Works For Me Wednesday: Easy Kitchen Clean-Up

I'm totally stealing this from Rachel Ray! I found her many moons ago on the FoodNetwork

when she wasn't a very huge name. She would chop and peel and open packages and cans and dump them in her "garbage bowl". WOW! Why had I never thought of such a simple solution to running back and forth from my cutting board to the garbage can? Simply brillian and it works! Tonight, I used the garbage bowl to hold the egg shells, carrot, onion and celery peelings and the packaging from the ground beef and ground turkey I used to make meatloaf. It kept my counters clean and clutter free and it only took seconds to dump it all in the garbage when I was through.

Now, if you wanted to make this a greener option, you could easily pick out the large packagings from the meat and toss those and compost the egg shells and vegetable peelings. I always make sure that if there's something in the recipe I'm using that can be recycled that I put it in the sink and give them a quick rinse when I am done and pop them in my blue box. I don't compost (but I probably should!) because I can't grow a plant to save my life. Maybe I'll try growing some cherry tomatoes this summer and see if I can't start a mini-veggie garden...then I could totally use the compost!

I also wanted to share my delicious meatloaf recipe. I love it because it's easy and I can sneak veggies in for the kids. My kids are actually pretty good at eating their veggies, but the more I can sneak in, the better. I found this recipe by chance one day while perusing the Martha Stewart website. I'm not usually a fan of Martha's recipes simply because most of the ones that seem appealing to me call for exotic or hard to find items or are just too time or labor intensive for my speed of cooking. However, the meatloaf recipe is surprisingly simple and easy! It also stays nice and moist and the whole family gobbles it up.

Meatloaf 101

Ingredients
Serves 8 to
10

4 slices white bread, torn into pieces

2 1/2 pounds ground beef

1 medium yellow onion, peeled and cut into
eighths

2 cloves garlic

2 stalks celery, cut into 2-inch pieces

2 carrots, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces

1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves

1 large egg

1 cup ketchup

3 teaspoons dry mustard

1 tablespoon coarse salt

2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons brown sugar

Directions

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Place bread in the bowl of a food processor
fitted with the steel blade; pulse until fine crumbs form.

Transfer to a medium bowl, and add ground
beef.

Place onion, garlic, celery, carrots, and
parsley in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade; pulse until
fine.

Add to meat mixture, using hands to mix
well.

Add egg, 1/2 cup ketchup, 2 teaspoons dry
mustard, salt, and pepper; use hands to combine thoroughly.

Place in an 8 1/2-by-4 1/2-by-2 1/2-inch
loaf pan.

Combine remaining 1/2 cup ketchup, remaining
teaspoon dry mustard, and brown sugar in a bowl; stir until smooth.

Brush mixture over meatloaf; place in the
oven with a baking pan set on the rack below to catch drippings.

Cook until a meat thermometer inserted in
the center reads 160 degrees, about 90 minutes. If top gets too dark, cover with
foil, and continue baking.

I did make a couple of changes to the recipe. I used half ground beef, half ground turkey. I usedwhole wheat bread ends that I'd dried up and then ground up in the food processor. I also reduced the ketchup to 3/4 cup instead of 1 cup, using 1/2 cup in the meat mixture and 1/4 cup for the glaze. Otherwise, this recipe is deeeeeeeelish! Enjoy! :)