Brown Sugar Meatloaf

Mom and I spent a day this past weekend preparing meals for the winter.  Since my evening supervision is heavy throughout the winter, the girls and Jamie tend not to eat very well.  We put away 20+ meals.  We left one of these out and made it that evening.  It was delicious!  I’m not a super big fan of meatloaf, but this is a must try!

Ingredients:

• 2 pieces of bread
• 1.5 pounds ground beef
• 1/2 cups milk
• 2 large eggs
• 1 package onion soup mix
• 3/4 cup Italian-seasoned breadcrumbs
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1/2 tsp. Worcheshire sauce
• BBQ sauce of your choice (We love Doug McCains)
• Cooking spray

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 350.
2. Coat 9×5 loaf pan with cooking spray.  Place 2 pieces of bread at the bottom (soaks up the excess grease).  If you have a meatloaf pan (where the grease drains, you can leave out the bread).
3. In large bowl, combine all ingredients.
4. Top with your favorite BBQ sauce.
5. Bake in a preheated oven for 75 minutes, or until cooked through.

DELICIOUS!

Sweet Barbacoa Pork

I’m home today with sick kiddo (as one of us has been all week).  I’m officially a certified butt wiper/vomit cleaner upper.  This has been a rough week.  More importantly, I’m devastated over news about my dear friend, LeAnn.  Because of the nasty virus in my house, I had to delay going to visit her.  Hopefully I can make this trip this weekend.

I’m going stir crazy, so I will post a couple recipes.

On a brighter note, this is a standard in our house.  I’m a bit of a Chipotle freak so I found a few recipes, mixed them together, and something amazing happened.

I pair the Barbacoa Pork with Cilantro Lime Rice.  You can serve it in a bowl over the rice, like a burrito, or like a taco.  It’s pretty delicious regardless of how you choose to eat it.  The best part about this particular meal is that you can throw it in the crockpot in the morning and leave it until you get home.

Ingredients:

• 2.5 pounds pork loin
• salt and pepper
• Garlic powder
• 2-12 oz. cans of Coke Zero
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 6 oz. can sliced green chilies
• 8 oz. tomato sauce
• 1 chipotle chili in adobe sauce
• 1/8 tsp. cumin
• 1/3 cup brown sugar (for next step)

Directions

1. Place the pork in the crockpot and season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
2. Add 8 oz. of Coke Zero (drink the rest), 1/4 cup of brown sugar, and 1/4 cup water.
3. Cook on high 3-4 hours (or low for 6-8) or until it shreds easily.
4. Remove pork from crockpot and drain all of the liquid.  Return pork and shred.
5. Add 8 oz. of Coke Zero, green chilies, tomato sauce, chipotle chili, garlic powder, cumin and 1/3 cup brown sugar. Stir.
6. Cover and cook on high 1 and 1/2 hours more.

Serve with Cilantro Lime Rice and all of the delicious taco sides like guacamole, sour cream, cheese, salsa, lettuce, and your other favorites.