Food for Thought

I have decided to post recipes every once in a while on our blog. There are so many delicious things I watched my mom and grandmas prepare growing up. Fortunately I can still ask my mom how to make some of her signature dishes but I will never know how to make my Grandma Gaskin's homemade (crust and all) apple pie and chicken & dumplings; or my Grandma Russell's fried chicken and brunswick stew.

Now someday my kids can come back to these posts on the blog and see how to make the foods they grew up eating. Or when my sweet husband starts cooking dinner once a week like he has mentioned doing, he will have some ideas (love you, baby) :)

I will start with our meatloaf recipe - definitely a family favorite!!

Caleb enjoying his favorite meatloaf dinner the first day of school last year, with yummy garlic-cheese biscuits on the side (that recipe will be coming later).

"Souper" Meatloaf (Campbell's Soup)

2 lbs. ground beef

1 can cream of mushroom soup, divided

1 pouch dry onion soup mix

1/2 C dry bread crumbs (I use oatmeal - old-fashioned, not quick-cooking)

1 egg, beaten

1/4 C water

In large bowl, mix 1/2 C of mushroom soup, onion soup mix, bread crumbs (or oatmeal) and egg with ground beef. Form into a loaf shape in a baking pan and bake at 350* for an hour or until meat is no longer pink.

Drain drippings from the baking pan, reserving 2 T. Mix this with the remaining cream of mushroom soup and water, pour over the meatloaf and cook another 5 - 10 minutes until sauce begins to bubble on top of the meatloaf.

(I hate dishes, so I usually mix all the ingredients in a ziploc bag. You can either cook it right away or freeze for another time. Just let the mixture thaw and bake as usual.)

We usually eat our meatloaf with roasted potatoes and green beans. For the potatoes, chop potatoes (skins on) and toss with some olive oil and seasoning of choice (the dry onion soup mix is a good choice). Bake at 450*, stirring often, for about 30-45 minutes. Make sure you grease your pan well for these. For the green beans, I use fresh or frozen beans and toss in a packet of Goya ham seasoning, lemon pepper, onion powder and garlic salt. Steam until tender.