Mini Meatloves

I am not a big meatloaf fan, but these minis are terrific. It makes 6 little loaves. In the original recipe, they shaped them like little footballs and decorated them with cheese. We just sprinkled a little shredded cheddar on ours for fun. I served these with mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup milk
1 egg
1 pound lean ground beef
1/4 cup Progresso® dry bread crumbs (any flavor)
1 package (0.4 ounce) ranch dressing mix
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Strips of cheese, if desired

1. Heat oven to 350ºF.

2. Beat milk and egg with fork in large bowl. Mix in beef, bread crumbs and salad dressing mix (dry). Shape into 6 small loaves. Place in ungreased rectangular pan, 13x9x2 inches. Brush loaves with Worcestershire sauce.

3. Bake uncovered 35 to 45 minutes until no longer pink in centers of loaves and juice is clear. (If using meat thermometer, insert so tip is in center of one loaf. Thermometer should read at least 160ºF.)

4. Decorate with strips of cheese. Let stand 5 minutes.

(I also made these ahead during the day and refrigerated until ready to bake. I just brushed on the worcestershire sauce while the oven preheated. Turned out great!)

Dirt Cups

I know, everyone probably has this recipe, but I just wanted to put it in here. The girls made it entirely on their own for Mother's Day. It was hard for me not to be in the kitchen doing it along with them -- but they did it all by themselves and it tasted so yummy. We had it for dessert both Saturday and Sunday evenings. Thank you girls for such a yummy treat! It was perfect!

INGREDIENTS

2 cups cold milk
1 pkg. (4-serving size) JELL-O Chocolate Instant Pudding
1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed
15 OREO Cookies, finely crushed, divided
10 worm-shaped chewy fruit snacks make it!

POUR milk into large bowl. Add dry pudding mix. Beat with wire whisk 2 min. or until well blended. Let stand 5 min.. Gently stir in whipped topping and 1/2 cup of the cookie crumbs.

SPOON into 10 (6- to 7-oz.) paper or plastic cups; top with remaining cookie crumbs.

REFRIGERATE at least 1 hour. Top with fruit snacks just before serving. Store leftovers in refrigerator. Dirt Cups can also be served frozen. Prepare as directed; freeze 3 hours or until firm.

kraft kitchens tips
How to Crush Cookies
Place cookies in resealable plastic bag; roll with rolling pin until finely crushed. Or, place in food processor; cover and process until finely crushed.
Sand Cups
Prepare as directed, using 35 NILLA Wafers and JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding.

EJ's Simple Oven Ribs

We tried this recipe for the first time this weekend. It's a keeper! And next time we need to make it in a larger quantity! We used our own rib rub that we like ( Durkee Grill Creations St Louis Style chicken and Rib Rub-- lots of brown sugar!) instead of the one included in this recipe-- but i bet this one is good too. We also did not do the saucing step-- just served with the sauce on the side. The method of cooking them in the oven produced delicious tender ribs. EJ is Emeril Lagasse's adorable young son! He appeared with his dad to make this recipe on the Martha Stewart Show.

INGREDIENTS

2 racks baby back ribs
6 tablespoons Emeril's Rib Rub spice blend
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon celery salt
Emeril's Bam! B-Q Original Sweet Barbecue Sauce or other favorite barbecue sauce

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven 300 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with a piece of aluminum foil large enough to cover the pan twice. Line the aluminum foil with an equal sized piece of parchment paper. (You will be folding this over the ribs and sealing it.)
Place ribs, meat side up, in an even layer on prepared baking sheet; set aside. In a small bowl, combine Rib Rub, salt, pepper, and celery salt; stir to combine. Divide seasoning evenly between both slabs of ribs, coating well on each side. Fold the extra length of parchment paper-lined aluminum foil over ribs and seal tightly on all sides. Transfer baking sheet to oven and bake until ribs are very tender, 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

Remove baking sheet from oven. Peel back parchment paper-lined foil so that ribs are exposed. Using a basting brush or the back of a spoon, coat meat side of ribs lightly with barbecue sauce. Return ribs to oven, and bake, uncovered, until sauce is thickened and lightly browned, 20 to 30 minutes.
Remove ribs from oven and let cool briefly. Cut between each rib and serve with additional barbecue sauce, if desired.

Our other Mother's Day weekend meal was a fabulous steak sandwich (On grilled Texas Toast!) with potato wedges. YUMMY!

Bean Counter Chowder

This is a great recipe from my sister. They have cooking classes every month at her local lds cannery. This recipe is from the soup class. What's perfect is that you can use everything from the pantry. I made this with cornbread muffins as a go along. I used pinto beans and did drain the beans a little bit before adding them in.

1/2 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 T oil
1 medium tomato, chopped
2 cans (14/1/2 oz) chicken broth or enough chicken base to make equivalent amount of broth
1 3/4 cups of water
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp celery flakes or 1/8 tsp celery salt or the tops of celery
1/4 tsp pepper
2 cans pinto beans, or great northern -- you can cook your own beans if you want
1 cup uncooked elbow macaroni
1 tbsp minced fresh parsley (optional)

In a large saucepan, saute onion and garlic in oil until tender. Add tomato; simmer for 5 minutes. Stirring occasionally. Add the broth, water and seasonings. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes. Add macaroni, return to a boil and cook for 8-10 minutes. Add beans. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley.