Mama's Meatloaf and One More Day with Dinner on the Table

Some nights, it's tricky just to get dinner on the table. I like our meals to be special and even more so, now that I'm attempting to write about them. But sometimes what matters is simply providing my family with something to eat.

Luckily this meal was made with all on hand products. It's taken me years to be able to cook anything, much less a balanced meal, without a trip to the store. If you cook often enough, staples add up and eventually dinner can be served even after being out of town. This isn't the healthiest meal ever, but it was quick, comforting, and sufficient.

I'm one of those aliens that actually likes meatloaf. Well, my mama's meatloaf. I'm not sure if I'd like anyone else's. My mom used to make this meal for me whenever I came home. And because we're cut from the same mold, she too felt guilty that meatloaf wasn't "special" enough.

The neon yellow looking rice is Mahatma's Saffron Yellow. I love these packets for several reasons. They cost about 50 cents, which seems unreal. They are a nice quantity for two adults and two toddlers. I tend to grossly over-make rice quantities and we are not very good at using leftovers. It's quick, but not Minute Rice quick. The package takes 20 minutes. Minute rice may only take five, but it's quality is pretty squishy and poor, IMO.

The broccoli came from one of those steamer bags they're carrying in the frozen aisles these days. My husband bought it, I probably never would have so I've no idea how much it cost. In the grand scheme of things, steaming broccoli in a double boiler is pretty easy anyway, and it makes me a little nervous microwaving in plastic. But in a pinch, it was an easy on-hand, not quickly perishing vegetable option.

I'm not a huge fan of bell peppers. A really nice thing about them though, is they freeze well. I freeze a partial in a plastic bag and it will last up to a couple of months, just pull out, slice, and add to your dish, no need to thaw.

1.2 lbs ground beef
1/2 white onion, finely chopped
1/2 a small green bell pepper, cored, seeds removed, and very finely chopped
1 egg
1 handful oatmeal
2 tbsps ketchup
6 strips bacon
can tomato sauce
kosher salt
fresh ground pepper
Jane's Krazy Mixed-Up Salt

In a large bowl, combine beef, onion, bell pepper, egg, oatmeal, ketchup and spices. Mush into a loaf in a large glass casserole. To cook more quickly, make a shape that is flatter and longer, not more than 1 inch thick. Cover with strips of bacon and cook in oven preheated to 375. After 30 minutes, remove from oven, remove fat from casserole with a spoon. Pour tomato sauce over top of meatloaf and return to oven. Cook another 10-15 minutes and remove from oven. Slice and serve.

Ready to Cook Ham

Around Christmas and Easter, and a few other times, you can find ready to cook hams in the grocery. They come in a shank portion and a butt portion. I go with the shank portion because it has less gristle and is easier to carve. A ready to cook ham has been wet cured and needs to be cooked to reach an internal temperature of 160.

Ham also definitely falls under my budget meals category. This 8 pound ham cost just over 10$. Sometimes it's more than that, I've paid double or triple, but this is still a good price. An 8lb ham serves about 15 dinner size servings, and the bone provides a wonderful base for blackeyed pea soup or vegetable soup. The price per serving of this meal was literally about $1.25. Of course we'll need to be committed to eating ham sandwiches for the next while, but who doesn't love a jambon-beurre sandwich?

8 lb ready to cook ham
water

In a glass pan, place rinsed ham, then add about an inch of water to the pan. Cook in an oven preheated to 325. Needs to cook for about 18 minutes per pound to an internal temperature of 160.

To carve, slice thin slices down to bone, then cut along bone to free slices. Turn ham to other side and repeat. Save shank bone in freezer for later use.

Whole Roasted Chicken with Sauteed Cabbage

Last week Central Market had whole chickens on sale for an absurd price. Actually whole chickens are often very inexpensive and provide the base for an additional soup meal. You know how people always talk about how much money you can save cooking at home instead of eating out? If you ate like this every day, you would. I like to experiment, so I'm not sure that we save any money in the long run, but we eat well and I can control everything that goes into our bodies. This dinner fed the four of us, plus leftovers for the kids school lunches for a grand total of about $8. And I could have made that under $5 by using bulk rice or lentils or another bulk grain instead of the Near East boxed couscous. That link is to the Roasted Garlic and Olive Oil flavor instead of the Herbed Chicken shown in the picture. We grabbed the wrong box from the grocery likely while trying to wrangle small toddlers from tearing open the dried beans to pour all over the aisle.

Cabbage costs absolutely nothing, like 79 cents or something. The secret to mine is sauteing in a tiny bit of bacon grease. Yumm. Cabbage is a cruciferous vegetable, like broccoli, kale, and brussel sprouts. If you clicked on that link and read any of it, it seems to prevent nearly every kind of cancer with amazing results.

Make sure you save your chicken carcass for a soup base, I'm making tortilla soup with mine.

Whole Roasted Chicken

3.5 lb whole chicken
1/2 of a small lemon, cut into quarters
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed a little
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
paprika
olive oil

Preheat oven to 400. Rinse chicken, remove any giblets and pat dry. Put salt and pepper in chicken cavity. Place lemon and garlic cloves inside chicken cavity. Place chicken on a rack in a roasting pan. Drizzle with olive oil, then sprinkle with paprika, kosher salt, and fresh ground pepper. Cook for approx 16 minutes per pound, though check to ensure chicken reaches an internal temperature of 160. Let rest for 10 minutes then carve and serve.

Sauteed Cabbage

1/2 head of green cabbage, sliced thinly
1/2 tbsp bacon grease
kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

In a cast iron skillet, warm the bacon grease over medium heat. Add cabbage and saute until cabbage turns a bright green and softens about 7 minutes.