The joys of farming –
So tonight, I get home after a long day…
I changed into some comfy shorts and sandals…
And Hubs gets home to inform me we have cattle to work. Like right now. No time to change.
Don’t you dare judge. Yes, I’m well aware my open-toed feet should never have been where they were…but they were. And it probably won’t be the last…
So off Munchkin and I go to enjoy some quality time on the four-wheeler, helping Hubs get cows up!
Of course, Munchkin got to play while we sorting cows – enjoy it kid… one day you won’t get to play in the dirt while we work haha. Molly and Sadie were right there with us, going between us and the Munchkin making sure everybody was ok. All in all… it was a pretty perfect Spring evening.
Sometimes I get asked – how can you raise beef cattle AND eat them? Um – I love beef. Our job is to provide a safe, reliable, delicious protein for your family…and we aim to please. Our cows are probably better cared for than ourselves – they certainly see their doctor more than I see mine! I guess our logic (and conscience) dictates – If they’re going to be providing our family with what we need – you bet your bottom dollar we’re here to provide them with what they need.
Tonight we had a girl that wasn’t feeling herself, so to the barn she went to await the vet, with her girlfriends.
When you live on a beef farm – you eat a LOT of beef. I come home from the grocery store with chicken and Hubs looks at me like I have 6 heads. Don’t we have a freezer full of beef? Yes, yes we do. But sometimes I crave something different.
Luckily, I’ve been able to tweak on some “staple” beef recipes over the years that satisfy my need to not be boring. Friends – meet my friend, Not Boring Meatloaf.
So over the years, I’ve had to get creative in an attempt to not eat the same thing over, and over, and over. This meatloaf recipe is one such way.
I should probably confess in advance – I’ve never liked meatloaf. A few years ago, I started playing around with a recipe that would satisfy Hub’s love of all things meatloaf and my aversion to normal meatloaf – this is what we landed on…
So let’s get started!
In a bowl add 2 cups of torn up stale bread (pretty sure I used hotdog buns this time) and enough milk to saturate the bread.
Let that soak in, then add an egg, ground beef, chives, parsley, onion, salt, and pepper.
Remove the rings from your hands. Trust me.
Now, get to squishing. Work the ingredients together with your hands until you’ve got it thoroughly combined.
I LOVE this roasting pan. Spray a little cooking spray, fill the bottom with water, yayy easy cleanup AND fat drains away while cooking.
So, dump the loaf onto the sprayed pan…
Form into a loaf…
Throw it in the oven at 400 degrees.
Let’s talk sauce.
Mix ketchup, mustard (I prefer spicy mustard but plain yellow was what I had to work with), and a little liquid smoke. Hubs HATES sweet on meat. He doesn’t like bbq sauce on a meatloaf, or brown sugar in already-sweet ketchup. This sauce is savory with the smoke, the mustard adds a kick, and just a tad sweet and definitely tangy from the ketchup.
Pull the loaf out, sauce that bad boy and return it to the oven. Save the sauce leftovers for dipping the meatloaf when eating.
And when this glorious baby is finished…. Hubs will start slicing and serving before I can even take a picture. Go figure….
Enjoy folks!!
2 C bread torn into pieces
~1/2 C milk (or until bread is saturated)
1 egg
1.5lb hamburger
1 tbs dried chives
1 tbs parsley
1 Tbs dried onion
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
Sauce
1 C ketchup
1 Tbs mustard (spicy)
1 tsp liquid smoke
Mix milk and bread in a medium bowl. Let soak. Add remaining ingredients, mix together. Form loaf on pan, cook at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes. Remove, add sauce, return to the oven for an additional 20 minutes, or until internal meat temperature reaches 165 degrees. Let it rest for a few minutes, then serve with leftover sauce.
Farming in Stilettos 