Rasmussen Favorite Meatloaf

When you think of meatloaf, do you think of your grandma?  I feel like meatloaf is an old-fashioned kind of dish.  The name "meatloaf" isn't my favorite.  It sounds gross.  A loaf of meat?  That's just weird.  But I actually really like meatloaf.  Especially this recipe.  It's out of my ward cookbook and it comes from one of my favorite families.  If you haven't had meatloaf for a while, this might be the recipe for you.

1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup vinegar

1 tsp. mustard

1 lb. lean ground beef

2 eggs

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1/2 cup oatmeal

1/2 tsp. pepper

*Mix tomato sauce, brown sugar, vinegar and mustard. Set aside. Mix ground beef, eggs, onion, oatmeal and pepper. Add half of sauce. Form into a square loaf. Bake at 350 for 1 hour. Pour remaining sauce over the top and bake for 10 more minutes.  You can also form them into meatballs and bake for 15 minutes at 400 degrees.

Tamale Pie

I have always loved this dish. It's pretty easy, tastes great and makes for yummy leftovers.

1 lb. hamburger
1/2 onion chopped
2 8oz cans tomato sauce
2 tsp. chile powder
1 can corn
1 tsp. salt
couple shakes of garlic salt
1 1/2 cups grated cheese

Cook hamburger and onions in skillet until done. Add rest of ingredients except the cheese. Simmer for 10 min. Then, stir in cheese until melted and pour into 9x13 pan.

Cornmeal Top
3/4 cup cornmeal
1 Tbs. butter
2 cups water
1/2 c. cheese

Boil water. Add butter and cornmeal. Stir quickly to avoid too many lumps. Add cheese. Spoon and spread over meat mixture. Bake at 375 for 35 minutes. Serve with sour cream and tortilla chips.

Romaine Salad

This salad recipe came from Nat's mother-in-law and has become one of our favorites.
1 head of Romaine lettuce, torn into pieces

tomato, chopped

cooked, crumbled bacon

shredded parmesan cheese

shredded swiss cheese

Dressing
3/4 cup oil

juice of one large lemon

3 cloves of garlic, minced

salt and pepper to taste

*You can put as much of each salad ingredient as you like. Toss with dressing right before serving.

Red and White Spaghetti

We all have our favorite ways to make spaghetti. I thought I would share mine. The "white" spaghetti came about because Tucker doesn't like "red" spaghetti. So I would set aside a little of the noodles for him and make his separate. Then all the kids decided they liked his better. So now I cook 16 oz. of Angel Hair and divide it in half to make both kinds.
Red Sauce

1 lb. lean ground beef

1 packet spaghetti seasoning (I like Lawry's and Walmart's "Italian style" the best)

1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce

1 can diced tomatoes

*Brown beef, add the rest, simmer for 10 minutes. Serve over angel hair pasta.

White Sauce

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup shredded parmesan (the real kind)

1 tsp. Good Season's Italian dressing mix

*Mix well with hot angel hair.

Taco Macaroni Skillet

1 lb. lean ground beef

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can diced green chiles

1 package taco seasoning

2 cups water

1 1/2 cups dried elbow macaroni

2/3 cup evaporated milk

1/2 cup shredded cheese

*Cook beef until brown. Stir in tomatoes, chiles, and taco seasoning. Stir and add water. Bring to a boil. Add macaroni and return to boil. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Uncover and stir in evaporated milk. Remove from heat and add cheese on top. Let sit 10 minutes and then serve.

*Helpful hint: As you can see in the picture, I tried rigatoni pasta instead of macaroni and it didn't go over well. The pasta was too big. My kids like it with the macaroni better.

Pork Chops and Asparagus

I got this pork chop marinade recipe from Williams Sonoma a few years ago when Ryan and I were living in Wisconsin and had nothing else to do in the dead of winter except go to the mall. We always stop in Williams Sonoma so I can look longingly at all of the latest kitchen accessories and so Ryan can get a sample of whatever they offering that day. This time it was grilled pork chops. We both agreed that they were delicious and full of flavor. We gladly took a copy of the recipe home with us. These are very easy and very healthy!

Marinade:
3 Tb. soy sauce
3 Tb. olive oil
zest of 1 lime
juice of 2 medium limes
2 jalapeno peppers diced
5 cloves garlic minced
4 pork regular pork chops or 8 thin sliced pork chops

Combine ingredients and pour over pork chops in a ziploc bag. Refrigerate for 2-6 hours. Remove chops and grill.


asparagus
olive oil
salt
pepper

Wash and break asparagus. Heat over medium heat in saucepan until done.

Sunday Roast

Nothin' better than a juicy, tender roast on Sunday!! This is a favorite in our household. It's very easy and very tasty! The soups make for great flavor and great gravy. I love, love, love cooking meat in my crock pot because it always come out so tender. Sorry for the picture. I was in a hurry.

Sunday Roast:
2 - 3lbs. beef, chuck roast
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 packet Lipton onion soup

Put roast in crock pot. Mix soups and pour over roast. Cook on low all day or high for 6 hours. Enjoy!

Artichoke Dip

This is a staple at ALL 45th ward showers...made famous by Kathy Abney. This is one of the best things you will EVER dip a chip into.1 onion, chopped

2 Tbs. butter

1 clove garlic, minced

1 can artichoke hearts, chopped

3/4 cup shredded Parmesan

3/4 cup shredded mozzarella

1 cup mayo

3 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 tsp. vinegar

(I added about 3/4 cup of thawed, frozen spinach)

*Saute onion in butter. Add garlic. Mix in a bowl with the rest of ingredients. Pour into a casserole dish, top with some Parmesan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Serve with tortilla chips.

Banana Split Cake (w/ pic this time)

I finally got a pic to upload. Yeah!!! So here is the pic of the Banana Split Cake.

Banana Split Cake Crust:

2 c. graham er crumbs (about 1 ½ pkgs.)

1 cube melted butter

3 TBL. Sugar

Mix & press into 9x13 pan. Bake @ 350 for 5 mnts. LET COOL.

Filling:

1 pkg. cream cheese (softened)

¼ c. powdered sugar

1 pkg. (3.4oz) instant vanilla pudding

½ c- 1c milk (until desired thickness)

1-8oz. carton-cool whip

Whip cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar, pudding and milk, beat until smooth. Fold in cool whip. Spread onto crust.

Toppings:

4-5 bananas

1-10oz. can- crushed pineapple (well drained)

1-8oz. carton-cool whip

Nuts of your choice (about 1/8 c. chopped or more if desired)

Maraschino cherries (sliced in half)

Chocolate syrup

Slice bananas over top of filling, 1 layer. Crumble pineapple over top of bananas. Spread cool whip over top of pineapple. Sprinkle nuts on, drizzle chocolate syrup in desired design (I like checkers because you can place the cherries inside the checkers), place cherries, cut side down-as many as you’d like. Freeze for 2 hours or more, let thaw for about 20-30 minutes before serving. This is one of my favorite deserts my friend Amber makes it. I know Holly and Rach wanted this recipe. Enjoy!!!

RED VELVET CUPCAKES

I made these for my daughter-in-law's baby shower (she's having a girl - my first granddaughter - yippee!!) They're not Sprinkles but I think they are ALMOST as good. Sorry, I forgot to take pictures of the ingredients before I made them, but y'all don't need to see pictures of flour, sugar and eggs, right? The cream cheese frostung is so yummy and one of the reasons is the melted marshmallows. Hope you like them!!

Cake:

2 c. sugar

2 sticks butter (room temperature, and NOT margarine)

2 eggs

4 T. cocoa powder

2 ounces red food coloring (4 T.)

*2 1/2 c. cake flour

1 t. salt

1 cup buttermilk (or 1 T. vinegar mixed w/1 c. milk)

1 t. vanilla

1/2 t. baking soda

1 T. vinegar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In mixing bowl cream sugar and butter and beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and mix well after each addition. Mix cocoa and food coloring together and add to sugar mixture; mix well. Sift together flour and salt. Add flour mixture to the creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. In a small bowl combine baking soda and vinegar and add to cake mixture. Pour batter into 24 regular muffin tins lined with cupcake papers. This makes almost exactly 24 cupcakes. Bake for 20 min. then check by pushing lightly on top of cupcake with your finger. If it bounces back they are done. If not cook for 1-2 more minutes. DO NOT overbake. Remove from oven and cool completely before frosting.

Frosting:

1 8 oz. package softened cream cheese

1 stick softened butter

2 cups mini-marshmallows (these will be melted)

4 c. powdered sugar

1/2 t. vanilla

Blend cream cheese and butter together in mixing bowl. Place the 2 c. marshmallows in a heat proof bowl and microwave for 30-40 seconds, just until melted. Stir well and add marshmallows, vanilla and sugar to cream cheese and butter. Add a little more powdered sugar if needs to be more thick. At this point you can half the batch and mix 3-4 T. cocoa poweder for chocolate.

I used half of the batch for vanilla and sprinkled pink coconut on them and made the other half chocolate.

Another option is to mix 1 c. coconut and 1 c. chopped pecans into the frosting. This will frost a whole layer cake and is so delicious!!

*Cake flour has less gluten, is made from a softer wheat and makes a more tender, moist crumb for cakes. If you don't have cake flour, diminish each cup of flour by 2 T. I like to buy cake flour and use it for cakes and cupcakes. I think it does make a difference.

Dear Contributors...

Hello ladies! I added a "label" feature to the blog to keep the recipes organized. So every time you post a recipe, label it something so it will fall into a category. The option to label is at the bottom of a post. Thanks!!

Pizza Dough (recipe from Jen)

The other night, Rach and I made the trek out to Ryan and Jen's house to hang out and make pizza. Jen has a great recipe for dough and uses a stone to bake it in the oven. We each made individual pizzas with our own toppings. The kids loved being involved and the pizzas tasted SO good. This is not the best picture of our yummy creations, but you get the point.

Dough:
2 cups warm water
3 Tbs. honey
3 cups flour (white or wheat or both)
1 Tbs. dough enhancer
2 Tbs. yeast
Mix well. Dough will be runny. Let it sit for 15 - 30 min. Then add:
2 tsp. salt
4 Tbs. olive oil
2 cups flour
Add flour a little at a time until dough cleans sides of bowl. Knead 5-6 minutes. Form into ball and let relax for 10-15 minutes. Makes 2 pizza crusts or several individual ones. Roll out to desired thickness and size. Spread with sauce, cheese and desired toppings. Bake on pre-heated stone at 500 degrees for 8-9 minutes. If you don't have a stone, bake on a pizza pan at 450 for 10-15 minutes or until done.