My Favorite Meatloaf

There's nothing quite as comforting as a nice meatloaf. It's great any time of the year, and is great leftover for lunch. Plus you can keep all the ingredients on hand so you'll always be ready for some nice comfort food.

There are a lot of variations, but this one is simple with a sweat glaze.  It's also great in muffin tins for easy serving and saving.

What you need:
Meatloaf:

1 LB Ground Turkey

1 Egg

½ cup Breadcrumbs

1 TBSP Roast Seasoning

dash Worcestershire Sauce

Sauce:

¼ Cup Sugar

½ Cup Ketchup
1 TSP Worcestershire Sauce

What you do:

Heat oven to 350. Mix all meatloaf ingredients in a bowl until incorporated.   Mix sauce ingredients in a separate bowl.  Put meatloaf mixture in an oiled loaf pan and pat down.  Pour sauce mixture over. Bake for 55 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before serving.

That's it!  Let me know if you try it and what you think!

XOXO,

Sarah

Easy Chicken Veggie Soup

Soup season is here!  There's nothing quite like a nice warm cup of soup on a cold winter day. I love that you can toss everything in the slow cooker while you're out braving the cold, and come home to piping hot soup.  Plus soup is relatively cheap and very healthy!

I love making big batches in my slow cooker and freezing half to eat later!  You can make soup for months in only a couple weeks.   Then you can rotate and never get bored (not that I would anyway). I'll have something up soon with how to freeze soup...

There are so many different varieties, but Chicken Veggie Soup is on of my favorites!  Plus you can change what you put in, depending on what you have on hand! You can make it with canned veggies if you want, for those days you're feeling soup or trying to clear out the pantry.

The best start is Homemade Turkey Stock. You can also use homemade chicken stock, which you make the same way.  Homemade stock is so much richer than store-bought, and if you make whole chicken or turkey so easy to do!

I have a base to this recipe, but I always look at what I have on hand to use up, or add extra flavor.  This is great if you have your own garden to use what you grow, or use what you get on sale!

Printable Recipe

Base:
2 cans beans (or the equivalent dry beans)
1 cup carrots, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
2 cups shredded chicken, or diced chicken
8 cups broth

Other Additions:
zucchini
onion
tomatoes
pasta
spinach

Put everything in the slow cooker (except pasta and spinach). Cook on low 6-8 hours. Add pasta the last 30 minutes of cooking.  Once you're ready to serve, add spinach to the bowl, and pour the soup over.

See super easy!  Let me know what you think! What else would you add?

XOXO,
Sarah

15 Minute Veggie Chicken Pasta For $1 a Serving!!!

There have been many days that I just don't have a plan for dinner.  I've gone through my leftovers, or I'm really not feeling what I had planned that day (yes the one downfall of meal planning).  The pasta base is Pasta Roni (no I'm not paid by them to promote this, but I'd happily take free stuff!) which is so easy as a side too. 

This pasta is great when you don't have a plan, time, or have leftover chicken or turkey.  It's great with cooked shredded chicken or you can cube and cook the chicken first.  I always make it with turkey after the holidays.

You can also use any veggies you have on hand, so it's great for using up any extras you have or busting out some seasonal sales. I've used carrots, broccoli, peas, corn, zucchini (like here) or any squash, the possibilities are endless!

I also love this recipe because it uses 1 pot for all the cooking. I love one pot pastas since you just dump everything in and only have 1 pot to clean.

Pasta Roni is a little more pricey than just plain pasta, but it's so easy to have on hand when you just want a little kick.  You can get a regular box around $1(I've gotten it as low as 88c), and the family size (twice the size) for about $1.50.  I keep an eye out for coupons or sales in the store and stock up when I can. I've tried it with a variety of flavors, and they are all great.

What you need:
1 box Pasta Roni
1 cup (about 4 oz) shredded chicken or turkey
1 cup veggies (I used zucchini here, but any veggies are great!)

Cook Pasta Roni according to directions. Add meat and veggies in the last 3 minutes of cooking and stir.  Let sit according to package (about 3-5 minutes to make a sauce).

*If using fresh chicken, dice and heat in the pot you are using for the pasta with 2 tbsp butter (don't add the butter, and cook about 2 minutes. Then add the water and cook according to the package instructions. The chicken will continue cooking with the pasta.

Makes about 2 servings.  Total cost: $2.00 or $1.00 per serving.

I hope you like this!  Let me know when you try it.

XOXO,
Sarah