Author: Theresa

Meatloaf Monday came very fast this week. I looked at a few options with no great inspiration as I have had other weeks. I chose one that I thought was slightly similar to my perfect “10” meatloaf.  (In case you are new to this blog. I spell it out in the ‘Welcome’, but the meatloaf I have made sparsely for 35 years is not good. Not good at all.  Somehow though, Terry scores it a “10”. Read from the beginning if you want to know perhaps why.)   I also chose this one as it bakes 1 1/2 hours and I could get in a run. It was 54° so I just had to get outside.

By picking a recipe close to mine, I wanted to test the idea… could just a few different ingredients change the score significantly? Some weeks the ingredients are vastly different so Terry can tell right away. Sometimes he forms an opinion quickly; however, this week he came in and said, “Sure smells good in here.” He also ran after school today, so after his shower he walked over to the meatloaf ‘resting for 5 minutes before slicing’ as the recipe says. He said, “It looks familiar. A little like yours.” I thought so as well. This meatloaf was paired only with California Blend vegetables. We do not need potatoes each week. How many of you want potatoes with each meal or several times per week?? And I said once a week is too much. Me and my cooking distaste.

The new ingredients for Week #14 were grape jelly and celery. I double checked and I have yet to have a week that did not have at least one new or different ingredient. It is so strange to me after 3 1/2 months into this experiment, there are not only new recipes but new ingredients added. That is why I have 42 variations of this dish to make!!! By the way, I have lost count but I still get new recipes, now and then. I am sure I am over 42.  I should count soon.  This one was simply called ‘Schnipke Meatloaf’. It was handwritten by Terry’s mom.

It is nice that I do not need to buy many new ingredients each week any longer, but again, I have bought more ground beef, ketchup and bread crumbs in 14 weeks then I likely have bought in 20 years.  I had to share the picture of the grocery list Terry left me. When Brooke was a young teen, I would always ask her if she needed anything from the grocery store. She would always respond with “crayons and a puppy”. She was even known to write that on my grocery list, now and then.  So, this is what Terry has resorted to writing on my list! You have to be kidding! Brooke grew out of this habit, yet Terry is going backward.  What grocery store does he think I am visiting???  Interesting, that hunting was a big part of his growing up years and I was making his childhood meatloaf this week. 🙂 Here are the details.

Schnipke Meatloaf

Combine:
1 lb. of ground beef
1/2 lb. ground pork sausage
1 egg
3/4 cup oatmeal (or the recipe said 2 c. bread crumbs. That seemed like a lot given other recipes so I went with the oatmeal.)
3 T. finely minced celery
2 T. chopped onion (optional)  (I left this out given Terry’s love-hate relationship with onion in various forms.)
1 1/2 cup milk
1 T. worcestershire sauce
1 T. grape jelly
1/4 t. mustard (your choice of variety)
1 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper

Bake in loaf pan for 1 1/2 hours at 350°.

Glaze: 1/4 cup ketchup and 5 T. brown sugar.  (It did not say when to apply the glaze so I added it at the beginning so I could take that run and be gone longer.)

This was mostly a traditional meatloaf. Terry said he liked it very much. It was juicy and tender. He was shocked when I told him there was grape jelly and celery, as he did not detect either while eating. I have said other weeks that he loves the brown sugar and ketchup sauce.  This was perfect for his sweet tooth. He did get out the mustard to use on it as well.   Throughout the meal he would comment about how similar this was to mine but he knew it was not mine. He thought the sauce was sweeter.  The one odd thing we discussed is that it calls for 1/2 pound of pork sausage. I only know how to buy ground pork in a one pound Bob Evans or Jimmy Dean variety so then I had a 1/2 pound left over. I fried up 3 patties Terry can have with eggs later this week. Not sure if ground pork comes in less quantity (unless maybe at a meat counter or meat market)?   Here is the appropriate time to ask my old Delphos friends if you remember Schmidt’s Meat Market? I can still smell the meat if I think of that place.

Terry gave this meatloaf a 9.3. A very high mark. The second highest in 14 weeks. After Terry ranks the meatloaf we talk about the ingredients and where this recipe came from. He was very surprised to hear it was from his mom.  I asked if he remembered it tasting like this growing up and he said “I have been married to you for 35 years, I remember very little from before then.” Is that a compliment or not???  I would say this: since it is similar to mine (although not spot on as I do not use grape jelly or celery, etc.), it is close enough that perhaps the reason he likes the one I make is because it was similar to the one growing up. The premises from the beginning of this project is that we often like what we know. He knew that ‘type of meatloaf’ from his childhood, so it stands to reason he liked this one.

I asked Terry about the sign he left in the morning announcing Meatloaf Monday. He had not done that before this week, and in fact, barely would acknowledge it was Monday and perhaps there might be meatloaf.  He said he finally trusted that I would truly be making meatloaf each Monday. He says he knows he can count on it now. Oh, the things we do for those we love.

A dear friend said to me recently, “You just wait. Once you are into this blog, you will share other things from life.” She was right and I have ventured to a few topics but now I am taking a big detour to share a long family tradition. After Christmas was over, I always struggled to just throw away all the beautiful cards we received.  (I promise this ties into meatloaf and our Monday dinner conversation.)  When B & B were very young we started a tradition that we would each pick one Christmas card from the card basket and we would pray for that family after dinner on Sunday evening. All our schedules were busy during the week so it was the one time we were all home most weeks for dinner. As Brent and Brooke moved on, Terry and I continued this tradition.  The number of times we ‘randomly’ chose a card, only to find out a family we prayed for needed pray for that week, was amazing. We always finished the basket in November, only to start over in January with new cards. With Meatloaf Monday bringing us to the table each week on Mondays, we decided to move the Christmas card prayers to Mondays. Terry randomly chose the card this particular evening and somehow ended up with 4 photo cards. (I usually like those to stay in the basket longer in the year, but these are the 4 families for this week.)  If you need an idea of how to make Christmas cards matter longer, and teach your children the value of prayer for others in their daily life, I suggest this one.  Here are the four cards selected this week.   I do not know if B & B do this with their young families today, but Terry and I still do and during the prayer on Monday February 3 Terry added “and may Meatloaf Monday never end”.   I told you there was a tie in!

The choice for this week was a no-brainer. I spent several hours last week with Morgan organizing this website and hitting publish on the blog. The first 11 weeks at one time. The site is not meant to be fancy. Just a place for the entries and recipes. To thank our friends and give you all a shout out for the recipes and playing along.  I am not a computer person at all. I love writing in cursive and paper journals. I was so happy to hear that Morgan was doing some free lance work and had the time to help me. If you are new to Meatloaf Mondays & More, the welcome gives the back story.  Also, if you want to comment ensure you are inside the entry, not just scrolling on the main page.  This week I have some questions to ask that I would love feedback on.

I picked out Morgan’s recipe, which sweetly read “Meatloaf from My Great Grandma”.  I could not read one word on the notecard so I texted Morgan to ask about it. The text went like this… “Guess who is on deck? You! Or should I say, your great grandma?” Morgan replied, “OMG THROW MINE AWAY. I’ve never even made it. I, for real, just pulled it from my Grandma’s recipe book.  I can’t be on your blog. That was a joke. I just wanted to contribute a recipe”.  First, I really want to understand how she has her Great Grandma’s recipes. I want to see that book. Of course, I am older than Morgan (and her mom!) so my greats and grandmas were likely all ‘a pinch of this and that’ type of people. Not recipe book people.  Second, Morgan should be glad she submitted this recipe.

Back to the word I could not read on her recipe card.  Morgan said it was “piquant”.  It means “having a pleasantly sharp taste or appetizing flavor”.  I also found definitions that listed pungent, sharp or spicy taste.  The origin of this word is French from the 1500s .  This recipe is interesting in that we are at week #12 and only two recipes have used nutmeg and sage so far: Morgan’s Great Grandma’s meatloaf and Morgan’s  Mom, Rhonda Casady’s Favorite Meatloaf recipe from Week #3.  There was one other thing that were similar to only these two recipes, that I do not believe are from the same side of the family. Both said to ‘grate’ the onions. In the photo below I show the grater I used. On the biggest grate the onions seem a bit big for Terry’s general liking. On the other sides, the onions get watery (mostly). Is this grater the type of kitchen tool meant for ‘grating’ onions?  This photo also shows how big the onions are in the meat mixture.  However, I easily covered those with the piquant sauce.   🙂

I made the meatloaf in the muffin pan because this is the first recipe that suggested it. They were cute. I paired it with asparagus. This recipe was written with such love. I have to show it as written.   The comment about whether we would prefer a hamburger, cracked me up. And then the ‘love ya!’ comment makes me smile.

Morgan is one of the best. She has always pushed me as much as she can from my boomer ways to her millennial ways. She has taught me much about branding, public relations work and social media.  I am glad we worked together a few years back.  As far as the hamburger comment is concerned.  Yes, I would! So much so, that I did not put the piquant sauce on one meatloaf muffin and it tasted remarkably like a hamburger. Maybe that is the key to me liking meatloaf.

Terry’s first comment was ‘”this is pretty good”.  After he had four muffins, he proclaimed “a solid 8!” He was very happy. Terry does not have the list, the recipes or past scores yet he has not repeated a rating yet through Week #12.  How is he doing that?! He started with a 7 and says mine is a 10, but all the rankings so far are different in that range. I wonder if that will keep up.   I am very glad that Morgan submitted this recipe, even if it was just so she could help Terry pull a fast one on me at my retirement party.  Our summary is that a Great Grandma’s recipe book is very reliable for what is contained within.  Thanks for sharing, Morgan!

I have one more thing to add this week about spices and such. In a previous post, I mentioned how quickly spices expire, and how large the containers seem to be. The photo below shows the dry mustard I have not had that long.  It expires in April 2025 and very little has been used. I would definitely need to cook more than one time weekly to use it by the expiration. Colman’s could definitely sell this in a much smaller quantity.  I did not realize until researching this a bit that dry mustard is also called ground mustard and is sold in a smaller container by other brands. I have always bought the can of Colman’s and have thrown it away due to the expiration date in the past.  I know I have been told that products can be used after their expiration, but they might not be as effective. How long and how not effective? Are the dates set to get us to buy more products or is there a method to the expiration dates? What is a safe time period to still use it?  Well,  Week #12 is in the books.  Only 30 or so to go!

This past weekend Terry mentioned wanting to make Carla’s baked beans and Bethany’s chili. These are the names he has given two dishes that he makes each January. Both are more of a winter food. I said, “Well, I would be happy to make one of those on Monday if you want to suspend ‘Meatloaf Monday’.  If he wants to eat other dishes we have to use our time to cook wisely. I know there are 7 days in a week, and I am still only finding one day to cook. I think this ‘not liking to cook’ thing is more of an issue than I was just too busy when I was working. Terry said, “Whoa, whoa. Hold up there, Nelly. We are not doing that.”  I will try to make these dishes on other days soon.

Interestingly, my choice for this week’s meatloaf recipe was by the same Bethany mentioned above. Terry likes Bethany’s chili recipe from a days-gone-by Chili Cook-Off, and I make her Southwestern Salad often. She is another one of the good cooks I know. I was gifted mini-loaf pans during the holidays, so it seemed appropriate to make a recipe titled ‘Lil Cheddar Meat Loaves.  I surveyed the recipe and shopped but only had to buy ground beef this week. The new ingredient in this recipe was one cup of cheddar cheese.  The one observation is that the sauce made quite a bit for the loaf pans.  I noted toward the end of the recipe it said to form 8 loaves in a 13 x 9 dish. I made 4 mini loaves in my new pans. If these were formed in a larger dish the sauce would be spread around full loaves, thus using more. Here is the recipe:

‘Lil Cheddar Meat Loaves

Meatloaf:
1 egg
¾ c. shredded cheddar cheese
½ c. quick cooking oats
½ c. chopped onion
1 tsp. salt
1 lb. ground beef

Sauce:

2/3 c. ketchup
½ c. brown sugar
1 ½ t. mustard

In bowl beat eggs and milk. Stir in cheese, oats, onion and salt. Add beef and mix well. Shape into eight loaves. Place in a greased 13 x 9 baking dish. Combine ketchup, brown sugar and mustard. Spoon over loaves. Bake, uncovered at 350 degrees for minutes or until meat is no longer pink; meat thermometer at 160 degrees.

Terry walked in and said the house smelled wonderful. I am fairly certain he says that each Monday. He commented this was the “sweetest” meatloaf by far comparing it to the meatballs we make during the holidays. The recipe called for ½ c. brown sugar so sweet makes perfect sense. Terry noted the flavor was good. The ranking was a 7.2. He noted the mini loaf pans increased the ‘cute’ factor.   One other comment I heard him say, “I know there is onion as I crunched one.” Maybe the onion is a much bigger deal, like the green pepper, than I wanted to believe.

A side note to finish up this week is that my sister and her husband celebrated ‘Meatloaf Monday’ by having his mother’s dish. He even rated it as a 9. Apparently, he could not give it a 10 because his mom did not make it. Isn’t that sweet? I happen to have her recipe in my pile so in the coming weeks we will see where Terry stacks that one compared to all others. I am not sure how he keeps this all straight at this point.

Here we are a new year, new adventures, new meatloaf recipes. Well, that is what we are here for, right? And today is Monday, so here we go. Terry continues to love this weekly project. Admittedly, my journaling suffered in December, but I never missed a week (as you can see) of making a new meatloaf. Just not as many insights or Terryisms. That is a new term, by the way.

Because I was feeling a bit of a holiday hangover from baking, cooking and such, I decided to go with the easiest recipe in the bunch. Now the funny thing about this one is that when Trina, Terry’s cousin Doug’s wife and friend after all these years together in Grove,  brought it up to me at the party on September 26, she said with a chuckle, “It’s funny I am giving you back your recipe that you gave me at my bridal shower.” We both laughed at this irony. However, when I sat down with the recipes in October, I noticed it was not the one I make. Trina and Doug married the same year we did so perhaps I had a recipe I shared back then, but did not use. Remember, I do not like to cook  and I do not like meatloaf so anything is possible.  However, this quick low fuss meatloaf is perfect for a holiday hangover when cooking is the last thing you want to do. Terry had a snow day today so he joined me in the grocery shopping. I only had to keep one special ingredient hidden in the grocery store.

“It sure smells good in here,” Terry said when he got home from hunting. This week I was reminded that God has a way of bringing people to mind that we need to connect with, or send up a prayer for at that moment. That was Trina. She was on my mind because I pulled her recipe this week and had bought the ingredients.  On the way home from the store, we received a text that led me to text Trina. I hadn’t talked to her in many weeks, if not two months, and here I was making her recipe. I was so glad to get caught up as her meatloaf was baking. She had no idea I was making her meatloaf recipe as we were touching base on something unrelated. A God appointment is a good term here. I am always so impressed with Trina’s ability to run a household and put a full meal out every day. I know Doug has eaten well over the years. They really are the best people, after an evening together, we always say we need to that more often.

As Terry was finishing up, he said, ‘This tastes really good. The consistency is very different from the others.” With only 4 ingredients it is no fuss for sure. The recipe card lists a prep time of 5 minutes. I think that is generous. It was quick and with so few ingredients, it’s a fast dinner at the last minute for anyone. I pared this with a sweet potato which was perfect. Terry rated this meatloaf an 8.1. I liked this variation very much, and I know why. It tasted like a very good hamburger with crispy pieces on top. It did not have a sauce with ketchup. It was not slimy, greasy or wet like many meatloaves. If you are someone that does not like all the ingredients or the texture of most meatloaf recipes, this might be the one for you.  At this point in the project, this was only the second recipe that had no ketchup. It seems that is some type of requirement for meatloaf.

Two recipes in this game so far have contained the stuffing mix. Terry shared that he never ate stuffing as a child. He said he started to eat Doug(my dad’s, not the other Doug in this story). Doug tries hard to match my Grandma Louise’s stuffing which is truly an art.  Terry said he now really seems to enjoy the Stove Top brand. I, on the other hand, do not like stuffing- at all, but this recipe was better to me than most.
This was easy. Simply titled…

Meat Loaf
1 lb. of ground beef
1- 8 oz. box Stove Top Stuffing
1 c. water
2 egg whites
Mix all ingredients together and put in greased 9×5 loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes. For an even crispier top, I baked it 55 minutes. It is finished when no longer pink inside.

Because this was so much like a crispy hamburger we used the leftovers in a nacho dish later in the week. Yes, I cooked twice this week!