i made a meatloaf, and it didn't suck!

if you know anything about me, you know that i make my dishes up as i go. so, when i decided that i wanted to make meatloaf, i totally fucking winged it. here goes nothing. meatloaf with balsamic onion marmalade.

ingredients

meat loaf:
1 lb ground turkey (shadybrook farms' 85/15, not 93/7 or turkey breast)
1 small red onion, grated
sea salt, to taste
black pepper, to taste
1 egg, whipped
4 white button mushrooms, sliced thin
olive oil
garlic powder, to taste
about 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
& the special ingredient!! about 1 cup cheerios (plain), crushed & smashed into smithereens.


onion marmalade:
butter (or earth balance or whatever buttery thing you use), abt 1 tbsp
2 medium sized red onions, diced
balsamic vinegar, abt 1/2 cup
a pinch of salt
a pinch of black pepper
a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
2 tbsps agave nectar or honey (it's all i had. other marmalade recipes call for sugar, of course)
a dash of garlic powder

instructions!

- preheat oven to 375 degrees
- saute the sliced mushrooms in olive oil, garlic & a pinch of salt. once the mushrooms are soft, set them aside to cool.
- while mushrooms cool, add the remaining meat loaf ingredients in a bowl. mix thoroughly -- set mixture aside.
- in a saucepan, add all marmalade ingredients EXCEPT the vinegar and agave.
- stir frequently, cooking on high heat.
- once the onions become translucent, add agave syrup.
- cook mixture for about 3 minutes on high heat or until the agave reduces to a thicker consistency.
- add balsamic vinegar; reduce heat.
- cook marmalade on medium heat for approximately 10 minutes, or until the onions are completely soft, stirring often.

- after the marmalade is done, comes the fun part: the meat loaf.
- mix the mushrooms into the turkey mixture.
- coat the inside of a large-enough roasting pan with olive oil.
- pour the turkey mixture into the roasting pan. shape the meat into a rectangle with rounded edges (that's loafy, right?).
- roast for approximately 40 minutes, covered with aluminum foil or a lid (if your roaster has a lid, awesome).
- remove from oven. cover the meat loaf in onion marmalade.
- return to oven and cook, uncovered for approximately 15 minutes more (or until the meat loaf is your desired firmness).

enjoy!

fried rice.

i like rice.
i am also kinda broke on the regular.
so, i make fried rice. like this. (as per usual, no actual recipe, just an ingredient list & room for modifications and substitutions)

ingredients:

2 cups of rice (i prefer brown, but it's not necessary), cooked (make sure it isn't sticky)
1 large white onion, diced (or 1/4 lb scallions, chopped)
carrots (three medium sized),cut into medallions about 1/4 inch thick
the juice of 1 lime
toasted sesame oil, to taste
sea salt, to taste
black pepper, to taste
garlic (about 2 tablespoons,minced)
3 medium sized chicken breasts marinated (optional)
olive oil

instructions:
cook chicken breasts in olive oil, salt, pepper & garlic. set aside to cool. cube the chicken once it cools.
in the same pan, add rice & carrots. cook on medium-heat for about 2 minutes. reduce heat. add scallions. add a splash or two of sesame oil. add lime juice. while the rice & veggies are cooking, season the mixture to your tastes. add chicken to rice by folding (don't stir, you may break the rice, & nobody really wants that). return to high heat. cook for about 5 minutes.

serve w/ as many or as few veggies as you like, with or without soy sauce, with tofu, red meat, or pork. it's up to you! just don't forget the lime juice. lol.

turkey sage sausage.

see, the thing about me & my food allergies is that the allergies never leave me. i may have fewer symptoms, but i'm never scot-free. so that means that most pre-packaged sausages are not for me. they usually contain soy -- which is my greatest problem when it comes to eating foods prepared by hands that are not my own. so, i talked to my mom -- who is the guru of food allergy stuff now, since she has celiac disease and a mounting list of foods that bother her -- and was able to figure out my own recipe for turkey sage sausage. ready? let's do it!

ingredients:

1 lb ground turkey (can be white meat or dark, i prefer stoneybrook farms' 85/15, as it is dark meat and has lots of good flavor)
about 7 leaves of sage, chopped finely or torn into little pieces
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and pressed
salt, to taste
black pepper, to taste
about 1 tbsp of onion powder (i had no onions, but strongly recommend trying this w/ a finely diced vidalia)
crushed red pepper, to taste
olive oil

instructions:

mix all ingredients in a glass bowl (in my opinion, raw meat should not touch plastics, if possible -- plastic is too porous and i personally don't like the idea of meat remnants being all in my tupperware)
make small meatballs -- about 1.5 inches in diameter and flatten them to the palms of your hands (to keep them from sticking to your fingers, it may be necessary to cover your hands in olive oil beforehand) into patties.
coat a skillet (y'all know i use cast iron) with olive oil; heat the skillet over medium-high heat.
**to tell if the oil is hot enough, drip a wee bit of water into the skillet. if the water dances, it's ready.
fit as many patties as you can into the skillet. brown them fully on each side. make sure the juices run clear from the sausage patties, else you've got some raw meat on your hands. that's not what we're going for here, not at all.
remove each patty from the skillet individually -- be old school like me, and place them on paper towels to catch the oil. lol.

serve w/ biscuits, waffles, grits, oatmeal, or whatever you like. enjoy!