let me tell you, it was a hit! The sauce is delicious, has a little kick from cayenne pepper, but not so spicy that your picky eater won't devour it all.  This, of course, goes great with a tossed salad and garlic bread. This is very easy to make, and much easier to serve than traditional lasagna.. no cutting pieces! Just separate the rolls.

Here is the recipe that I got off the site. I added asterisks to what I did differently.

Ingredients:
Sauce-
¼ lb ground beef *You don't have to add the meat if you are a vegetarian, or you could replace it with sausage or soy sausage, etc.
2 tablespoons onion (chopped) 

2 garlic cloves (minced) *I used jarred minced garlic, just as good, but way easier
1 (16 oz) can crushed tomatoes *I used a 28 oz can
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon dried oregano
1 dash cayenne pepper (or more to your taste)
 

Filling-
1 ¼ cups small curd cottage cheese *I used a whole 16 oz tub
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
1 egg (lightly beaten)
1 tablespoon fresh parsley (minced) *I used dry parsley
¼ teaspoon onion powder
6 lasagna noodles (cooked) *I used 8
 

½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese *I used more because I added some to the filling as well

Let me also mention that I don't measure my seasoning, I pretty much add them to taste. I also added a bit of brown sugar to my sauce to sweeten it up.

Cooking Instructions

Step 1: In a large skillet cook ground beef, onion and garlic until the beef is no longer pink. Drain any excess fat from the pan. Add tomatoes, oregano, salt and cayenne. Simmer for 10 minutes. Spread half of the meat sauce on the bottom of a greased 9” baking dish. *I didn't grease the pan, no sticking for me in my Pyrex pan.

Step 2: In a bowl combine cottage cheese, parmesan cheese, egg, parsley and onion powder. Spread ¼ cup of the cheese mixture evenly over each lasagna noodle. Roll up and place seam side down in rows in the baking dish. Top with remaining sauce.*Like I said, I added some mozzarella cheese to the filling.

Step 3: Bake in the oven at 375 degrees for 30-35 minutes. About 5 minutes before the dish is finished cooking remove from the oven and top with shredded mozzarella cheese. Return to oven and cook until cheese has melted.

(Makes 2 servings) *With my variations I was able to feed 3 people and have 1 serving of leftovers.

Enjoy! I will definitely be making it again. I thank BlogChef for coming up with it.