Cooking with Em (4 1/2 years old) last night: Meatloaf Muffins with Barbecue Sauce AND Fruit Salad with Vanilla Dressing.
We made our own bread crumbs and Em cut up a lot of the fruit with a little plastic serrated knife. She also helped measure and mix the dressing for the fruit salad. And of course she mixed up the meatloaf with her hands and used an ice cream scoop to fill the muffin tin. We had some meatloaf left after making the "muffins" so we put it in a regular loaf pan and baked it along with the other ones.
She did a great job, and dinner was delicious with some mashed potatoes (she helped with the mashing) and veggies.

Meatloaf Muffins with Barbecue Sauce

Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray
Prep Time: 10 min Cook Time: 20 min Level: Easy Serves: 6

1 2/3 to 1 3/4 pounds ground sirloin
1 medium onion, cut into chunks
2 ribs celery from the heart of the stalk, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 green bell pepper
1 large egg plus a splash of milk, beaten
1 cup plain bread crumbs
2 tablespoons grill seasoning
1 cup smoky barbecue sauce
1/2 cup tomato salsa
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Vegetable oil or extra-virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
Put ground beef into a big bowl. Put onion and celery into a food processor. Cut the bell pepper in half, rip out the seeds and throw them into your garbage bowl. Cut the pepper into a few pieces and add to the food processor. Pulse the processor blades to finely chop the vegetables into very small pieces then add them to the meat bowl. Add egg, beaten with milk, bread crumbs and grill seasoning to the bowl. Next, mix together the smoky barbecue sauce, the salsa and the Worcestershire sauce. Pour half the sauce mixture into the bowl with the meatloaf mix. Mix the meatloaf together with your hands. Wash up. Brush a 12-muffin tin (1/2-cup each) with vegetable oil or extra-virgin olive oil. Use an ice cream scoop to help you fill meat into a each tin. Top each meat loaf with a spoonful of extra sauce. Bake about 20 minutes. Cut open 1 muffin to test that the middle is cooked through. 


Fruit Salad with Vanilla Dressing

Recipe courtesy Alton Brown, 2005
Prep Time: 25 min Level: Easy Serves: 4 to 6

1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 Granny Smith apple, cored and diced
1 cup seedless grapes, halved
1 pear, peeled, cored and diced
10 to 12 medium size strawberries, halved
1 mango, peeled and diced
1 banana, sliced
1/3 cup chopped walnuts, toasted

In a small mixing bowl whisk together the yogurt, mayonnaise, lemon juice, honey, vanilla extract and salt. Season with pepper, to taste. Set aside.
Place all of the fruit and the nuts into a large mixing bowl and toss to combine. Add the dressing, toss and serve. 

Mushroom Stuffed Chicken

I thought this was a Rachael Ray Recipe...But I guess not...Don't know where I found it.  It was very tasty but took me forever to prepare...maybe I was having a slow day...


Mushroom Stuffed Chicken Breasts


1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 pound button mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
3 tablespoons minced shallots or red onions
1 clove minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus extra for seasoning
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground white or black pepper, plus extra for seasoning
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/3 cup stock
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped chives
1/4 to 1/3 cup fine dry bread crumbs
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, about 6 ounces each
5 teaspoons clarified butter, or vegetable oil
Salt
Ground black pepper
1/2 cup all-purpose flour


Heat the butter in a large skillet until foamy. Add the mushrooms and sauté, stirring occasionally, until soft and they have released their liquid, about 4 minutes. Add the shallots, garlic, thyme, salt and pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until most of the liquid has evaporated and shallots are soft, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the lemon juice and stock and cook until almost evaporated, 2 minutes. Add the heavy cream and cook until heated through and the cream has evaporated a bit, 2 to 3 minutes.Remove from the heat and add the parsley, chives, and enough bread crumbs to tighten mixture.


Preheat the oven to 350º F.


Insert a thin, sharp knife into the thick side of each chicken breast and make a horizontal pocket, being careful not to cut all the way through to the other side. Divide stuffing and insert into the chicken pockets. Pull the chicken flesh around the stuffing to enclose the filling. Seal with toothpicks, as necessary. Lightly salt and pepper both sides of the chicken. Place the flour in a shallow dish and lightly dust the chicken, shaking to remove any excess.


In a large oven proof skillet, heat the clarified butter over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and sear until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes on the top side. Turn and place in the oven and bake until the chicken is cooked through, about 12 minutes.

Porcupine Meatballs..YumYum

Served with bisquick biscuits and niblet corn. Yummy!!

Porcupine Meatballs

1 lb ground beef
1/4 cup uncooked rice
1 egg
1 onion, minced
1 Tbsp parsley
salt and pepper to taste
1 Tbsp worcestershire sauce
1 can condensed tomato soup

Combine first 5 ingredients plus 1/4 cup soup, salt and pepper. Mix well and form into 1" meatballs. Place meatballs in large skillet.  Combine remaining soup and 1/2 cup water and pour over meatballs.  Cove and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 40 minutes.

Note: I double the soup, water and worcestershire and then let the sauce thicken without cover for last 10 minutes.

Mexican Lasagna

Mexican Lasagna from Rachael Ray tonight.  Hubby  has been asking for it for a week or so.  He even went to the grocery store to get the ground chicken!



Mexican Lasagna
Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray
Prep Time: 10 min Cook Time: 20 min Level: Serves: 4

Ingredients
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 pounds ground chicken breast, available in the packaged meats case
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained
1 cup medium heat taco sauce or 1 (14-oz) can stewed or fire roasted tomatoes
1 cup frozen corn kernels
Salt
8 (8 inch) spinach flour tortillas, available on dairy aisle of market
2 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar or shredded pepper jack
2 scallions, finely chopped


Directions
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Preheat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil - twice around the pan. Add chicken and season with chili powder, cumin, and red onion. Brown the meat, 5 minutes. Add taco sauce or stewed or fire roasted tomatoes. Add black beans and corn. Heat the mixture through, 2 to 3 minutes then season with salt, to your taste.

Coat a shallow baking dish with remaining extra-virgin olive oil, about 1 tablespoon oil. Cut the tortillas in half or quarters to make them easy to layer with. Build lasagna in layers of meat and beans, then tortillas, then cheese. Repeat: meat, tortilla, cheese again. Bake lasagna 12 to 15 minutes until cheese is brown and bubbly. Top with the scallions and serve.

Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies

Love the alliterative!!

I found this recipe on http://www.allrecipes.com/. Well worth the time it takes to make the cookies. Just don't lick your fingers!!

I made 3 batches of cookies and a double batch of the frosting.  Came out great!!

Here they are:

Chocolate-Covered Cherry Cookies


Prep Time: 20 Minutes Cook Time: 10 Min Ready In: 30 Min
Servings: 15 2 cookies per

1/2 cup butter (no substitutes), softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup baking cocoa
1/2 tsp salt, divided
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 (10 ounce) jar maraschino cherries
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk


In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Add egg and vanilla; mix well. Combine the flour, cocoa, 1/4 tsp salt, baking powder and baking soda; gradually add to the creamed mixture.


Drain cherries, reserving 1-1/2 tsp juice. Pat cherries dry. Shape 1 tablespoon of dough around each cherry. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 º F for 8-10 minutes or until set. Cool on wire racks.


For frosting, in a saucepan, heat chocolate chips and milk until chips are melted; stir until smooth. Remove from the heat. Add reserved cherry juice and remaining salt. Frost cookies