A twist on the traditional

I'm not really sure what caused this craving but I really wanted to make meatloaf.  I thought about doing it Monday night even though Eric wasn't home yet but I'm glad I waited until last night b/c the meal ended up taking a lot more time than I thought.  Since we ate so many carbs the night before with Maggianos, I decided to make a "healthier" version of traditional meatloaf dinner.  I made a turkey meatloaf instead of beef.  I also added tons of chopped veggies. Instead of mashed potatoes, I decided on mashed cauliflower.  I also added a corn pudding to the mix.  There are lots of pictures for this dinner so happy looking!

I made the meatloaf mix well before I put it in the oven.  This was nice and easy b/c I was able to put everything together and then go to the gym.  I came back around 6:45 and preheated the oven and the meatloaf was already made.  All I had to do was shape it and stick it in the oven.  The ingredients I chose to use are as follows:

ground turkey breast

 ground turkey thigh

yellow mustard

dijon mustard

cayenne pepper

paprika

chili powder

worcestershire

breadcrumbs

egg

pepper

salt

chopped onion

chopped celery

minced garlic

chopped yellow pepper

The process began by sautéing the garlic and onions in some olive oil.

I let those cook for about 2 minutes and added the celery and peppers.

I didn't cook these until completion b/c I wanted them to retain some crunch in the meatloaf and I knew they were going to continue cooking for at least another hour in the oven.  You cook these before hand just so they release flavor for oven cooking.  Once I felt like they were cooked enough, I removed it from heat.  I put the ground turkey into a bowl and added my seasonings to taste as well as the veggies.

Give it all a good mix.  I use my hands b/c I love squishing things and making them by hand.  Plus, I feel like you get a better idea of how well everything is mixed if you can feel it.

A couple of hours later, I shaped the mix into a loaf shape and put it into the oven.  I don't use a loaf pan b/c it's a lot easier for clean up and I don't have to worry about whether or not it will come out cleanly from the pan after baking.  This way, I can just cut into it and when we're done with it, all I have to clean is the aluminum foil I can ball up and throw away.

While the ovens were preheating (I had to use 2 b/c my baking sheet doesn't fit vertically so I couldn't put both corn pudding and meatloaf on the same rack), I put the corn pudding together.  It is incredibly basic and easy to make.  The ingredients that go into this dish are:

whole kernel corn

creamed corn

honey

cornmeal

eggs

butter

pan spray

sour cream

All you do, is take all the ingredients and put them into a bow and mix.  Once again, I did this with my hands b/c it is just one less utensil to deal with and it just always seems to work much better anyway.  Once the mixture is fully mixed, pour into a pre-greased pan.  I used 8x8 but you can probably use 9x9 or even make muffins out of them.  I put a little more cornmeal so make it more like a cornbread since I had planned on saving the majority for the next day's dinner.  I knew Eric and I wouldn't even come close to eating this whole pan.  With more cornmeal, I felt it would hold up  better as leftovers.  You can also choose to use less cornmeal to make more of a soufflé or pudding texture.  

Once the ovens were preheated, both meatloaf and corn pudding went in.  10 minutes later, I took the meatloaf out of the oven and at this point, topped with a ketchup mixture.  I decided to use

ketchup

brown sugar

worcestershire

hot bone suckin mustard

I just lathered it on top and on all the sides of the meatloaf.  

I allowed both to cook for about an hour.  

With 30 minutes left on the meatloaf, I started the cauliflower.  The ingredients that went into it are:

cauliflower

butter

pepper

salt

spicy ranch

garlic powder

cheese

Eric decided he wanted spicy ranch so I substituted it for the half and half.  I used a whole head of cauliflower and broke it into florets. I started with boiling a pot of water and then put the cauliflower to boil for about 10 minutes. 

  Once it was soft, I drained the cauliflower and then dried it in between a lot of paper towels. 

I then added the ingredients and attempted to mash them together, using a potato masher.  

This didn't work so well so I had to use different methods known as the food processor.  This worked wonderfully!  I did it in batches to make sure there was a balance of spices in each batch and to make sure that it was chopped evenly.  I didn't want pureed cauliflower and lumps in one batch.  

An hour later, my corn pudding, meatloaf, and cauliflower were done.  

I'm not gonna lie, this was DELICIOUS! I was really excited about this meal b/c even though it was simple and easy to make, I was able to make this entire meal from memory and instinct.  I didn't need any recipes and I did everything by taste.  I'm glad that it turned out well though or else I may have been a little sad, especially since I've been making meatloaf for years.  This was a great meal and incredibly filling and not a lot of calories, which was the best part since we were both feeling puffy from the night before.