Love oven meals
I love meals that I can make earlier in the day, and then pop in the oven, and walk away. Almost feels like I didn’t have to cook. I have an example of it in my tips on TheGroceryGame.com, which I call “Turn Key Dinner”. Which is really what I did last night. We had steamed brocolli, mixed corn and green beans (leftovers), meatloaf, baked potatoes and rolls.
The way I ended up with mixed corn and green beans is… When I have fresh vegetables leftover from dinner, which are not enough to keep for leftovers, I put them in a reclosable bag in the freezer. Then I add more from other dinners, until I get enough to make a family size serving of mixed vegetables. I had some brocolli, but not enough for our dinner. So I added the mixed corn and green beans to our meal. I love having lots of veggies anyway.
Our family’s favorite meatloaf is the Quaker Oatmeal “Prize Winning Meatloaf”. So easy, and by far the best. The only thing I do different, is I spread on a very thick layer of ketchup and seal to the edges before baking 1 hour at 350. Here’s what’s in it:
1-1/2 pounds lean ground beef
1 cup tomato juice or tomato sauce
3/4 cup Quaker® Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
1 egg or 2 egg whites, lightly beaten
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
ketchup on top (my addition)
So I make the meatloaf and scrub the potatoes and rub them with oil, and pop it all into the preheated 350 oven. Both for an hour. I had already put my brocolli in the steamer basket on the stove (but not on yet). And put the frozen corn and green beans in another pot on low to start thawing, and had the table set. So I played the piano for 45 minutes. And for the last 15 minutes of the cooking time, I put the rolls in the oven with the other stuff. And turned on the broccoli. Then I went back to my piano to work on “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” for that last 15 minutes. I was so relaxed and ready to sit down and enjoy dinner! There’s a beautiful rendition on UTube on the Glass Armonica. The arrangment is simple, but haunting. The harp and and some woodwinds play the base clef line, and the Glass Armonica plays the treble clef. Love it!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=eQemvyyJ—g
He’s dressed as Benjamin Franklin, because that’s who invented it. I saw it in the Benjamin Franklin museum in Philly. What an amazing man he was!
