Monthly Archives: August 2012

Egg, Soy, & Milk Free Meatloaf

One child with allergies in a home with no other food allergies can make cooking tough.  I have learned to modify many of our favorite recipes to make them acceptable to eat by all.

Meatloaf has always been a hit in our home.  The problem is that the meatloaf recipe I used to use called for eggs and cheese.  Of course our 2 year old is allergic to eggs and for a while had problems with cheese.  My solution was to modify my old recipe into something he could eat.  Below is the updated recipe we use that has been given 2 thumbs up by the entire family!

This recipe can also be used to make meatballs.  I just prefer the easy, quicker method of meatloaf.

  • 1.5 lb – 93% lean hamburger
  • 1/2 cup – instant white rice
  • 1/2 small – onion, chopped
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 can – tomato soup
  • 12oz – water
  • 1-2 Tablespoons – Worcestershire  sauce (be sure the brand is soy free)
  1. In a medium bowl whisk together the tomato soup, water, and Worcestershire  sauce.  Set aside.
  2. In a large bowl combine hamburger, rice, onion, half of the liquid bowl, and add a small amount of salt and pepper.
  3. Spread hamburger mixture into a 13X9 pan leaving 1 inch between the meat and all sides of the pan.  Now I prefer metal pans because the texture of the meat is better received by my babies.  Glass dishes tend to leave the meatloaf a bit more crisp and I have more issues with the sauce boiling out of the pan.
  4. Finally pour the remainder of the liquids bowl over the meatloaf and along the empty areas of the pan.
  5. Bake covered for 45 mins or until center is 165*.   Removed the cover and bake for 5-10 more minutes to give the top a nice browned texture.
Now that my son is allowed dairy, I have started adding cheese to the top of my meatloaf.  I add 1 cup shredded mild cheddar to the top for the final 5-10 minute baking time.
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Superb FREE Online Recipe Organizer

Finding a way to organize my recipes has been a never ending battle.  I have so many recipes sitting in my email box I can’t find them anymore.  After researching many sites I found 1 that I fell in love with.  To make my choice even better…It is FREE!!!

Pepperplate.com  has so many options that I can’t believe it is free.  What really made this a big deal for me was the ability for it so be used across all of my devices.  I can do almost everything from my iPad, Home Computer, husband’s iPhone, and my old Andriod.  I have a windows phone now and unfortunately there is no app for that device but I can still use the full site to work on.

I love the options to plan meals for the week and even create a shopping list based on what I need in the recipes.  I have also found helpful the meal planner calendar.  I could see this being extremely useful for daycares.

The HUGE helper is that I can import many of my recipes I find online!  Several websites are set up to automatically import the entire recipe for you, eliminating the need to copy and paste everything into the recipe area.  There will be some site and blogs you will need to do the copy/paste for however.  Big name sites like Kraft, allrecipes, and myrecipes are a few sites that are set to import.

I might add that the option to share your recipes with friends is nice too.  You can share through FB, Twitter, and email.  I no longer have to copy/paste recipes.

So if you are in the market for an online recipe holder…This is the one to check out!

www.pepperplate.com

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Mexican Lasagna

Finding new things to try is one of my top items as a new stay at home mom.  I found this recipe on the Kraft website.  My family approves it for 7years and up.  It wasn’t nearly as big of a hit with the little ones but they eventually did eat most of it.  As for the adults, it was amazing!I made some changes to the recipe myself.
  1. I didn’t have salsa.  I used 4oz medium picante sauce and 12oz mild taco sauce.
  2. I added 1 can black beans, drained (Low sodium bush brand).
  3. We don’t usually have sharp cheddar around our house so I just used mild cheddar (Great Value Brand)

Based on how easy this was to throw together and how well it cooked up, this would be a great meal to prep ahead of time, freeze, and thaw and cook later.  Definitely one to add to the “Baby is coming” Freezer meals.

Layered Fiesta Casserole

http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/layered-fiesta-casserole-75579.aspx 
YIELD: 6 servings
ACTIVE TIME: 20 min
TOTAL TIME: 50 min

 INGREDIENTS
    • 1 lb. extra-lean ground beef
    • 1 green pepper, chopped
    • 1 red pepper, chopped
    • 1 jar (16 oz.) TACO BELL® HOME ORIGINALS® Thick ‘N Chunky Salsa
    • 1 can (14-1/2 oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained
    • 1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen corn
    • 12 corn tortillas (6 inch)
    • 1 to 1/2 cups KRAFT 2% Milk Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese, divided

INSTRUCTIONS
    1. HEAT oven to 375°F.
    2. BROWN meat with peppers in large skillet; drain. Return to skillet. Stir in salsa, tomatoes and corn.
    3. SPREAD 1 cup meat mixture onto bottom of 13×9-inch baking dish; top with 6 tortillas, overlapping as necessary. Cover with layers of half each of the remaining meat mixture and cheese; top with remaining tortillas and meat mixture. Cover.
    4. BAKE 25 to 30 min. or until heated through. Top with remaining cheese; let stand, uncovered, 5 min. or until melted.
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