Foodmomiac

Buddy's Meatballs

So... my daughter is obsessed with Buddy Valastro from Cake Boss, the baking show on TLC. Lest you think I'm overstating things, she actually thinks that New Jersey is the greatest state in the country because it is home to Hoboken, and Hoboken is home to Buddy.

Now, I also enjoy the show, but not to her level of obsession (she even follows Buddy on Twitter, reading his tweets with the same enthusiasm as those from her beloved Justin Bieber). Anyway, we were both pretty psyched when we learned that Buddy had a new show, Kitchen Boss. And last night we tried his meatballs. They were AMAZING. Super easy, super delicious. The recipe is here.

We didn't do the full on Sunday gravy thing that he does. I just sauteed them and then put them in a pan with a jar of crushed tomatoes, a can of tomato sauce, some water, and a finely minced onion that I sauteed in the meatball grease. This is a new family favorite for sure.

 

Foodmomiac's Meatloaf

A friend of ours had surgery last week, so a bunch of us got together to make them some dinners. My friend Joni did an awesome job of insuring that the family was covered for dinner by a different person each night, and our night was Sunday.

I volunteered to make meatloaf, mashed potatoes (I did the cheesy kind) and a veggie (just some simple sauteed zucchini with minced onion and dill). I figured comfort food is always welcomed. It was really very easy to pull everything together, and I made two of everything, so we had our dinner ready to go as well.

I don't know why we don't eat meatloaf more often. It's easy. It freezes GREAT. The kids love it. I have some twists to my meatloaf, as you see below. Typically, I use white bread as the binding agent, but Michael asked me to use oatmeal yesterday instead, and I have to say I LOVED it. I'll never use white bread again.

Foodmomiac's Meatloaf

1 pound ground beef
1 pound ground pork
2 eggs
2 Tb. ketchup
1 Tb. yellow mustard
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 Tb. dehydrated minced onion
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 Tb. prepared horseradish

Combine everything together in a large bowl using your hands (This is the most important part. I honestly believe that it is impossible to make good meatloaf using a spoon.)

Place in a 9 inch loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 90 minutes.