Meat Loaf

So far I've turned out one terrific meatloaf in about 10 tries. This one tastes ok, maybe even good, but not memorable.  I don't do scalloped potatoes well either. Anyway, it's simple enough. I caramelized a diced onion and a few cloves of garlic. When cool I added it to 700gm ground beef, 400gm ground pork, half a cup alpine bread crumbs, not enough salt and one or two teaspoons of celery seed. Fern likes celery so I try to get it on every plate. The seeds are for when I forget to buy fresh. They didn't impart the desired flavour in this dish.

I laid a bead of ketchup on the bottom of a bread pan and put the meat on it.  More ketchup on top and I laid two strips of bacon across the top. They were unnecessary because I already had pork in it and I couldn't taste the bacon anyway.

The German Butter potatoes were boiled, buttered, salted and served. They were the highlight of the meal. 

The broccoli was steamed, cooled and reheated in olive oil. I got them perfect this time and they still didn't taste great. Probably needed more salt.

The bright spot is that the leftover meat loaf is to feed the dog for the weekend, lucky dog.

Breaded Pork Cutlet

Again this took me 30 minutes to prepare. I scrubbed the potatoes and got them boiling. Peeled and diced a carrot and put it in the steamer to get started. Next I diced up the broccoli and put it in the steamer.  I kept a close eye on the steamer so the broccoli didn't over cook. Just before it was perfect I rapidly cooled it under water and set to drain. I fried the cutlet in just enough olive and canola oil to keep the pan moist. When I turned it over I put the veggies back on medium low heat with olive oil and a little salt. Ordinary apple sauce for the condiment. I never seem to get tired of this meal.

Cajun Chicken

A quick meal tonight, salt and Cajun spice rub on the breast then BBQ for 20 minutes. German butter potatoes boiled and finished with salt and butter. A bag of Snow Peas was on clearance so I cooked them up with some diced onion, sliced carrot and diced celery. Dicing up the vegetables was the most difficult part of this meal, it took me 30 minutes to put on the table. The chicken was moist and delicious.

Pork Chop

My phone had no power left for the flash so it's a bit fuzzy. Boiled German butter potatoes, steamed carrot and broccoli, fried chop with apple sauce. The chop was seasoned with salt, pepper, ground garlic and mustard powder then fried in olive oil. The veggies were cooled and reheated in olive oil.  I didn't cook them quite enough so they were real crunchy.

Penne for your Prawns!

Fern just limped back from Vancouver and only wanted a light meal. Frozen prawns thawed, peeled, fried in a  little olive oil and garlic, then removed from the pan. Add a can of tomato sauce to the pan and bring to a simmer. Reduce the sauce while the pasta cooks and grate some parmesan cheese. Chop up some fresh basil. When the pasta is almost done add the prawns, basil and a tablespoon of butter to the tomato sauce.  Drain the prawns and add them to the sauce. Toss and serve topped with parmesan.

The salad was leaf lettuce torn up and drizzled with olive, canola oils and white wine vinegar. A pinch of salt and some mixed pepper. Toss and munch.

30 minutes freezer to table, but I wasn't rushing. The latest processed meat findings aren't surprising. Fresh food is better for you. Frozen, processed food isn't healthy. I use frozen prawns but that is all that's available year round and everything else on the plate is fresh. I also use frozen peas and frozen corn but not all the time. Fern loves celery and it's cheap all year so a stick of celery freshens up frozen vegetables surprisingly well. Where food comes from has a big influence on it's nutritional value. Fresh food from a local farmer usually costs a little more but the nutritional value is several times greater than food from a supermarket. 

Dinner For One

The blog has been interrupted by a bear eating my chickens and a neighbour's rabbits and more chickens at the farm up the street with two goats for dessert. Then Fern drove someone to Vancouver for a heart procedure and someone in the hotel threw a wine bottle out the window and it smashed the sun roof in his car, stranding them there for an extra day. So that's why dinner for one. In the face of adversity, eat well anyway!

It looks like a lot of work went into this meal but in fact it was all pretty simple. The potato I simply scrubbed, pierced with a fork, microwaved and served with salt and two dollops of sour cream. The Breaded Pork Cutlet from Mitchell's merely has to be fried in enough oil to keep the pan wet. The condiment is apple sauce from a jar. The broccoli was steamed, cooled and reheated in olive oil with a pinch of salt. Twenty minutes fridge to table for less than $5.

Pork Loin Chop

I salted then coated the pork with a mixture of mustard powder and ground garlic. I fried it in oil and finished them in the oven. The German Butter Potatoes were boiled, salted and buttered. I thought I had broccoli in the fridge but found only carrots and celery.  I started the carrots boiling and frozen corn after a few minutes. When the corn was almost done I drained it all and added olive oil and celery  and fried that for a bit.  Some salt and a little pepper and it was done.

That combination of vegetables was really nice so it's a good way to sneak frozen vegetables into our diet. Ordinary apple sauce for condiment. If you want to impress friends mix a little dijon mustard into the apple sauce. A little horseradish works well too so there are lots of ways to put a new spin on pork chops. When trying new combinations, start with small amounts till you work out what tastes best.