Traditional Sunday Dinner

I have had the urge to cook this week.  My summer is coming to a close and I have to go back to work and move apartments very soon.  I am babysitting some people that I love very much for the next two weeks, so it is going to be interesting.  This is pretty much my last free weekend before chaos erupts.  Consequently the urge to cook has been bubbling up.

Last night I made a Quiche, a go to favorite of mine due to the high protein content it offers.  I used half a pack of bacon, cut it into little strips and then crisped it up in a frying pan.  I don't like quiche that contains only meat and cheese, but I was feeling pretty agoraphobic yesterday and I didn't have any fresh veggies in the house.  I cracked open my pantry and found a can of tomatoes.  I found out after I opened the jar that they were designed to go into a chili base.  I found this out because the smell of chili powder hit me like a ton of bricks when I opened the can.  I put the tomatoes in a strainer and gave them a good rinse, but the chili powder still clung to those tomatoes.  I decided to use them anyway.  The effect was quite good.  The quiche did not have an overpowering chili flavor, but it did hang around in the background.  All in all I am quite pleased with my creation.

Tonight, I am making a traditional Sunday dinner.  My goal is to create something you might see in a tv dinner,  but the good version.  I was ironically enough inspired by cupcakes.  Paula Deen made cupcakes the other day and decorated them to look like fried chicken, mashed potatoes and peas with carrots.  The mashed potato cupcake was eerily accurate.  I can't eat cupcakes, man I miss them though, so I decided that I would make the actual food instead.  I don't eat fried foods any more either, so the fried chicken is becoming a meatloaf.  Mashed potatoes are definitely a go, and I am going to make green beans as well.

While my family was visiting earlier this summer, we took a trip to the Dekalb farmer's market to buy things to make dinner.  We ended up making a delicious meatloaf.  I got my inspiration from Ina Garten but I used ground beef instead of turkey.  Man o man was it tasty.  Tonight I will be going with the healthier turkey option because my roommate does not eat beef.  The trick is to let the meatloaf sit with everything mixed together for a while, that way the flavors marry before they are baked.  I add saute'd mushrooms to the recipe as well.  Cooking the vegetables first helps develop the moisture in the meatloaf, and adds nice depth of flavor.

For my green beans, I am going to saute them with mushrooms and toasted almonds.  I was originally planning to use pine nuts, because of the creamy texture and crunch they add.  Trader Joe's sold their pine nuts for $8 a bag.  I found that to be a ridiculous price, so I am substituting the much cheaper almonds.  I will get the same nutty flavor and crunch, for less than half the price.

Happy Cooking!