Part 2 of a series on meal prep
My husband, Pepper, is always excited about two dishes, meatloaf and macaroni and cheese. As part of my so-called meal prepping routine, meatloaf is on the menu.
I have tried lots of meatloaf recipes and have not always been a fan. As I am expanding my “gourmet palette” – another way of saying I am trying to overcome a lifetime of picky eating – I decided to experiment with different recipes to come up with one that I can love as much as Pepper.
I found this one in a Bell’s Best Cookbook of my grandmothers. I love it!
For my meal prepping purposes, I do not cook it and portion it up as I would if I were working full-time. Since I am primarily at home these days and Pepper is doing much of the actual “putting things in the oven” kind of cooking, I will mix up the meatloaf and prepare the sauce and freeze it. I put the sauce in the refrigerator until we are ready to use it. These is typically an “end of the week” meal in my weekly meal plan and I will set it out the day before to thaw.
Meatloaf
2/3 cup of crackers, 2 slices of day old bread or breadcrumbs (I use crackers)
1 cup of milk
½ cup of chopped onions
1 ½ pound of ground beef (we use ground chuck)
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon salt
Other ingredients
*These are included in the original recipe, but I do not include it in mine
½ cup of bell pepper
½ teaspoon sage or poultry seasoning
1 tablespoon bacon drippings
Sauce
3 tablespoons brown sugar
¼ cup ketchup
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon dry mustard
Soak the bread crumbs or crackers in milk; add meat, eggs, onions and other ingredients. Mix well. Grease a loaf pan.
Form a loaf and cover with the sauce. (The sauce is AWESOME!) To make the sauce, combine the brown sugar, ketchup, nutmeg and dry mustard. Mix well and spread over the top of the loaf.
Bake at 360 degrees for 45-60 minutes. It is yum!
We love to have meatloaf with mashed potatoes. Pepper will have meatloaf sandwiches with all of the leftovers. He loves it!
Another dish I like to prep for the end of the week is something I found on Pintrest. It pairs well with the meatloaf.
All I do for this as far as prepping goes is to make and freeze 9-10 meatballs. I add crackers and 2 eggs to 1 pound of ground chuck, and form into 9-10 meatballs. I put these in a freezer bag until we are ready to use. I will set this out the night before to thaw.
I will cook the thawed meatballs in the oven for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. (You can cook the meatballs and then freeze. It just depends on what you prefer.)
Put the cooked meatballs into a baking dish and cover with a 24 ounce jar of marinara sauce. (We use Prego Mushroom sauce, instead.) Cover the casserole with mozzarella cheese and cook for 10-15 minutes. Yum and easy-breezy!
While things are cooking, we will boil 8-9 eggs for stuffed egg high protein snacks for 2-3 days I am totally uncomfortable to have cooked eggs available for more than two to three days. I may just be weird like that.
It seems everyone has their own way to make stuffed eggs. Leigh Bridges Hill said she mixes her yolks with mustard, mayonnaise, salt and pepper.
Hill said her family loves them. “You can take the girl out of the South, but ….”
Linda Templeton said she prepares her stuffed eggs just like Leigh, and she says, “They are soooo good!”
Christie Colvin uses mayonnaise, finely-chopped sweet pickles, salt, pepper and bacon bits in her stuffed eggs. Now, I am going to have to try stuffed eggs with bacon bits.
My stuffed eggs are much like Linda and Leigh, but I sprinkle a little paprika on the top of each egg before wrapping them up and putting them in the refrigerator for a snack.
During meal prep, I will also prepare the crock pot for roast beef tips. I layer Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom soup, the roast beef tips, baby carrots, and chopped onion. I cover it and put it in the refrigerator until we put it in the heating unit of the crockpot for supper that night. I put it on low heat and leave it for the day. On a good day, we will make mashed potatoes and pour the roast beef tips over it – it is so good! On busier nights, we will cook elbow macaroni noodles to eat with the roast beef tips. We did that last week, and it was delicious.
This is part two of my meal prep extravaganza! Because I am a little more worn out than usual these days, I will divide these into two separate days. I used to do one big day, but it can be too much. And I am having a hard time getting in the groove of the classic meal prep, but I am going to keep trying!
Do y’all have recipes of meals y’all prep for the week? Send them to gwenwoodssisson@yahoo.com.
