Sweet & Spicy Mini Meatloaves

TGIF!!

Last night was crazy....my puppy niece got to go home after fighting a battle with Parvo (thank god!) and we had to take Paisley to the vet for a minor issue, too.  By the time we got home, I wanted to throw myself onto the couch and not do a thing but point Nick to the cereal box for dinner.....but, alas, I was a good wife and made him dinner.  A super easy, quick dinner that is so flavorful, your hubby will think it took all day to make!

My recipe for Sweet & Spicy Mini Meatloaves.  Now sure, there is the traditional "mom" recipe we all know and love, but sometimes a good tradition still needs a makeover.  Plus I have a ton of friends who just had babies so I am sure a quick meal is something they could use, too!

Here is what you will need....

1 lb of ground beef or turkey
1 large carrot (grated)
1 large onion (grated and squeeze all the water out)
2 pieces of bread (pulsed into bread crumbs)
1 egg
Cayenne pepper (as much or as little as you want)
Salt & Pepper
Ketchup
Peach Preserves

Preheat oven to 375.

The first thing I do is grate my carrots and onions.  Once you do the onions, you will see that you will need to squeeze the water out of them or they are a runny mess!  I like grating the veggies because it ensures a nice crunch, spread evenly into each mini meatloaf, not huge pieces.

Since I like to make my own bread crumbs, I pulse up two pieces of whatever I have on hand, so you can use whole wheat bread too!

Once everything is prepared, mix it all (first 7 ingredients listed) together in a bowl! We like spicy so I never measure the Cayenne but if I had to give ya'll a guesstimate I would say 2 Tablespoons.  Also, be generous with the S&P for flavor. 1 to 2 Tablespoons each.

Now the fun part, which your kiddos will love too!  Using cupcake pans!  Not only does this make clean up a breeze, it shortens the cooking time on meatloaf considerably!  Grease your cupcake pans with some non stick cooking spray and form a ball (about size of a plum) with the mixture and place in the pan.

Bake for 20 minutes!

Sidenote.....I whipped up some corn and noodles for the sides and I got this for free the other day so I used this with my noodles.......

DELISH!!!!!  MMMM MMMM Good ;)

Okay, focus, Brooke.......

While the meatloaves are cooking, let's make the topping.

I take equal parts ketchup and peach preserves (you can use apricot too) and mix them up.

Make it as sweet as you want as the sweet is going to help balance out the spicy meatloaves.  It is so good!!

Once the meatloaves come out of the oven, plop the sauce on top!  PS-Nick doesn't like the sauce as much as I do, but if your family does, then I would put the sauce on the meatloaves before cooking them so it turns into a nice glaze.  Otherwise, putting it on afterwards is just as good ;)

TA DA!!

Can you tell what theme is in my kitchen??

Let me know how they turn out and what is your easy go to weeknight meal?? Let me know in the comments below :)

Oh....have you entered the giveaway yet?? Make sure you do HERE!!

Have a great day!!

Sausage & Peppers Done Easy

I like to consider myself somewhat of a foodie.  I am always trying intricate fancy meals and like to impress the family with over the top desserts.  But, just like any housewife, there are days that I want to take the simple route.  The route that requires little to no effort and minimal clean up.

I am so blessed to have a husband who loves to cook as much as I do.  He will always try something new I make and is always helping me come up with new menu ideas!  My wonderful father was not a fan of cooking, so just knowing how my mom struggled to put food on the table that we would all eat, further affirms how lucky I am!

Today I want to show you how to make my take on a sausage and peppers dish. :) I hope you enjoy!

What You Need for Sausage and Peppers recipe (this will serve 4 people, so adjust accordingly):

• 2 Packages of Beef Smoked Sausage
• One Sweet Onion
• One Bag of Mini Sweet Peppers
• Garlic 
• Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
• Olive Oil
• Salt & Pepper

First, we want to cut up the peppers into strips.  Now the peppers of course come with seeds and stems so we wanna take care of that.  Cut the stems off, or the hats of the peppers, as I refer to them.

Then I like to take a spoon with a flat end on it and scrape the seeds out in one swoop around the inside of the pepper.  Easy Peasy!!

Cut the strips, lengthwise, making sure they are all the same size so they all cook at the same time.

Next, you want to cut the onion in the same size strips as the peppers.

Now, put about two tablespoons of olive oil in your pan.  I like to use my pan that has high sides as even though all the peppers and onions will cook down, going into the pan it is a lot of food.

Most recipes, I will tell you to put the oil in and heat it up for a few minutes.  For this one, unless you want a serious char on your peppers, you don't have to.  I just throw all the peppers and onions in after the oil has been spread all over the pan.

Now, you are going to want to season these babies!!  I don't measure the salt and pepper but I sprinkle generously all over the veggies, coating them all really well.  Probably about two tablespoons of each......

Next I take the garlic (it can be minced or chopped, whatever you have) and put two tablespoons in the pot as well.

Personally, I don't like putting it directly on the bottom of the pan in this dish as I don't want it to burn.  Burnt garlic has a taste that will haunt you forever!

Now the heavy artillery.  We love spice in this house! It can easily be removed though, if you don't :)

Again, get liberal with the CRP, probably at least another two tablespoons.  Stir everything really good.

Let the veggies get all relaxed in the pan and cook.  You can slice up the sausage now.  The sausage is already cooked so we are just going to heat it through.

Toss the sausagers (no it's not a typo :) ) in the pan and mix everything really good again.

Let everything cook on medium heat, stirring every few minutes, for about 10 minutes and you're done!!   Plus I love that this is not a greasy meal.  My waistline does not like grease :)

Serve with some crusty french bread and butter and you have a delicious, easy, one pot meal!

What are your favorite one pot meals?

What are your favorite summer meals?

Let me know in the comments below!!

Have a great day!!