Meat Loaf - Hunk of Meat Mondays

A quick and easy beef recipe. 


I wanted to share this awesome meat loaf recipe with you as part of the Hunk of Meat Mondays community, because we know at that a Hunk of Meat is way better than Meatless Mondays. I love this recipe because it is easy, the leftovers freeze really well and it uses lean ground beef - an awesome way to load up on protein, iron and zinc while staying healthy.

Ingredients

• 1 cup ketchup
• 3 to 4 tablespoons packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground mustard
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 3 cups Crispix cereal, crushed (a great way to do this is stick in a plastic bag and go over it with a rolling pin or beat with you fist.)
• 3 teaspoons onion powder
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon seasoned salt
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 3 pounds lean ground beef (90% lean is what you want.)

Directions

In a large bowl, combine the ketchup, brown sugar and mustard. Remove 1/2 cup for topping - set aside. (If you really like the ketchup topping you might consider making a little extra.) 

Add the eggs, Worcestershire sauce, cereal and seasonings to remaining ketchup mixture. Let stand for 5 minutes. Crumble beef over cereal mixture and mix well. I find that using you hands works the best to get it all mixed up. Be careful though not to over work the ground beef, otherwise it doesn't stay stuck together as it cooks.

Press meat mixture into 18 muffin cups - a 1/3 of a cup is the prefect amount. I experimented this time and did some with muffin liners and some without. Definitely recommend the muffin liners and it makes clean up much easier.

Bake at 375° for 20-30 minutes, or until the meat is no longer pink. The perfect way to tell this is by using your meat thermometer. Hamburger needs to be cooked to a minimum of a 160 degrees. A second option is to bake for 18-20 minutes then spoon some of the topping on and bake again for another 10 minutes. Again make sure your meat thermometer reads 160 degrees to know that they are done. 

All done! 

Your meal is served. I couldn't believe how moist these mini meat loaves were Throw the leftovers in the freezer and pullout for a quick supper idea or easy lunch to take to work.  

For more Hunk of Meat Mondays recipes from other blogs check out the Beyer Beware Blog. 

This one from Life's a Beach... Wish I Was on One - Tex-Mex Chiaco Burger 

I'm a Farm Doll

If you missed it the Southern Stylist featured me on her blog as a Farm Doll - what a fun term! Sheena is a pretty cool lady herself. I truly southern girl herself this girl knows fashion, is a wedding planner and has some awesome recipes. She has this recipe for Sugared Pecans on her blog that looks amazing. I'm thinking some of them packaged real cute would make the perfect Christmas gifts.

Keep checking out her blog as she adds more Farm Dolls. 

And be sure to search for Sheena or SouthernStylist on Instagram! 

Who says that country, rural and urban don't mix! 

Hunk of Meat Monday: Freezing Soup

Pinterest has genius ideas. 

I would like to once again profess my love to Pinterest. Awhile ago I came across an idea for freezing soup, which is perfect when you are cooking for one (soon to be two).

I decided to try my bright idea out on Debbie Lyon's Beef Enchilada Soup recipes because it is amazing, and one of my favorite crock pot recipes. What I love about this recipe is 1. it contains beef, 2. the ingredients are really easy and 3. you just throw it in the crock pot and come home and boom supper is ready.

All the ingredients you need + taco seasoning + lean beef (90% lean is what I use)

However, this recipe makes a lot of soup. I actually only use 2 or 3 pounds of beef in my recipe instead of the four it calls for. So what are you to do with all the extras? Get out your muffin pans.

Pour the left over soup into the muffin pans. For this I used my jumbo muffin pans, but you can use the regular sized ones too. Then pop the muffin pans into the freezer.

Once the soup is frozen, pop the frozen soup out. I ran a little hot water over the outside of the pan to help them come lose. Next place 2-3 of the frozen soup pieces for large pans or 3-4 for small pans into freezer bags. Then the next time you are needing a meal all you have to do is grab a bag out of the feezer and bam you have a meal! Anyone else have some awesome soup recipes they would love to share?

For more Hunk of Meat Mondays visit Leah Beyer's blog or Katie Pinke's blog. They are both Rockin' Rural Women with all kinds of awesome recipes for you and your family to enjoy. 

The meat cutting chart

Oh Pinterest

Have you noticed the plethora of meat cutting charts on Pinterest lately? If not don't worry that is what I am hear for to point the good stuff out. Not only are these charts giving you an education in where your meat is coming from, but they are also a great decorating piece for any kitchen or home.

Beef Butcher Cutting Chart from Etsy. If beef isn't your thing, don't worry this store sells chicken, lamb, pork and fish (yes fish) cutting charts, and they've got a deal for you buy three get one free. 

Another artistic beef chart, but what is with the horns again? It is actually better for cattle to be dehorned at a young age. There is less chance of injury to the people handing the cattle, the cattle have less chance of injuring themselves or others, and it cause less bruising of the meat. Meat bruising equal low meat quality.

I love classic beef posters like this meat market poster also found on easy. 

If you are looking for a tried and true beef cutting chart I love this one from www.beefretail.org. They also have mini and bilingual version. 

Another sample is this beef chart from the American Angus Association. When I used to work at the Association we would send hundreds of these out each year. I love that this chart and the one above not only show what the cut of meat looks like, but it also tells you how it should be cooked. You can order this beef cutting cart here. 

Happy beef eating! 

Hunk of Meat Mondays: Crockpot Macaroni and Bacon

A pound of bacon

Yum bacon! 

Yesterday, was a busy day of clipping our bull calf Forest, house cleaning and painting furniture, so what better way to spare of time than a crockpot meal. I have been eyeing all kinds of macaroni and cheese recipes on Pinterest, and decided to combine a few for my own. 

Ingredients 

1 1/2 cups milk - I used 2% milk

One 12 oz can of no fat evaporated milk

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted, cooled to room temp

3 large eggs

1/2 tsp salt

3 cups (12 oz) shredded cheese Italian blend

1/2 pound elbow macaroni or mini penne tubes, par cooked and drained (this means cook them for about five minutes until tender but not completely cooked)

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Oregano to taste

1 pound of bacon

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1. By using a crock pot liner you won't have to worry about any clean up afterwards or you can spray the crock pot with cooking oil. Combine milk, evaporated milk, eggs, butter, and salt in crock pot and whisk until until smooth.

2. Add the shredded Italian cheese, bacon and macaroni, sprinkle with black pepper and oregano. Stir until macaroni is evenly coated.

3. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese on top. Cover and cook on high for 30 minutes.

4. After 30 minutes, reduce the heat to low and cook for another two hours. You might not need quite that much time, you'll be able to tell when the pasta is all cooked.

Excuse my iPhone photography skills, but that is a pot full of deliciousness!

For other Hunk of Meat Monday recipes check out the Beyer Beware and Pinke Post blogs.

Flat Iron Steak with Green Peppers

Beef get in my tummy. 

I'm lucky I have beef I
can pull right out of
our freezer.

The Boy and are are still not over our Denver Crud yet, but we knew we wanted to have something filling for supper last night. If I don't go to chores with the Boy I always try and have supper started when he gets home, and then we finish the rest cooking together. I think it is one of my favorite things to do.

Instead of popping another B12 pill (B12 is known to boost the immune system) we turned to mother nature's multi-vitamin beef to do the trick.

In our recipe we choose to use the Flat Iron steak. It is one of the 29 lean cuts of beef, is the second most tender cut of beef, and is pretty reasonably priced. You could also use a flank steak or round steak for this recipe.

Recipe:
1.5 pounds of flat iron steak, sliced thinly against the grain
1/2 cup soy sauce (I try to use the reduced sodium kind)
1/4 cup beef broth
2 teaspoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons corn starch
2 green peppers (cut into chunks)
3 teaspoons of olive oil (canola oil would work too)
As much rice as you would like (we made 2 cups)

1. Add your oil to a saucepan and begin heating on medium

2. Mix soy sauce, beef broth, brown sugar and corn starch in bowl. Add the sliced beef and coat. Set aside.

3. Once the oil is hot add the green peppers to the oil, be careful it is going to sizzle. Cook for about a minute or two. You don't want the peppers to get too soft. Remove peppers and put in a bowl.

4. Allow the oil to become hot again, and then add half of the beef, leaving most of the sauce in the bowl. Ensure that each strip is flat. Cook for 1-2 minutes on each side. The great thing about this recipe it the meat cooks really fast because of the thin strips. Remove meat and put in a clean dish.

5. Cook the second half of the meat, again leaving most of the sauce in the bowl. Once the meat is brown add in the first half of the meat, the green peppers and the sauce. Cook until the sauce begins to thicken, it only takes a minute or two.

6. Serve over rice.

This recipe really takes no time at all. We used 1.3 pounds of Flat Iron steak for this recipe, and there was only a tiny bit left for me to take for lunch the next day. If you have a family of four you may consider doubling the recipe. The Boy liked it so much, he said so we are going to make this twice a week right?

Have fun cooking!

p.s. My wedding dress arrived in Chicago, and will be in Iowa Tuesday. The big day is getting close.

Guest Post: Cows, Cupcakes & Clearance

Welcome Jordan Kuhn!

Miss Jordan & Missy

Wow, the past couple days there has been quite a stir on the Crystal Cattle blog. My post about Chipotle's Grammy's commercial has caused a lot of reaction from people with varying opinions. However, today we are going to throw a little sweetness into the mix for Valentine's Day.

I "met" Jordan though Instagram, and can't wait to meet her in real life one day. She is a pretty amazing girl that loves cattle as much as I do, and is passionate about her cupcakes and shopping the clearance racks. She even shares one of her favorite recipes with us!

1. Tell us a little bit about yourself. 

I grew up in Shelbyville, Indiana until I was eight. When my parents split I moved to Greenfield, IN with my mom and step-dad John Gunn. That’s where my passion for agriculture began. Here we raise cattle, hogs, corn and soybeans. This coming fall I hope to attend Purdue University and major in agriculture communications. I’m entering my last and 10th year in 4-H. This past year I was the county fair queen. I’m an active member of Jr. Leaders, the 2^nd Vice President of the Indiana Jr. Beef Cattle Association, Vice President of the Indiana Jr. Shorthorn Association and was 2011 Indiana Shorthorn Lassie Queen. In high school I was a varsity cheerleader and a member of Best Buddies. 

2. What is your favorite thing about agriculture?

The “F’s”... Family, friends, and foundation. I feel there’s no other vehicle like agriculture that leads you into a bright future. Through agriculture my family spreads the wealth and knowledge of our products to our friends - farmers and city folk alike. What I have gained through living on a 3^rd generation family farm is something I can hardly explain. 

3. If you could tell consumer's one thing about agriculture what would that be?

I’d tell consumers to keep in mind that those eggs didn’t magically appear in the grocery, rather they “poofed” out of a chicken. I think consumers forget the from field to fork aspect. With the world consuming more and growing faster than we can put food on their plates, we have to be mindful of who’s making that happen.

4. Do you have a favorite heifer on the farm?

Bon Qui Qui

I do. Her name is Bon Qui Qui. (The name is an inside joke. Watch Bon Qui Qui at King Burger on YouTube.) She was my show heifer from last year, she wasn’t a big winner. I just loved her pink nose and spunky attitude, plus she calved a heifer for us this year! 

5. I'm always seeing your cupcake pictures on Instagram, how did you get interested in baking?

I’ve been baking since my first year in 4-H in 2003. It was something my mom and I liked to do and it kept us together. We were always baking and the boys were always eating! I got into cupcakes two Christmas’s ago when I got a cupcake maker. I just think they’re so personal and cute! I recently got a KitchenAid mixer that I use quite often, her name is Mrs. Mixalot. 

6. What is the best cupcake you have ever eaten?

There’s a place called Gigi’s at a local fashion mall and myyy oh myyyy do they make good cupcakes. They have thee best red velvet cupcakes with a pudding surprise inside. My mouth is watering just talking about it.

7. What are you favorite places to get a deal?

Macy’s. Just about everytime I go in I buy something on sale. And if it’s not on sale I usually don’t buy! TJ Max is a place I always like to hit as well. I call it – looking better for less.

8. Now on the other end of the spectrum what is one thing you love to splurge on?

Jeans. I own more jeans than anything else. Big Stars, Rock Revivals and Sevens are my favorite. I think splurging on jeans is a must; a good pair of jeans is a necessity in everyone’s closet. They’re easy to dress up or down. One day I’d love to be able to buy a pair of Christian Louboutin shoes. (No riding in the tractor in those bad boys.)

RED VELVET CUPCAKES

Makes 18

2 ¼ cups all purpose flour

1 tsp salt

2 (1 ounce) bottles red food coloring

3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup buttermilk

1 tsp vanilla

1 ½ cups sugar

½ cup butter

2 eggs

1 tsp white vinegar

1 tsp baking soda

1 container cream cheese icing (Yes I cheat on the icing) 

1. Preheat oven 350°F and ling your baking pan with paper baking cups.

2. Combine flour & salt in medium bowl. Stir in food coloring into cocoa in small bowl until blended and smooth. Combine buttermilk and vanilla in separate bowl.

3. Beat sugar and butter in a large bowl with electric mixer at a medium speed, 4 minutes or until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time. Add cocoa mixture; add flour alternately with buttermilk mixture. Beat until blended.

4. Combine vinegar and baking soda in small bowl; gently fold into batter with spatula or spoon (don’t use mixer). Spoon batter into prepared baking cups.

5. Bake 18-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted into it comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 10 minutes. Decorate as you wish!

I made these red velvet Valentine’s Day cupcakes and used fondant to jazz it up! Ready made fondant can be found at a craft store or you can make it (which I do not recommend doing, very messy). I wasn’t very good at piping to begin with but practice makes perfect. 

Working with fondant.

Give Jordan a big welcome, and check her out on Twitter @Kuhngirl 

Hunk of Meat Monday: Honey Garlic Pork Loin

Get in my belly. 

We are definitely a beef, bacon and shrimp kind of household. However, you have to spice it up every now and then. So last week I brought home a pork loin, and decided to modify a Pinterest Recipe I found. I love this recipe because it only requires 4 ingredients! Booyah.

Ingredients:

1 pork loin - I sliced the loin into 1 inch medallions (this gave me six medallions)
1/4 cup honey
3 tbsp soy sauce - I use the reduce sodium
6 cloves of garlic minced

In a glass baking pan whisk together the honey, soy sauce and garlic. Coat pork loin medallions in mixture. I let my loins marinate for 6 hours, but I am pretty sure you could start cooking them right away.

Preheat oven to 375, and bake for 40 minutes, turning once. Once summer hits, I am also going to try these on the grill. Be sure that your pork reaches an internal temperature of 145 F. (The Boy says he'll never have to worry about me feeding him raw meat, because I'm in love with the meat thermometer!)

Once your meat has finished cooking, let is rest for a few minutes before plating. Letting meat rest is important. Why? Because if you attack the meat with you knife all the juices end up on the cutting board or your plate instead of your mouth!

I served the pork loin over Uncle Ben's rice, which my good friend informed me is rice grown in Arkansas or Mississippi. She said if you are looking for other U.S. brands of rice choose Minute Rice or Mahtma, which are Texas/Louisiana and Arkansas grown. #thankafarmer Happy cooking!

Hunk of Meat Monday: Beef Kabob and Grilled Pineapple

Time to start grilling. 

I love the Pottery Barn turquoise
platter we got as a wedding gift.

The Boy and I were so excited to get a portable grill for our wedding, and so of course we had to test it out as soon as we got home from our honeymoon.

On our shuttle ride to the airport our bus driver saw the box pineapples that we had with us. He said his favorite way to enjoy pineapple was to chuck off big slices, brush some olive oil on it, sprinkle with salt and pepper and grill. He was definitely right it was delicious.

Delicious Hawaii Pineapple

However, we also knew that we needed something to go along with our pineapple, and beef kabobs sounded like the perfect pairing. We used sirloin, since it is one of the 29 lean cuts of beef, and I found this recipe online at Taste of Home.

Pineapple Beef Kabobs

• 1 can (6 ounces) pineapple juice
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/3 cup soy sauce - I used the low sodium kind
• 3 tablespoons cider vinegar 
• 1-1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1-1/2 teaspoons ground ginger - I used fresh, but I am sure powdered would work great to
• 1-1/2 pounds beef top sirloin steak, cut into 1-inch pieces - cuts from the round would work too. 
• 1 fresh pineapple, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks - we didn't add these since we were grilling pineapple
• 12 large fresh mushrooms
• 1 larger green pepper

You could also add onions, yellow or red peppers. Whatever your family will gobble down. Kabobs are always nice with some rice or a salad as well. 

I love this website for
finding the right beef cuts
for recipes.

Mix the first six ingredients, and pour 3/4 of the marinade into a zip lock bag or a container that you can use for marinating. Add the beef and allow it to marinade in your fridge for at least an hour. Since we used sirloin we did the hour minimum, but if you pick one of the round cuts you'll want to let it marinade for a bit longer. You'll use the remaining marinade for basting. 

While the meat is marinading don't forget to let your wooden skewers soak so they don't burn on the grill. 

Once the meat is marinaded throw it away. Add the vegetables and beef to the skewers, this can be the tricky part. The boy and I like our meat down medium-rare, so that means that our vegetables could have used a little more time on the grill. I think next time although they may not be as pretty we'll do some skewers just with beef, and the others just with vegetables. Total grilling time is about 10 minutes. Make sure you turn often, and keep on basting with the saved marinade.   

Boom you have supper. And check out these nutritional facts that Taste of Home provided:

2 kabobs with 3/4 cup rice equals 412 calories, 5 g fat (2 g saturated fat), 46 mg cholesterol, 534 mg sodium, 60 g carbohydrate, 3 g fiber, 31 g protein.

Hunk of Meat Monday: Shrimp, Feta, Tomato Pasta

Absolutely delicious

Yes, the picture is a little
out of focus, but it is delicious

Tonight I pulled an old recipe out of my book. I found this Real Simple Roasted Tomatoes With Shrimp and Feta recipe last year when I first got on Pinterest, and it became a weekly staple of mine last summer. I was on the road all of last week, and ate way too many fast food meals. As soon as I got home I knew I wanted to cook, and I knew it wanted to be really good.

Real Simple Recipe with my modifications:

You'll need -
5 large tomatoes, cut into chunks. I love using Roma tomatoes
3 tablespoons of olive oil
2 tablespoons minced garlic
kosher salt and pepper - I use the regular stuff
1 1/2 pounds of medium shrimp, peeled and deveined - I buy the already cooked stuff. If I use a pound we usually have enough for supper for two and lunch leftovers
2 tablespoons of lemon juice - I have forgotten this before and it still turns out great!
1 cup of Feta cheese
Oregano

Spaghetti or Crusty bread

For our wedding we got a Pampered Chef dutch over, which was perfect for cooking this meal in. However, any baking dish will work.

1. Preheat over to 450 degrees F.
2. Place tomatoes, olive oil and garlic in baking dish.
3. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, stir and bake for 20 minutes.
4. Remove baking dish and add shrimp and lemon juice. I also sprinkle in some oregano. Sprinkle the Feta on top.
5. Return to the oven and bake for another 10 minutes.
6. Serve over crusty bread or spaghetti

Make sure you tune in later this week because I am going to share an awesome common Canadian square recipe and don't forget to visit Beyer Beware for more Hunk of Meat Monday recipes.

Canadian Rice Crispy Squares aka Puffed Wheat Squares

You'll want to add this recipe to your file. 

When my family was down for the wedding we were talking about truly Canadian food. Canada is really a melting pot of cultures, so it was hard to pinpoint what food was "Canadian." A couple weeks ago I wanted to make some treats to take down to the cattle sale in Oklahoma. Puffed Wheat Squares seemed like the perfect solution. Expect for the fact that the Boy and none of my friends had never heard of them!

As I began to describe what a Puffed Wheat Square was the Boy's mom said like a Rice Crispy Square - well kind of. Puffed Wheat Squares are a stable at every Canadian bake sale, school lunch and farmer's kitchen.

Puffed Wheat Squares from the Family Cookbook 

Ingredients
Puff Wheat - 8 cups - find this in the cereal isle
Brown Sugar - 1 cup
Butter or Margarine - 1/2 cup
Corn Syrup - 1/2 cup
Cocoa Powder - 4 Tbsp.
Vanilla - 1 tsp.

Mix all the ingredients except the puffed wheat in a pot. Bring to a boil and boil for 1/2-1 minute. Add the puff wheat and stir. Caution the mixture will be very hot. Put into a greased pan, and let set. Boom Puffed Wheat Squares are serves.

Everything melting and mixing together. 

I also have to show off this awesome customized pan we got for our wedding.