~what's cookin'?~

Hello friends!!

it's a blustery fall day here....

I think fall is officially upon is....

it started getting quite chilly

around here last night....

{I even turned the heat on in our bedroom for a minute.....

just after I shut the window....ha ha....how the power company

loves me......}

so for me...

rain + wind + chilly = comfort food

of course!

{no, we won't be eating hamburger gravy

over toast.....I'll spare my family

that little incident again....}

but I do believe I'll try these tonight!

one of my favorite comfort foods.....

meatloaf.....

but how cute is this?  meatloaf muffins?

I love this idea!

just a little different than the normal fare....

you can find the recipe here

I may try their recipe, but of course

my mom's is the best....ha ha ha....

very simple....

Mom's meatloaf:

1 1/2 lbs. ground sirloin

about a cup of crushed premium brand saltines

about 1/2 large onion finely chopped

2 or 3 eggs

a big squirt of ketchup

salt & pepper

get your hands in there & mix it all up!

for a "loaf" form into a loaf form and

then spread Heinz ketchup on top

and bake about an hour or so on 350.....

broil the last 5 minutes or so to give the ketchup

a nice brown glaze. yummmmmmmmy!

or if you want to do the muffins,

they only take 25 minutes to cook.....bonus!

and what would meatloaf be without

potatoes???

I personally love good ol' baked potatoes

with meatloaf......I like to smear butter on their

lovely brown skins & slide 'em in the oven bare....

makes the skin so crispy & dee-lish!

but I also love herb roasted potatoes

like these....quite yummy!

and my kids really love the herb roasted

potatoes too.....

I like to use red potatoes

or the fingerling types

you find at costco.....

quarter them

toss them with:

 olive oil

 2-3 cloves of minced garlic

fresh rosemary (about 1-2 tbsp)

salt & pepper

bake at 400 for an hour or so...

turn them half way through if you like

 and cook till they look

nice & golden & kinda crusty....:)

and with all the tight budgets everywhere~

what could be better than

 cooking up potatoes???

soooooo inexpensive and sooooo good!

Now, if I were being "good"

and trying to avoid all pumpkin pie-ish

types of desserts till Thanksgiving.....like

a good little "aspiring to be" jogger, shuffler runner girl should...

I would not even think of baking these

tonight......

but, well, you know.....it is cold,

wet & windy....

what's a girl to do??

so here goes......from the Picky Palate

Cinnamon Toasted Pumpkin Pie Tarts.....

you can find the recipe here

yum! 

seriously.....pumpkin pie is one of my top

five favorite foods.....

so there's dinner.

and then some....;)

Now it's time for me to get busy!

Hope your day is fabulous!

xoxo,

Shellagh

{all images via pinterest except pumpkin pie which

is from the picky palate}