Slow Cooker Cheeseburger Meatloaf

Slow Cooker Cheeseburger Meatloaf (adapted from KraftRecipes, Servings: 8, Total Time: 4 hours, 15 minutes)

Ingredients

·         2 pkg. Morningstar Farms MealStarters Burger Crumbles
·         1 pkg.  (6 oz.) STOVE TOP Stuffing Mix for Pork
·         ½ cup water
·         2 eggs, beaten
·         ½ cup ketchup
·         ¼ cup yellow mustard
·         4 slices cheese or shredded cheddar

Directions

1.      Mix all ingredients except cheese just until blended.
2.      Fold 2 (30-inch-long) pieces of foil lengthwise in half twice. Crisscross pieces on work surface. Spray with nonstick cooking spray. Top with “meat” mixture; shape into desired shape.
3.      Use foil handles to gently lower meatloaf into slow cooker, letting ends of foil hang over top edge of cooker; cover with lid.
4.      Cook on HIGH 4 hours. Top with cheese. Let stand, covered, 5 min. or until cheese is melted. Use foil handles to remove meatloaf from slow cooker before slicing to serve.

I made the mistake of not spraying the foil with Pam, so my “meat”loaf stuck to the foil.  It also burned around the edges during the four hour cook time, so I recommend three hours at High then switch it to Low for one hour.  It made the whole house smell like a ham/cheeseburger, which was quite fantastic.  The taste is what you would expect, a ham- or cheeseburger (I didn’t put cheese on the whole thing, my husband and I each decided how much we wanted on our pieces).  The stuffing, eggs, ketchup, and mustard help the mixture hold together quite well, so no need for additional binders.  I served it with some Creamy Polenta from Trader Joe’s – a very satisfying meal. 

Spicy Black Bean Empanadas

Spicy Black Bean Empanadas (slightly adapted from AllRecipes, Total Time: 1 hour, 18 minutes, Servings: 40)

Ingredients

·         2 (17.3 oz.) packages Pepperidge Farm® Puff Pastry Sheets

·         1 egg

·         1 Tbsp. water

·         ½ lb. (1/2 pkg.) Morningstar Farms MealStarters Burger Crumbles

·         1 small red pepper, diced

·         4 medium green onions, chopped (green and white parts)

·         1 clove garlic, minced

·         ½ cup tomato sauce

·         1 tsp. ground cumin

·         1 tsp. chili powder

·         1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper

·         1 ½ cups shredded Mexican or Taco cheese

·         ½ (15 oz.) can black beans, rinsed and drained

Directions

1.      Thaw the pastry sheets at room temperature for 40 minutes or until they're easy to handle. Heat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or spray with vegetable cooking spray.

2.      Stir the egg and water with a fork in a small bowl.

3.      Cook the Burger Crumbles in a skillet over medium-high heat until they are heated through. Add the diced red pepper, green onions and garlic. Cook until tender.

4.      Stir the tomato sauce, cumin, chili powder and crushed red pepper into the skillet. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 8 minutes. Remove from the heat. Stir in the cheese and beans. Let cool.

5.      Unfold 1 pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface. Roll to a 16x12-inch rectangle. Cut into 10 (2 1/2-inch) rounds. Top half of each round with 1 teaspoon mixture. Brush edges of pastry with water. Fold over and press the edges with a fork to seal. Place the empanadas on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining pastry and mixture. Brush with the egg mixture.

6.      Bake for 18 minutes or until golden.

I found this to be a very time-consuming process.  I only used 1 package of the Puff Pastry because it was taking while to roll them out, cut them, fill them, etc.  In the future, I’ll probably just use the filling to make tacos – less calories (puff pastries are pretty calorific) and more focus on the filling.  I did like them as empanadas, but it was just a little too much dough for my liking – and I overstuffed them!  I didn’t find the filling that spicy, so I will likely add more crushed red pepper in the future, or maybe some cayenne pepper.  I would also reduce the cheese to 1 cup – 1 ½ was too much.  If you have time and patience, I recommend trying the whole recipe.  If not, just make tacos!

Pumpkin Pasta

Pumpkin Pasta (slightly adapted from AllRecipes, Servings: 4, Total Time: 20 minutes)

Ingredients

·         1 box whole wheat penne pasta

·         1 15 oz. can pumpkin puree

·         1 ¼ cups low sodium vegetable broth

·         ½ cup skim milk

·         2 tsp. margarine

·         ¼ tsp. onion powder

·         ¼ tsp. ground black pepper

·         1/4 tsp. salt

·         1 pinch ground cloves

·         1 pinch ground nutmeg

·         1 pinch ground cinnamon

·         1 pinch ground ginger

·         ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving

Directions

1.       Fill a large pot with lightly salted water and bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Once the water is boiling, stir in the penne, and return to a boil. Cook the pasta according to package directions for al dente.

2.       Heat the pumpkin puree, vegetable broth, milk, margarine, onion powder, black pepper, salt, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, and ginger in a large skillet over low heat until heated through, about 5 minutes.

3.       Stir in the drained pasta, and toss with the Parmesan cheese.

Sometimes you have to try things that are out of your normal repertoire – and Pumpkin Pasta is certainly one of those for my family.  The pasta was OK on flavor – my husband described it as pumpkin pie pasta.  The taste actually got better after leaving it in the refrigerator overnight.

In regards to the spices, I went a little crazy.  We didn’t have cloves, so I made up for it by adding more salt, pepper, onion powder, nutmeg, cinnamon, and ginger.  I also tossed in some ground white pepper.  I am not sure how much of each spice I used, I just added and tasted until the mixture tasted good to me.  Even though I didn’t follow the recipe exactly, I don’t think that I’d change anything.  We probably won’t be having this again – when I get stuck eating all of the leftovers, I know that it wasn’t a fan favorite.

Shanghai Noodle Salad

Shanghai Noodle Salad (from AllRecipes, Total Time: 2 hrs., 40 min., Servings: 8)

Ingredients

• ·         1 pound fresh thick Chinese wheat noodles (or whole wheat spaghetti)
• ·         ¼ cup ketchup
• ·         3 ½ Tbsp. sesame oil
• ·         3 ½ Tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce
• ·         2 Tbsp. brown sugar
• ·         2 tsp. salt
• ·         1 ½ tsp.  lime juice
• ·         ¼ cup chopped green onion (green and white parts)
• ·         2 carrots, peeled and shredded
• ·         1 small zucchini, cut into matchsticks
• ·         1 red bell pepper, cut into matchsticks
• ·         1 Tbsp. toasted sesame seeds
• ·         1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

Directions

1. 1.       Fill a large pot with lightly salted water and bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Once the water is boiling, stir in the noodles, and return to a boil. Cook the noodles according to package instructions for al dente.  Drain well in a colander set in the sink. Rinse the noodles with cold water several times to chill, then drain again.
2. 2.       In a large salad bowl, whisk together the ketchup, sesame oil, soy sauce, brown sugar, kosher salt, and lime juice until the brown sugar has dissolved.
3. 3.       Place the noodles, green onion, carrots, zucchini, red pepper, sesame seeds, and red pepper flakes into the bowl, and gently toss to thoroughly mix the salad and coat with dressing.
4. 4.       Chill at least 2 hours before serving.

I’ve heard the term “foodgasm” tossed around lately – and I think that’s the perfect description for this meal.  It was absolutely delicious!  I used a mixture of wheat and Ronzoni’s garden delight spaghettis (what we had on hand), sea salt, and cayenne instead of red pepper flakes (we didn’t have any, which was a huge surprise to me).  The taste is addictive – it tasted as good as anything I’d get from my favorite Asian restaurant, and better than I’d get at some.  I cannot wait to try this again!  I will probably add some Trader Joe’s Chik’n Strips next time to kick up the protein content.  Perfect and a definite keeper!