Thursday Recipe - Apple Corn Bread Stuffing

It's that time of year again. You guessed it -- Stuffing season!! Wait, that's not a real season? It's Thanksgiving and holiday season and I'm early? Too bad. Thanksgiving exists so you can eat stuffing. And pie.

I love stuffing, if you can't tell. So when I realized I had several packages of stuffing mix in my basement, I was ecstatic. Not like this:

More like this:

Yep. That's me, jumping for joy over getting to eat stuffing again. I couldn't wait until November. Or even October. So here's a fun version of stuffing for you to try.

Apple Corn Bread Stuffing

1 pouch Mrs. Cubbison's Corn Bread Stuffing Mix (or use your favorite corn bread mix - a 6-8 serving pouch is about the right size)

1 T. butter

1 apple, cored and chopped

1 stalk of celery, chopped

1/3 c. onion, chopped

1 c. applesauce

1 t. dried marjoram

water as needed

Put dry stuffing mix into a 2-quart crockpot.

Heat butter in a medium pan over medium heat. Add onion and celery. Stir and cook for a couple of minutes until it's sizzling and starting to wilt. Add the apple. Cook for another 2-3 minutes. Add applesauce. Simmer for about 5 minutes, until everything is hot.

Add hot fruit mixture to stuffing mix in crockpot. Add marjoram. Stir gently until stuffing mix is moistened. Add more water if it's too dry. You want it nicely moist without being soggy or gummy.

Cover and cook on high for 45-90 minutes. Turn to low or warm and let it sit until the rest of the meal is ready to serve. Great with mashed potatoes and chicken gravy. Or on its own. Totally on its own.

Excuse me while I wipe drool now...

Thursday Recipe - Crockpot Meatloaf

Summer is here. Sort of. I'm still waiting for the heat to hit. We had a frost warning last night. But I know it is inevitable. The heat will come and when it does, I don't want to be using the oven. That's where the crockpot comes in. I own, at last count, five of them in various sizes. If you don't own one, go buy one. It's a great investment. I'd start with a 3 or 4 quart size. It's big enough for most families. My most used ones are the 5 and 6 quart ones, but I'm usually cooking for a huge group of people.

Crockpots are great. You load them up in the morning, plug them in, and forget about them until dinnertime when your house is filled with delicious smells. They cook long and slow. I use them for all sorts of things. (check out the pot roast and bread pudding recipes I posted here)

This is a basic recipe for meatloaf, a staple at my house. The crockpot keeps it moist and flavorful, not dry and crunchy. Just plan on letting it cook for a minimum of 4 hours on high or 7 hours on low. Not only does the crockpot make great food, it saves energy. And your kitchen won't heat up while it's cooking.

Crockpot Meatloaf

1 1/2 lbs ground beef, lean or extra lean works best
2 c. oatmeal, plain instant is better than old fashioned for this recipe
2 eggs
1/2 c. ketchup or catsup
1/2 c. barbecue sauce
1/4 c. mustard (not dry, use the prepared stuff)
1/2 c. onion, finely chopped
1 c. shredded carrot
1/2 c. dried mushrooms, broken up into small bits (totally optional, but really tasty to add. It helps stretch the meat, too)

Mix everything together. Squishing it with your hands works best. Pretend you are Godzilla squashing buildings in Tokyo. Once everything is mashed together until it's evenly distributed, scoop it together into one big ball. Plop it into the crockpot. You want it to be a ball in the middle, mostly. Don't squish it up to the sides. Cover with the lid and cook on low 6 - 7 hours or high 3 - 4 hours, or until it is not pink in the middle. You can dress it up with extra ketchup or BBQ sauce on top for the last hour of cooking.

Serve with instant mashed potatoes or rice, green beans or green salad, and ice cream for dessert. Or you can try the Hot Fudge Sundae Cake in your crockpot. It takes about 2 - 3 hours on high to cook.