Old Fashioned Meat Loaf

Courtesy Paula Deen with changes by Sara Brown

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef, turkey, or both
½ cup chopped onion
½ cup chopped bell pepper
1 egg, lightly beaten
8 ounces canned diced tomatoes with juice
1 cup Pepperidge Farm stuffing mix
salt
pepper

Topping:
1/3 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon mustard

Prep Directions:
Salt and pepper meat, mix all meatloaf ingredients well and shape into a loaf. Wrap loaf in Plastic Wrap and place in Freezer for 1-2 hours to firm up (this is so loaf will hold it's shape while being stored).
Mix ingredients for topping and place in Quart-size Freezer Bag.
Once loaf is firm, place plastic wrapped loaf into a Gallon-size freezer bag, along with smaller bag of Topping. Remove air and seal.

Serving Directions:
Thaw completely. Place loaf in baking dish, cover with Topping. Bake at 375 degrees for 1 hour.

Serve with mashed potatoes

Serves: 6

BBQ Spareribs

Yield: 6 Servings

Ingredients:
Boneless Pork Spareribs
1 c Catsup
2 c Water
1/4 c Worcestershire
1/4 c Vinegar
1 t Salt
1 t Celery Salt
1 t Chili Powder
1/4 c Brown Sugar


Directions:
1. Mix all ingredients and boil for 3 minutes. Allow to cool.

2. Place ribs in freezer bag and pour 2 cup of sauce over ribs. Lay
flat to freeze

3. To serve, thaw and bake at 350° for 1 hour. Baste ribs while baking.
Or bake ribs at 300°-325° for 2-3 hours.

Can be served with Southern Cole Slaw


Prepared by Virginia

Seven Flavor Hamburger

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 pinch ground black pepper
1/3 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 tablespoon white sugar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
6 hamburger buns, split

Prep:
Cook ground beef in a large skillet over medium heat until no longer pink. Stir frequently, and break into pieces. Drain off grease.
Add onion, celery, and green pepper to the skillet, and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring until onion is soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in ketchup, vinegar, sugar, Worcestershire sauce, and tomato sauce. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 20 minutes. To freeze, store meat mixture in gallon size freezer bag, removing all air.

Serve:
Heat meat mixture and serve over hamburger buns (or noodles).


Serves 6, Cost per meal $5
Prepared by Jana
from Robshar at Allrecipes.com

Spicy Sloppy Joes

1 1/4 lb Lean Ground Turkey
3/4 lb Lean Ground Beef
1 1/2 cups Bell Peppers, Red & Green, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups Carrots, Shredded (3 medium)
2 (16 oz) jars Salsa
1/3 cup Tomato Paste
2 tsp Dried Basil, Crushed
1 tsp Dried Oregano, Crushed
1/2 tsp Salt (I used 1/4 tsp Sea Salt)
1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper
4 cloves garlic, minced

*On Hand: Buns or Brown Rice.

Prep Day: In skillet, brown Ground Turkey and Beef, over medium heat, breaking meat up into pieces. Drain any fat, and let cool. Combine cooled beef with all other ingredients in a gallon-size freezer bag.

To Serve: Thaw overnight in refrigerator or defrost in microwave. Cook in slow cooker, covered, on High 2-3 Hours, or on Low 4-6 Hours. (Could probably put it into the crockpot frozen and let cook 8 hours.) Serve over Hamburger Buns or Brown Rice.
*I tried to keep the spice down in this recipe by using mixture of medium and mild salsa. If your family likes more spice you can add more cayenne when you cook it.

Serves 8, Cost per meal $8.79

My Personal Notes: Can use 2 lbs of any ground meat, I like to use ground turkey b/c it's leaner and healthier, but I added lean beef this time, for flavor, in case some families aren't used to the taste of ground turkey. I haven't made this recipe before but I chose it b/c it's a healthy version of Sloppy Joes, with out all the sugar, and with lots of hidden veggies (they should soften up nicely after slow cooking all day and the kids might not even notice them!) I could not find the piece needed for my food processor, and had to shred the carrots by hand. Will try to avoid doing that again in the future!