Meatcakes

Meatcakes—as in meatloaf cupcakes! Sound gross? Get over it! It’s deeeelicious! And, cute to boot. If you cook meatloaf, chances are you serve it with potatoes anyway, so why not combine the two into a really nice looking, creative entrée. Talk about bringing something new to the table…

You’ll need:
1. 1 lb ground chuck
2. 3 tbsp ketchup
3. 2 tbsp marinade (such as Dale’s or Moore’s)
4. 1 tspn Worcestershire sauce
5. ½ tspn salt
6. ½ tspn black pepper
7. ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
8. 1 egg, lightly beaten
9. ¼ cup baking mix (such as Bisquick)
10. 2 baking potatoes
11. 3 tbsp butter
12. 3 tbsp sour cream
13. 2 tbsp milk
14. ½ tspn onion powder
15. Salt and pepper to taste
16. Parsley (optional)

You’ll do:
1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Bring water to boil in large pot.
3. Peel potatoes and cut into cubes. Drop in boiling water
4. Mix ground chuck with ingredients 2-9 above, until well blended.
5. Line 8 cups in a cupcake pan with foil liners. You can use paper, but the little grease these produce will make that kind of a mess. Either way, though, they’re prettier if you remove the liner at the end.
6. Separate meat mixture into 8 equal segments and roll each into a ball. Place one ball in each cupcake liner, and press down lightly to flatten on the bottom.
7. Place meatcakes in the oven on 350F and cook for 15-18 minutes.
8. Once potatoes are soft to the touch, drain the water off and put potatoes into a large bowl. Add milk and sour cream to potatoes and mix with a hand mixer.
9. Add salt, pepper, butter, and onion powder to potatoes and blend until mostly smooth. You don’t want any large chunks, but small ones are fine.
10. When meatcakes are done, remove from oven and allow to rest about 10 minutes.
11. Transfer creamed potatoes to sandwich-size Ziploc bag and cut the corner off.
12. Remove liners from meatcakes (if you want, but this step isn’t necessary). Place meatcakes on serving dish.
13. Pipe creamed potatoes onto the top of each meatcake in circles, beginning on the edge and working towards the middle.
14. Pair with a salad, some extra creamed potatoes, or a green vegetable and you’ve got a fun, creative twist on a traditional meal!

Nom! Nom!

Sausage Manicotti

Sausage Manicotti--this recipe isn't expensive and it makes enough to feed a small army! Serve it to company alongside a tossed salad. Add some powdered doughnuts for dessert and you've got a yummy, filling meal!

You’ll need:
1. 2 cans Italian stewed tomatoes
2. 1 can tomato paste
3. 1 medium onion diced, divided
4. 1 tspn garlic, divided
5. ¼ cup sugar
6. 1 tspn basil
7. 2 tspn parsley, divided
8. 1 tspn salt
9. ½ tspn black pepper
10. ¼ tspn red pepper flakes
11. 14 manicotti shells
12. ½ lb Italian sausage
13. 15 oz ricotta cheese
14. 2 cups mozzarella
15. 1 egg, lightly beaten

You’ll do:
1. In medium boiler, mix stewed tomatoes, tomato paste, ½ diced onion, and ½ tspn diced garlic. Bring tomato mixture to a boil and reduce heat to medium. Add sugar, basil, 1 tspn parsley, salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes. Allow to simmer, stirring occasionally.
2. Meanwhile, bring water to a boil in a large stockpot. Once water is boiling, add manicotti shells and cook until done, approximately 12 minutes.
3. Begin to brown sausage in medium saucepan. Add ½ tspn diced garlic and other ½ of the diced onion to meat. Continue to cook until meat is browned through.
4. Once meat is brown, place meat mixture on paper towel to drain grease.
5. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease 9x13 pan.
6. In a medium bowl, mix ricotta, 1 ½ cups mozzarella, 1 tspn parsley, and egg. Add meat.
7. When done, drain pasta and rinse with cold water.
8. Fill Ziploc bag with ricotta/meat mixture. Snip corner off of Ziploc bag.
9. Fill manicotti shells with ricotta/meat mixture.
10. Place filled manicotti shells in greased pan. Pour tomato sauce over shells.
11. Cook in 350F oven for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining ½ cup of mozzarella and cook another 10 minutes.

Nam! Nam!

Pancakes with Warm Berry Compote

Pancakes with Warm Berry Compote
You’ll need:
1. 2 cup pancake mix (such as Bisquick)
2. 2 egg
3. 1 cup milk
4. 1 pint strawberries
5. ½ pint blueberries
6. ½ cup orange juice
7. 4 tbsp granulated sugar
8. 2 tspn powdered sugar

You’ll do:
1. Cut the strawberries into quarters and place them in a bowl that has a lid
2. Add blueberries, orange juice, and sugar to the bowl with strawberries. Shake to mix and set aside.
3. Mix pancake mix, egg, and milk in medium size bowl.
4. Heat large skillet or griddle over medium heat.
5. Pour batter onto skillet, 2 at a time. Cook each side until golden brown, about 2 minutes. You can keep cooked pancakes warm on a cookie sheet in a 200F oven.
6. Meanwhile, pour berry mixture into a medium saucepan on medium heat. Heat berry mixture until liquid is reduced to half, about 10 minutes.
7. Serve compote on top of pancakes and then sprinkle with powdered sugar.

You can serve this with bacon for a yummy breakfast (or dinner) for 2!
Nam! Nam!