Mother's Meatloaf

This is my favorite comfort food. It makes me feel all safe and warm and cuddly. Read all about my feelings on the subject here.

Mother's Oatmeal Meatloaf:

Ingredients-
1 1/2 lb ground beef
1 cup tomato sauce
2/3 cup oats, uncooked
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

Directions-
1- Combine ingredients in a mixing bowl (I also like to add a little minced garlic) until evenly mixed.
2- In a loaf pan, form the mixture into a loaf shape. (optionally top with some more tomato sauce)
3- Put into a preheated 350 degree oven for 1 hour.
4- Take out, let stand for 5 minutes.

My personal preference is to top it with a combination of cocktail sauce and ketchup. But that's not for everyone.

Chicken Pot Pie

Pot pie is not my thing. I don't know why, maybe because of those nasty single-serving frozen pot-pies that you see in the store all the time. Mushy peas. Thick gravy. Fatty chicken. Soggy crust. Ugh. So it's very surprising that I wanted to try this recipe. But I saw it and couldn't stop thinking about it so I made it for dinner. Amazingly enough, I loved it. And by loved it I mean it's one of my new favorite recipes and I want to eat it every week for the rest of my life.


Chicken Pot Pie
adapted from Domestication in Progress

1 box refrigerated pie crusts (should have 2 "ready to roll" pie crusts inside)
3 chicken breasts
5 red potatoes
3 cans Cream of Chicken soup
1 bag frozen peas and carrots - thawed
1 sweet onion - diced
1/4 cup butter
1 egg

**This makes one 10" pie (very full) or two 8" pies (not as full). If you choose to make two smaller pies you can either buy 2 boxes of refrigerated pie crusts or just do a top crust and omit the bottom crust.

1. Heat oven to 450
2. Heat two large pots of water - these are for the chicken and potatoes
3. Trim fat from chicken and dice the potatoes, then add (separately) to the two pot of boiling water.
4. If making a two crust pie, cook bottom crust in oven for 9 minutes (this is so the bottom crust won't get soggy when you add the filling). After cooking, turn the oven down to 400 to cook the pie.
5. Saute the onion in butter until it is translucent and tender.
6. When the chicken is done shred or dice it into bite size pieces
7. The potatoes are done when they break apart by being stabbed with a fork - strain them.
8. Combine the shredded chicken, potatoes, peas and carrots, onions and the cans of Cream of Chicken soup in a large bowl
9. Pour the glorious mixture into the already-cooked pie crust
10. Now add the top crust and trim to fit the pie plate.
11. Whisk the egg in a small bowl and baste over the top crust*the egg is strictly for cosmetic purposes, it helps the pie keep it's color and provides a shine when cooked.
12. Make 4 slits in the top of the pie with a knife to provide steam release while the pie is baking.
13. Bake for 40 minutes and then let the pie cool for a few minutes on top of the stove.
14. Serve!