{Cooking 101: Follow The Recipe}

For me the hard part isn't the cooking nor is it the following of directions. It's the "finding a great recipe" to begin with that can sometimes be difficult. Finding a great recipe means that the outcome is exquisite and that it doesn't call for 15 different ingredients (3 of which-you've never heard of before nor do you think you'llever use again (you know what I mean.)

No. I want easy. I want simple. And I want it to taste good. I have a handful of these recipes that fit the easy bill. Most of them have come from my dear friends. Because I'm lucky enough to have talented friends and when we have a get-together it usually always includes food.

I have another source for great recipes. You may have already discovered All Recipes.com but if you haven't, trust me- it's great. Why? Because recipes are submitted from every day people and receive star ratings once people have tried them. And I mean if 3,678 have tried a recipe and it gets a five star I think it's worth a trying. :)


I spotted this incredible recipe for meatloaf. Eww, meatloaf? Really? I know. I'm not a real meatloaf eater myself. In fact, meatloaf is not even in my regular dinner rotations. But this recipe fit my criteria for a great recipe so I gave it a go last night. It was such a hit I thought I'd share...

Brown Sugar Meatloaf

Glaze:
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup ketchup

Meatloaf:
1.5 lbs ground turkey (original recipe called for ground beef, but this healthy substitute tasted wonderful)
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
1.5 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 tsp ground ginger
3/4 cup finely crushed saltine cracker crumbs

Preheat oven to 425. Lightly grease a 5 x 9 inch loaf pan. Mix the brown sugar and ketchup together in a bowl. Set aside. In a separate mixing bowl, mix thoroughly all remaining ingredients and shape into a loaf. Spread glaze on top of the meat loaf. Bake in preheated oven for 55 minutes.

Enjoy!