With November has come much cooler weather...and when I say cooler I mean cold. It has been in the 20s over night at around 34° when Joel heads to school in the morning. The nice thing about cold weather is enjoying soups, and heavier foods without the dumpy feeling that can accompany them in warmer times.
This also opens up a whole new array of foods we weren't eating as much (or at all) during the summer months. Not that we have the tendency to repeat meals all the often anyway...
Tuesday, with limited groceries left at home and no desire to make a trip to the store I decided I would attempt a Turkey Meatloaf. Having never made meatloaf before I wasn't sure how it would go, however the result was quite delicious, and having used ground turkey instead of beef, a little lighter . The secret ingredient to this particular loaf was a sweet potato!
Sounds odd right??
Well, not odd at all once cooked in. You don't notice it at all and it just helps give it a little more flavor :)
Wednesday night Joel wanted Tomato Soup...and having actually made it to the grocery store I was able to oblige. Much like with the meatloaf I had never made tomato soup before, but my wonderful mom pointed me in the way of a recipe on America's Test Kitchen.
Being my mother's daughter, and the person I am in general...I of course did not follow the recipe exactly and didn't even have everything it called for, but just as she said the recipe gave me the foundation for a soup with a great consistency.
Thanks mom :)
The consistency, wasn't the only good part though, the flavor was quite delightful - even for me, someone whole doesn't usually enjoy tomato soup (unless made by my mom or Panera of course, but with neither of those around I was left to my own abilities). It is a good thing I like cooking!
So here follows first the recipe for the soup and then the meatloaf:
Creamy Tomato Soup
(2-4 servings)
Ingredients:
1 c. chicken broth
2 (14.5 ounce) cans diced tomatoes - I used one can plain, and one can basil/garlic/oregano flavored
3 cloves garlic 
2 tbsp brown sugar 
5 green onions
3 slices of bread (if you want soup thinner use 1-2 pieces)
1 bay leaf 
3 tbsp olive oil Optional (but they make it much more flavorful and yummy!):
* salt & pepper (to taste)
* garlic powder (to taste)
* basil (to taste)
* 2 tbsp sour cream
* parmesan cheese (to taste)
Method:
Saute chopped green onions, minced garlic and bay leaf in 2 tbsp olive oil.
**I did this in our dutch oven**
After a few minutes (when garlic is fragrant) add in tomatoes - and accompanying juice from can.
With potato masher, mash tomatoes to reduce the size of large chunks.
Cut the crust off of your bread and discard. Tear bread into pieces.
Place bread pieces, and 2 tbsp brown sugar in pot. Stir.
Allow mixture to come to a boil, and reduce heat to about medium. Continue cooking until your bread has become saturated with the liquid.
Remove mixture from heat. **IMPORTANT** take out bay leaf!!! and THEN place in food processor. (Rinse your pot).
Add in 1 tbsp olive oil and blend mixture until smooth. (If you want it extra smooth put through a wire strainer - I left it as it was from the processor since we don't have a wire strainer and it was still good).
Return soup to pot, add in chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add in optional ingredients to taste (garlic, basil, sour cream, parmesan, etc.). Reduce heat to low until ready to serve.
I made some cheddar biscuits to go along with this...it is a great dipping soup!
Just remember to be creative and make it how you like it! Enjoy!!
Ok...now for the meatloaf:
Turkey Meatloaf
Ingredients:
1 lb ground turkey
1 sweet potato
2 cloves garlic
2 green onions
cilantro (leaves from a few stems - this should only be a subtle not overwhelming flavor - can be omitted).
1 egg
1/3 c. ketchup 
1 tbsp dijon mustard 
salt & pepper to taste
3 pieces of bread Method:
Preheat oven to 350°. Pierce sweet potato and cook in microwave for 4 minutes or until soft. Remove skin.
Mash sweet potato into ground turkey.
After potato is mashed in, add egg and blend into mixture.
Add in chopped green onions, minced garlic, ketchup, dijon, and cilantro. Stir into meat.
Tear bread into small crumbs.
Stir bread into meat (or squish in with hands!)
Place mixture in lightly greased pan.
Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until cooked through.
We ate some pretty healthy sides of corn and apple with this meatloaf.
**This isn't going to be a thick meatloaf, but it is packed with flavor!!!**
We don't have leftovers too often since I try to make portions that we can eat in one meal, but from these two days we did have a bit leftover and they made us a great lunch of mini biscuit meatloaf sandwiches dipped in the tomato soup. Yum!
Finally here is the end to another VERY long post...
Happy eating!
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