Meat Loaf

January 02, 2010: MEAT LOAF
Grocery List Total: $7.58
Kitchen Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Servings: 8

what you need:

• 2 lbs. lean ground beef


• 1 box (6 0z.) Stuffing Mix for Chicken


• 1 cup water


• 2 eggs


• 1/2 cup BBQ Sauce


• DON'T FORGET TO PUT YOUR ♥ INTO IT!!

HEAT oven to 375°

MIX all ingredients except 1/4 cup barbecue sauce.

SHAPE meat mixture into oval loaf in 13x9-inch baking dish [or a loaf baking dish]

POUR the remaining barbecue sauce on top & spread evenly

BAKE 1 hour (or until 160°)

Serve with mashed potatoes & bread. This will also be yummy with some steamed veggies. The kiddos were so excited that it was like "a big big meat ball" :) and of course they put ketchup on it.

Wifey's Thinks: This was effin' good! I don't know why I thought it was gonna turn out a bit dry, but it absolutely wasn't. It was perfect.

Hubby's Thinks: Coming Soon!!

Journal: Nothing too exciting happened today. That's normal around here when Hubby has to work. Holly & Jolly sang Christmas songs all day haha They are so random!

Tuna Cakes

January 01, 2010: TUNA CAKES

Grocery List Total: $8.68

Kitchen Time: 20 minutes

Servings : 6

what you need:

• 2 cans (5 oz. each) Tuna or 1 medium can


• A 6 oz. box of Stuffing Mix for Chicken


• 1 cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese


• 3/4 cup water


• 1 carrot shredded


• 1/3 cup Miracle Whip Dressing or Mayo


• 2 tbsp. pickle relish


• DON'T FORGET TO PUT YOUR ♥ INTO IT!!

MIX all ingredients and refrigerate for 10 minutes

HEAT nonstick skillet sprayed with cooking spray [or you can just use a bit of butter] on medium heat

MAKE your little cakes by grabbing about 1/3 cup of the tuna mix for each and rolling it between your hands to form a ball, then flatten it.

COOK 3 minutes on each side or until golden brown

Serve with corn & a tossed green salad of your choice! Heat up the corn on a small skillet with a bit of butter. It takes almost no time. Our daughters liked this meal with ketchup...on that note, kids will possibly eat anything you put on their plate if you add ketchup to it!!

Wifey's Thinks: This was super easy and delicious! I think these tuna cakes meal is gonna become a favorite of mine when it comes to making something yummy that's not gonna require an hour at the kitchen.

Hubby's Thinks: Coming Soon!!

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Journal: Today was kind of a lazyish day...well, only for the kiddos and me because Hubby had to work. This was the first year Hubby was off for the holidays so that was great. It was so much easier to make plans with the family and stuff. Today was his 1st day back to work after a week of vacation; Vacation week in which we didn't take a road trip or book a hotel room. Instead, we spent the week looking for an apartment and packing. My goshness!! We never finished packing! Seriously, you never know how much worthless crap you've accumulated in your place until you have to pack it up in cardboard boxes. We've filled about 10 big black garbage bags with a ton of stuff we just didn't need anymore. Not gonna lie, I'm such a pack rat but I decided to just THROW STUFF OUT!!! Hubby's said to me several times, "If you haven't used it in over a year or didn't even remember you had it, you don't need it". I've always found it really hard to get rid of things, especially since I see everything as a souvenir. LOL Anyway, as soon as hubby got back from work we went to Wal-Mart to buy groceries for all of this weeks meals. We bought everything we needed plus a few bags of chips and a new measuring cup :] Oh, & today was also the first day of what I'm calling "Project No Pop" so if I often mention "PNP" I'm referring to this I'm-giving-up-soda-cuz-my-doctor-said-it's-messing-up-my-kidneys thing. I gave up soda on Nov.17th, 2009 so I'm at about a month and a half into this whole drinking water all the time situation. It was hard for me at first because i went from drinking soda daily at all hours to not drinking it at all from one day to the other. There's days when I crave it so much but I don't give in. I just drink water, lemonade, Gatorade, iced tea, that kinda stuff...but mostly just water. Feel free to join me on this PNP. The challenge is a year so yeah, PNP2010!! whoop! whoop!

-The Wife

Welcoming You & The New Year

It's a brand new year. A brand new decade. And here is our brand new little spot on the wonderful world of the internet...a blog about cooking which was partially inspired by the movie Julie & Julia. You have got to watch it!! We have marked our calender for a month in advance with a meal for each day taken from recipes that we have chosen together from our collection of cookbooks. We are gonna try our best to stick to that. We will be posting the recipes, photos of the meals, cost of ingredients, and helpful tips and tricks that you can use in your kitchen. Together, we have decided to take on this adventure. Join us as we juggle parenting, our marriage, school, work, the daily ups and downs in life, and all this cookin'!
**HAPPY NEW YEAR**