The problem with all this cold weather is that it makes me want to eat everything in sight. Stews, soups, roasts, spaghetti - not salads. Hearty fare.
Last night for dinner I made meatloaf, redskin potatoes, and sauteed zucchini with garlic and butter. Michael ate a big dinner, which did my heart good. He has days he eats almost nothing. He didn't eat much over the weekend.
Here's the meatloaf recipe, which is a little different from the way I usually make it:
DEE'S MEATLOAF
1 lb. ground sirloin
1 cup breadcrumbs with Italian seasoning [Publix]
1 egg
1 tablespoon baking powder [this lightens it]
1/2 cup sherry
1/2 tablespoon olive oil [if you use super lean beef]
1 can Campbells French Onion soup
Sea Salt and pepper to taste
Mush together and form into a rectangle. The consistency should be very, very wet - almost too wet to hold together. Add water if necessary.
Bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes, depending on how hot your oven gets.
The redskin potatoes I just tossed in some sour cream and butter.
Tonight I am making Chicken and Dumplings. This is the easiest chicken and dumplings ever. No need to use bisquit dough or worry about the dumplings being light. Just get 2-4 chicken filets and boil them until soft, and then shred them and set aside. Or you can use a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store and just don't use the skin. That's awesome chicken, usually.
Take a heavy saucepan or pot and dump in about 4 cans of this soup and add some milk or heavy cream, or chicken broth if you want it to be lighter. Cook on medium low for 5-10 minutes. Whisk it or beat it until it's a smooth sauce.
When the broth is hot, add in strips of flour tortillas. Now, you just cut the flour tortillas into strips, as shown below.
Turn the broth to High. When the broth is boiling, drop in the strips of tortillas a few at a time and stir. Keep stirring, keep the broth boiling. The tortillas will magically transform into dumplings in the boiling broth. I promise. Once they are all transformed, cut the heat back to low, or off. Add some butter, and salt and pepper if you like, and onion powder is good. Add in the shredded chicken. Serve. YUM.
Except for cutting up the tortillas, it's easy.