June 4th--- Day 1

Today I have cooked 'Favorite Meat Loaf'. I was a little apprehensive going into it since I have never cooked meat loaf before and it's a good thing I brought my confidence along for the journey. I think the meat loaf turned out GREAT.

Ingredients-

2 pounds ground Beef
1pound ground pork ( sausage meat will do)
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 fairly large onion, Finely Chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon summer savory
1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs
2 eggs lightly beaten
Bacon or salt pork cut into strips

I would allow at least 30 minutes prep time. I would also recommend thawing the meat out a head of time. When I got started at about 4:30 or 5pm I had forgot to lay the meat out to thaw. I hate thawing meat in the microwave because 100% of the time It ends up cooking the ends. I have to remember to get a large mixing bowl the next time I am at the store. I had to substitute mixing the ingredients in a large pot because of the lack of a mixing bowl. I started mixing the two pounds of meat with the LB of sausage. Then started mixing all the spices into the meat. I don't know if any of you have heard of summer savory, but apparently it is a spice and my local H.E.B does not carry it. So I had to substitute the 1 tsp summer savory with 1 tsp cumin. I didn't have time to make homemade breadcrumbs, which when better prepared I will have them on hand. Instead I used Progresso brand bread crumbs. I have to admit, they aren't too shabby. I don't care much for onions so I didn't add any. I set the oven to 350 degrees and lined my roasting pan (because I didn't have a backing dish 1 1/2 inch. deep) with turkey bacon and laid my then formed beef loaf on top. I also added a couple slices or bacon on top of the loaf. You will need to cook the meat for about 1hr and 1/2 and test the meat with a meat thermometer when done. You are looking for a tempt of 150. I basted the meat about every 15 minutes with hot stock. I would recommend this to keep the meat moist. It may get a little messy, but I promise it will be well worth it.

I cooked some peas and cooked carrots for the vegetable and mashed potatoes for the side. To my utter surprise, The dish came out so savory!!!! I had Chris Carve the meat and serve it up. I have to say, Growing up, meat loaf was such a drag. No offense to my Mom's cooking (she is such a great cook) but it was very bland and always required some kind of sauce. Almost always Ketchup. I have to say, Eating this Meat loaf I didn't need a single drip of Ketchup or any other sauce. Every bit was a burst of flavor and deliciousness. Even Kayla would scream if I didn't have another bit of food ready and in front of her face. LOL it was so cute! Needless to say there were a lot of MMMm's and Ohhhhhhs at the dinner table. :-) I would have to say, Day one of this cooking experience has got me wanting more. Tomorrow I will be attempting to cook Teriyaki Broiled Chicken. Sounds yummy!

Signing out- 8:36pm