My 1st Meatloaf in the Crockpot (#8)

Late Thursday shifts at work have me partnering with my Crockpot those nights. Today, I choose to be brave and make a Meatloaf. I do not eat meatloaf, but my children and hubby LOVE meatloaf. What a perfect day to make it, I will not be home for dinner. :-) I have received several recipes from people, and I just prefer to keep it simple. With the 3 little ones, I do not always have time to chop onions and all the other details that June Cleaver had time for. I choose to experiment with the Stovetop stuffing version.

For this meatloaf you will need: 1 pound of Ground Beef, 1 egg, 1/2 cup of Stovetop stuffing mix, 2  tablespoons of Ketchup and a pinch or two of Basil.

I mixed the egg and the meat until it was completely mixed. I then added the basil and the ketchup. I put the stuffing mix in a bag to crush it into smaller bits. Combine the stuffing mix and the meat and form into a loaf. You may be wondering why I am making a small loaf... Well, this is my first meatloaf, and I want to make sure it comes out ok. Plus, we are not big leftover eaters. :-) I then sprayed my Crockpot with a non-stick cooking spray, placed the meatloaf in, and turned on high. To prevent the burning of the top, I spooned about 2 more tablespoons on ketchup over the top.

You can cook it on low for  6 to 9 hours, or on high for 3 to 4. I choose to cook on high, so I can see it almost done before I lead to work. You will need to drain the fat from the pan. If you are home during the cooking, you want to do it every couple of hours. I am partnering it with Parmesan mashed potatoes and green beans. I hope this meal is enjoyed, because it was VERY easy to prepare, and could become a go-to meal for me.

AND THE VERDICT IS...

It was a success!!! The kids and hubby loved it! This is going to be a regular on my menu rotation now! The picture below might not be great, but the empty plates when I got home were great!

Peach Dinner Under 300 (#2)

I had a good bit of grilled chicken leftovers after I made the chicken salad, so what was I going to make?

In the cabinet I found canned and russet potatoes. So, here is what I tried:

1]Chopped up 1/2 cup of grilled chicken with a little bit of basil. (116 calories)

2]Wedged up a 1/2 russet potato. (55 calories)

3]Finally, I used a 1/4 can of no sugar added/light peaches. (45 calories)

This serving was 216 calories and a FULL plate.

The potatoes and chicken were already cooked from the night before, so I tossed them on the grill with the measured amount of peaches. I grilled it up and enjoyed a delicious meal before my husband and I went to the movies. The basil was a perfect touch to pull it all together. I am on this pretty serious basil kick. (We would normally pig out on fatty movie food, but this was filling enough to get me through the movie without too many nacho cheesy popcorn, dibs, large Icee cravings.  )


This will be a regular on the menu again very soon! I am going to try the fruit additions more often now that I am not so scared of the two inter-mingling on my plate! :-)

Hungry Girl Chicken Salad (#1)

Today I have been taken a break from my Crockpot and embraced my Hungry Girl cookbook! :-) This sandwich you see is an ENTIRE cup of chicken salad (145 calories) and a Thomas Light (High Fiber) English Muffin (100 calories) is incredibly filling and only a total of 245 calories. +ANOTHER PLUS+ All three of the kiddos and the hubby LOVED it too. This is a must try! So, let's get to why you are here... the recipe. :-)

Ingredients

1) 9 ounces of chicken

2) 1 cup of chopped cucumber

3) 2/3 cup of halved red seedless grapes

4) 2/3 cup of chopped apples

5) 1/2 cup of Fat Free plain yogurt

6) 4 tablespoons of Fat Free mayo

7) 2 Splendas

8) 1/2 teaspoon of lemon-pepper seasoning.

I grilled the chicken and chopped it up. We like big chunks of chicken, but you can do small bites if that is more your style. In one bowl, you want to mix the halved grapes, the chopped cucumbers and apples. In another bowl, you want to mix the yogurt, (I used Dannon) the FF mayo, (I used Kraft) Splenda and Lemon Pepper. Then you want to add your chicken and mix until fully coated. After fully coated, you will add the fruit/cucumber mixture and TA-DA! You can eat it solo or add it to crackers or bread.

I will tell you that I am one picky person, and I truly enjoyed this. It was a nice mixture of sweet and savory. It's not often that you can find a filling meal for under 300 calories. Thanks to Hungry Girl for this WINNER in the Crook house! :-)

Turkey Tuesday in the Crockpot! (#8)

No, it's not Thanksgiving, or even Marchgiving yet... BUT, I got a Turkey Breast Roast at Kroger and was thrilled that it had Crockpot instructions on the package. :-) On Monday, I took the Turkey and placed it in a bowl and added an ENTIRE bottle of Kroger brand Fat Free Zesty Italian dressing. ($1.79) and placed it back in my fridge until Tuesday morning. You read that right, nothing else. That is how my husband likes it. (Not to mention, one Thanksgiving when we were lucky to even have a turkey that was all we had, so a little Italian dressing and a LOT of prayer made a Crook family favorite!)

This morning when I was getting Malakai off on the school bus, I simply took my Crockpot from the fridge to the counter, and turned it on low. And back to bed I went. Tough life of a Supermom Cook, huh? 7 hours later like the wrapper said, I had this:

The picture isn't great (still working on the camera) but, this turkey just FELL apart. And smelled amazing. Just imagine on Thanksgiving, Easter or whenever you cook a turkey - to have the stove/oven completely available for foods other than a turkey. And this was taste tested by my husband and picky youngest, and was 100% approved by both! YAY for #8.These next 2 weeks are going to be filled with my Crockpot. Hopefully they are all as successful as this one! Happy Crockin'!