Mouthwatering Meatloaf: Best Church Cookbook Recipes

I adore using cookbooks printed by the ladies of Southern churches. The recipes are timeworn and tested, with families all over the South - at home and at after-church potlucks - having a chance to give them the "thumbs up" they need to make it into the cookbook.

I have adapted this meatloaf recipe from one such cookbook, "Blessings from Our Table," and it is loved by the meat-eaters in my family. I've tweaked it by using lean venison instead of beef and increasing the amount of flavorful topping, but if you have beef, that works fine.

Here goes.

Minnesota Meatloaf

2 lbs. ground venison (or beef)
1 1/2 c. bread crumbs (I often use Panko bread crumbs)
1 c. milk (I successfully use unsweetened original almond milk)
1 small finely diced onion
2 beaten eggs
1 1/2 tsp. sage (I make mine heaping teaspoons because I love the taste of sage)
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together and pat into an 8x8 casserole dish.

Topping:
6 T. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 c. ketchup
2 tsp. dry mustard

Mix all topping ingredients well and spread over the meatloaf in the dish.

Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for one hour.

It's not a dish that's beautiful to the eye, but beautiful to the palette.

Enjoy! We scarfed down mashed potatoes and green beans with it.

TCB

Quick-for-Mom Penne Pasta & Roasted Vegetable Dish

I'm a busy mom - a freelance writer from my home office, tackling an occasional PR consulting assignment, homeschooling my son, handling the books for my husband's consulting business, and general cook/housekeeper/chauffeur (you know the mom-drill).

I insist on cooking a homemade meal (or "semi-homemade" in the words of Sandra Lee) most nights, but sometimes I have little time for preparation of ingredients. And sometimes I haven't had a chance to even go to the grocery store (it's not super close to my country home), so I must cook creatively. Unsurprisingly, I needed a healthy dose of creativity the other evening when pantry staples were running a little scarce. I had plenty of variety on hand; it's just that there was only a little of this and a little of that. Hard to feed BIG BOY appetites with the pickins'.

I created this recipe on the fly, and everyone in the household loved it. It will make our meal rotation. I thought you busy moms out there may like to give it a try.

Penne Pasta & Roasted Vegetables

For this one-dish wonder, you will need:

assorted vegetables (whatever you have on hand) - button mushrooms, zucchini, sweet potatoes, carrots, onions, edamame, bell peppers, etc. Note: the sweet potatoes taste especially good in this recipe.
sea salt
ground black pepper
extra virgin olive oil
dried rosemary or thyme (or both)
a box of penne pasta
grated Parmesan or Romano cheese

First, make my Roasted Vegetables recipe. During the last half hour of cooking the vegetables, boil the pasta per package instructions. When the pasta is finished cooking, drain off the water and lightly pour a little olive oil over it (to keep it from clumping together). Toss well. Next, season the pasta with a little sea salt and black pepper. Stir together and add the grated cheese (as much as you like). Stir the pasta once more and then add the cooked roasted vegetables to the pasta mixture. Mix all well and serve with grilled chicken (if you want meat) and/or crusty garlic bread.

Hope you enjoy!
Love,
TCB

Big Bass is Big Fun

My son is enamored with fishing. Which is interesting because I generally think you need to STOP TALKING while fishing. And he really likes talking.

But apparently, he stopped talking long enough to catch a string of bream and one big bass this weekend in the river behind our home.

He is so proud of the bass. I heard the whole story.

He found a "honey hole." Don't know how he learned the fishing lingo, but he appears to have learned it.

He's already planning this weekend's fishing trip with his Cub Scout group.

I hope it's not a tale about the one that got away. I've heard that one before.

I hope it's another honey hole story. Those kinds of stories are what little boys' childhoods are made of, and I want him to remember these events. And there's a bonus - they're free memories (unless you count my husband's task of cleaning the fish. He doesn't think that's free or fun).

I cook 'em, but I don't clean 'em. I'm not THAT country.

Have a happy day.

Love,
TCB

When I wanted to be Captain's Tennille

I recently celebrated another birthday, which always puts me in a pensive mood. By now, I've learned to stop wishing I had thinner thighs or straighter hair or any of those nonsense things God didn't designate for me.

But I do remember when....

I wanted to be Captain's Tennille. Don't laugh. It was 1976, and that hair was cool. I wanted to make mine turn under all the way around my head like that. Alas, I have always had curly and wavy hair, and the job proved very hard for my young hands and round brush.

I wanted to be Farah Fawcett. The wings. Oh, it was all about the wings.

I thought Suzanne Somers would be nice to be like. Nice hair. Nice smile. I like her now, too, just for different reasons (bioidentical hormones, anyone?). And she's a survivor and has reinvented herself many times. I like that a lot.

Now, at this seasoned (ahem) age, I am happy to be me. Although it wouldn't hurt to have a dose of Lucille Ball's feistiness and perseverance thrown in for good measure.

Love who you are.

TCB

Try Reading a Chronological Bible

I'm reading my way through a new version of the Bible I recently purchased - a Chronological Study Bible. I can't imagine the feat of taking each part of the Scripture and putting it in historical order, but I think it brings a new level of perspective to the words. Although I believe there is some debate about sections of the Bible where time references are obscure, it's an interesting - and for me, an entirely different - way to read the Bible.

This particular book is also a study Bible so there are lots of footnotes and summary pages to create a frame of reference. It's particularly handy to have the date marked at the top of every page. The entire book is divided into 9 "epochs" beginning with creation, of course, and moving to the final epoch focused on the church age/the gospel/apocalyptic writings.

I always have at least two books going at once, and I will share others later this month. If you haven't tried this version of the Bible, I say it is well worth the money.

Happy reading,
TCB

Crockpot Cornish Hens

When I know it's going to be a crazy, busy day with office work and homeschooling and a myriad other details, I turn to my crockpot. There's something calming about spending a few minutes in the morning preparing ingredients for the crockpot, knowing that at 6 pm supper will be ready without much more effort on my part.

One of the quick-prep meats I cook in the slow cooker are Cornish hens. I wash the hens inside and out, chop an onion into quarters and stuff them into the cavities, and place them (cavity side up) in the crockpot. I salt and pepper them and add water to the cooker to reach about halfway up the sides of the hens.

Then turn it on low and let it cook for eight hours.

When I remove them at the end of the cooking time, I usually pre-plate them before I place them on the final serving platter. This allows all the water to drain out. It's a little difficult to drain them while holding them over the crockpot. They are fall-apart tender.

Hope this helps you on one of your busy days.

Love,
TCB

Why Can't We Hire a Housekeeper?

I don't like to rant or complain on my blog because.....well, we can get that ANYWHERE, can't we? I even go so far as to try and dissuade my son from saying negative comments by mimicking the music from the old Debbie Downer skit on Saturday Night Live when he tries to go there - WUH - WAH! Remember that? If you can't, don't tell me because it means you're a young'un. And once you're 40-something, well who wants to be reminded there are people MUCH YOUNGER THAN YOU out there?

But back to my original no-complaint blogging rule. Just so you know - I'm breaking it today. I'm stressed, and I want to share it. You should turn away now if you're in a jolly mood.

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Why doesn't anyone in business call you back when they say they will call back??

Why does my neighbor race his motorcycle up and down beside my house until I want to take his ride and smash it into a zillion pieces?? Make that a zillion trillion pieces.

Why does my head hurt??

Why are there weeds taking over my garden beds no matter how many I pull??

Why do we constantly run out of groceries??

Why does gas cost so much??

Why can I not sleep late on Saturday morning - the one morning I'm actually allowed to sleep late??

How come we can't hire a housekeeper??

When did the laundry start quietly multiplying in my laundry room??

Why can't my son finish all his school work without complaining??
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OK, I'm done. Thanks for helping me relieve stress before the weekend. I truly hope yours is happy and stress-free.

TCB