Turkey Meatloaf

One food item I love to cook is meatloaf because you can pretty much dump anything you have leftover or laying around in it! I've made meatloaf one time before in my slow cooker and it was the best meatloaf we've ever had. Today I tried something new and made turkey meatloaf instead of ground beef. While I'm breastfeeding Owen I can't have any red meat...it messes him up!

I found this recipe for Turkey Meatloaf with Sauce on the internet.

Ingredients:

Meatloaf: 

• 1 1/4 lbs ground turkey (93% or 99% lean)
• 1/3 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup reduced-fat cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup onion, minced
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper

Sauce: 

• 3 tablespoons ketchup
• 3 teaspoons brown sugar, packed
• 3 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 1/2 teaspoons spicy brown mustard

I had to make a few changes to this recipe. Instead of reduced-fat cheddar I used a Mexican cheese blend. My Worcestershire sauce had expired and tasted funny so I left it out. I didn't have any spicy brown mustard so I used a spicy Dijon mustard. My Dijon is extra hot so I only used 1 teaspoon.

Directions:

Fold a long piece of aluminum foil till its about two inches wide and long enough to be placed inside the slow cooker, up the sides, and out. This makes it easier to lift the meatloaf out when its done.

Create a "rack" out of aluminum foil and place it in the slow cooker. This helps to keep the meatloaf up out of the grease.

Mix all the ingredients for the meatloaf together and then shape into a loaf. Place on top of the rack inside the slow cooker.

Cover and cook on high for 3-4 hours or on low for 6-8 hours. I cooked mine on low for 6 1/2 hours.

Combine the ingredients for the sauce and pour over the meatloaf for 30 minutes or until warm. I added my sauce about six hours into cooking.

The result: Another successful dinner! 

I personally prefer the taste of ground beef over ground turkey but this meatloaf was not bad at all. It was quite yummy and my hubby gave it a thumbs up! We even got Ethan to eat a little bit and if you know how picky my son is that says a lot!! Enjoy!

Here are the boys enjoying dinner. :)

Corn Bread

The other night for dinner we had salmon. Corn bread seemed like the perfect side dish. I followed the corn bread recipe off my box of Albers yellow corn meal.

Ingredients

Ingredients:

• 1 cup yellow corn meal
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup mik
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten

I'm still out of baking powder so I made a substitute. Refer to my blueberry muffin blog to learn more. This time around I used milk made from instant nonfat dry milk.

Directions:

1. Grease the inside of the slow cooker.
2. In a medium bowl combine the dry ingredients. 
3. In a small bowl combine the milk, oil, and egg. Add to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened.
4. Pour into slow cooker.
5. Cover and cook on high for 1 1/2 hours or until done.

Cornbread in the crockpot is delicious! I will never bake it in the oven again! I've always felt that cornbread can be a little on the dry side...but not in the slow cooker. The inside was incredibly moist. It is worth noting however the edges were quite dry...but I found that to be true of my blueberry muffins. I'm thinking that's the nature of baking in a crockpot...crispier edges but super moist insides. I think I can overlook this minor flaw! 


I will also mention that my husband has a very strong dislike of cornbread. But he loved this slow cooked version and even had seconds!!

Add a little butter and/or honey and you're good to go! Enjoy!

Blueberry Muffins

On my last trip to Trader Joe's I bought some tiny wild blueberries. Blueberry muffins sounded good to me today so I decided to try making them in the crockpot. Think of this as one giant blueberry muffin!


I used the Blueberry Muffins recipe from my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook...my favorite cookbook!

Ingredients

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 beaten egg
• 3/4 cup mik
• 1/4 cup cooking oil
• 3/4 cup frozen blueberries

I ran out of baking powder and keep forgetting to buy more when I'm out shopping, so I had to find an alternative. If you're every in this pickle simply substitute 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar plus 1/4 teaspoon baking soda for every 1 teaspoon of baking powder needed! Also worth noting, I used soy milk instead of cow's milk.


Directions:

1. Grease the inside of the slow cooker.
2. In a medium bowl combine the dry ingredients. 
3. In another bowl combine the egg, milk, and oil. Add to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened.
4. Fold blueberries into batter.
5. Pour into slow cooker.
6. Cover and cook on high for 1 1/2 hours or until done.

Ready to cook

I planned to cook this on high for 2 hours but after 1 1/2 hours it was done! Success! It reminded me more of cake than a muffin...very moist but quite delicious.

Yummy!