I mean I LOVE meatloaf. Since early childhood. Right out of the oven, right out of the fridge, in a sandwich, on a plate...in a boat, with a goat, in the rain, on a train....oops, sorry! Went all Dr. Seuss on you there!
My point is - I love meatloaf. My son loves meatloaf (he is his mother's son, after all). My daughter thinks it's gross and my husband is smart enough to pretend he loves MY meatloaf! And so, today when I knew I had a couple of hours to play with a recipe and a couple of pounds of ground pork and beef that needed to be cooked - my hands instinctively reached for my mom's meatloaf pan!
As some of you know - I am a Paleo cook on a tight budget. So, when something is ON SALE (not just on sale, but ON SALE!), I buy it and find a way to make it work in my weekly meal prep and cooking. Which brings me to the apples and onions filling my pantry basket and crisper drawer.
See where I'm going????
I've been making meatloaf for 30 years, so I've got the basics down. Not that I've ever put apples in a meatloaf...but they were 68 cents a pound and I found all the best-looking ones in the bin! So, I mixed the ground pork and ground beef.
Grated an apple, grated an onion and added some spices of the hot variety (chili powder, red pepper flake, mustard powder) and of the sweeter variety (cinnamon, nutmeg), a bit of minced garlic and one perfect cage-free, organic egg.
Whenever I am cooking proteins - especially ground proteins - I always cook up a "test bite" so I can adjust the seasoning or whatever needs adjusted BEFORE I cook up an entire batch of burgers or meatloaf or meatballs or taco meat. I refuse to waste my time and money - and I really like knowing ahead of time that what I am serving will taste great! (Thanks Anne Burrell - my favorite food tv chef - for teaching me this over and over!)
I have some Brussels Sprouts and a few more of those super-sale apples to whip up some homey side dishes...suddenly, I am much more excited about dinnertime than I was when I peered into my fridge earlier this morning!
Do you experiment in the kitchen? The best way to become fearless is to pull things out of your fridge, your pantry, your spice rack that you know pair well and then cook them together - in a slow-cooker or a dutch oven or in the biggest of the non-stick pans or a casserole dish or your mom's old meatloaf pan! Taste and season as you go along. Make that test bite* and adjust accordingly. Use what you have to modify something you already know how to make - it still lets you be adventurous in your kitchen...but with a sort of recipe safety net!
When I made the full switch to PaleoPlus eating - I didn't want to give up all the foods my family loved - so I modified. I experimented. I failed a few times (but never such a huge fail that we went hungry) and my Paleo substitution skills are getting stronger every day thanks to all the experimenting!
I wish you all #funinthekitchen and as always, a celebration of real food through PaleoPlus eating!
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