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!!

UPDATE-Homemade Colored Chocolate Molds Tutorial

This weekend I had a 5th birthday party for my girlfriends daughter, my favorite little cowgirl :)

I wanted to make something cute for the kiddos to both enjoy and take pictures with.

I thought this was a super simple craft to share with ya'll that doesn't require much baking!  My sister in law will love that :)

So here is my run down on making homemade chocolate molds!

You will need:

• A bag of white chocolate candy melts (they have pre colored bags but if you want to make your own colors, use white)
• Candy/Chocolate molds
• Sucker/candy sticks
• Candy/Chocolate food coloring

That's it!!

First, you want to melt the chocolate.  I normally use a double boiler but I was in a time crunch so I used the microwave.  You will want to dump the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and melt it on 30 second increments.  Be careful as not to burn the chocolate, there is nothing worse!  Burnt popcorn comes a close second, though :)

After each 30 seconds, stir them to melt them evenly.

Then, depending on the colors you selected, separate the chocolate into bowls.  You will add the coloring next.

I did about 1/4 to 1/2 a teaspoon, depending on the intensity you want.

Stir thoroughly.  Now is the time to be quick as the chocolate will start to harden the longer you mess with it!  If that happens, pop it back in for a few more seconds in the microwave.

Place your sticks into the slots on the candy molds.  You want them about half way through the middle of your shape as you want them to support the hardened chocolate.

Now using a spoon, drop some chocolate into the molds.  What's nice, is the chocolate will fill in right away. Add more if you feel the need.

If you have put too much in, take the back of a butter knife and just wipe it away.  Also, if you don't do that step, when the chocolate hardens, it easily breaks off if there are some stragglers :)

Put them in the fridge for 30 minutes and done!  They pop out of the molds super easy :)

How adorable is she?!?!?! They were a hit :)

PS-I did try adding some regular food coloring into some of the chocolate and it actually turned it into icing, so be careful!!

Have you worked with molds before?

Where is your favorite place to buy them?

Let me know in the comments below?

Have a great day!!