Big Flavor Big Deal

Since the Cooking Channel has been airing Rachel Ray's "Week In A Day", I have really wanted to try out the concept. Being a little on the impatient side, I opted not for five full meals but a main course that could easily be turned in to 3 or 4. My first attempt at this process was the standard meatloaf. I wanted to take the ground beef and pork mixture and be able to create a few different meal options. It worked!

On the night of the first of the main meatloaf course, I was feeding seven people. I had to then come up with the least difficult and most economical way to accomplish my primary goal. The solution: Meatloaf Muffins (1lb. ground beef & 1lb. of ground pork)this made 12 medium to medium large muffins, with enough of the base mixture left over to make a different meal for later in the week. By adding Parmesan cheese and Italian seasonings to the basic base, I then created meatballs for a spaghetti and meatball meal for another dinner. Because of the fact that the meatloaf muffins made a dozen and I was only feeding seven, this made for leftovers for lunch the next day or to be crumbled up with some flavors of Mexico for a Mexican dish or even using the leftover muffins mixed with rice to make stuffed peppers.

I was thrilled to realize that an initial $6.00 investment was able to be transformed in to so many other meals. It made for big flavor and a big deal at the grocery store. Now, some may think that just 12 muffins to feed 7 isn't a ton of food, but, everyone had their share and with a few simple sides and some bread or rolls this makes a well portioned family meal. The meatballs that were made from the same batch turned out heavenly and were cooled and frozen for the other meal, thus taking the labor and guess work out of a night of cooking.

I strongly encourage anyone to give this method a try. I am of course aware, that most hardworking mothers and fathers have probably mastered this, but I am excited to have found multiple uses for one or two basic main ingredients. Until next time IEADTT!