Malaspine Meatloaf

I never gave meatloaf much thought until I tried my BFFs mother’s recipe. Oh my! Ever since then, this is the only meatloaf I crave and now with the cooler weather coming, it’s the ultimate in comfort food. Serve with some egg noodles or mashed potatoes. Or heck! Serve it with both and enjoy! Let me know if you decide to add it to your meal plan for the week. I would love to know how you liked it!

Katie 🙂

Malaspine Meatloaf

Servings: 4
Time: 2hr 30mins
Print

Credit: The Malaspine Family

Ingredients:

Meatloaf:

1-1.5lbs ground beef
1-1.5lbs ground pork (not the original Malaspine way, a Roemer addition)
2 eggs
1/2 c ketchup
2 tbsp spicy brown mustard
1/2 c breadcrumbs
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

Glaze:

1/2 c ketchup
2 tbsp spicy brown mustard
4 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, scramble 2 eggs. Add the ketchup, mustard, bread crumbs, garlic powder, salt & pepper. Mix well. The mixture should be kind of gooey.
Add the ground beef and the ground pork and mix well.
Place into 13×9 pyrex and evenly distrubute to cover the majority of the dish.
Use a small bowl to prepare the glaze. Add the ketchup, mustard, brown sugar, and apple cider and mix well.
Pour the glaze over the meatloaf.
Bake at 350degrees for 1hr 45mins to 2hrs or until meat is thoroughly cooked.

Got What I Asked For

I’ve been complaining about my lack of sleep lately. More specifically, my lack of uninterrupted sleep. Well ask and ye shall receive, right?

The girls were in bed by 7 and I’m pretty sure I was asleep by 7:20. Next thing I know it’s 11:30, the tv is blaring and the hubby is snoring. In those four hours I slept like a ROCK! I’m not exactly sure how a rock would sleep but I didn’t move or hear a thing. I woke up feeling so refreshed and full of energy.

Not the best feeling at 11:30pm especially when the littles are super early risers. But hey, I’m not complaining about that tonight!

Instead, I took this opportunity to try a new recipe – Overnight Apple Cinnamon Oats. I’ve never made them but have always wanted to. I’ll post the link (and of course a pic) tomorrow and let you know how they were. Fingers crossed the girls and the hubby love them!

Beautiful the mess I am.
Love & Prayers,
Katie

A Few of My Favorite Things

Jesus replied, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” Matthew 22:37

The mornings go so much smoother when I purposely wake up before the kids to have a cup of HOT coffee with my favorite creamer, in my favorite mug, while sitting in my favorite spot on the couch with what has become one of my favorite books to read in the quietness and stillness of the house. Typically, that quietness only occurs in the wee hours of the mornings but lately my littlest angel baby has been requiring all of my attention during those hours. And its been affecting me, my attitude and parenting.

Let’s just cut to the chase…I miss sleeping.

My sister tells me to get over it because I’m a mother of three now and I’ll never sleep again. I’m trying my hardest to prove her wrong. I don’t need a lot of sleep. I love to be active…but I need my sleep to be uninterrupted at least for a few hours so that I can function…and be happy.

Truth be told, I have not been loving the Lord my God with all my heart these past few weeks. I’ve been grumbling, cranky, and down right miserable. That’s not me. That’s me with no sleep.

How, in this season of my life with a 4yr old, 2yr old and a 5month old, do I love the Lord my God with all my heart, with all my soul and all my mind? I do not have the answer to that. The only thing I know is that when I spend the first part of my day in His word, I am a better wife, mother, daughter, sister and friend.

While I’ve been all out of sorts because of my lack of sleep, I’ve been cooking up a storm of comfort food. (And of course I know this because I can’t stop photographing it- I just popped a meatloaf in the oven, photo and recipe to come soon!) Searching for comfort in the kitchen yet once again, while all along I should be…on my favorite spot on the couch with my favorite mug filled with coffee with my most favorite book of all time, my Bible.

And while I waited for the big girls to wake up, I prepared their favorite table with a few of their favorite breakfast foods- homemade granola bars, yogurt and some fresh fruit.

Love & Prayers,

Katie

The Last Time

I read an article a while ago, (when I only had one child and really didn’t have a clue) and it stated something about…cherish every moment with your children because you won’t be aware of the last time you rock them to sleep, swaddle them in a baby blanket, or feed them their last bottle. It just happens. I never gave much thought to that because I was sure I would remember everything. Ha! 4 years and 3 kids later, I’m remembering that article and feeling a bit sad.

I took the girls to the pumpkin patch to meet a friend. My husband was able to sneak away from the office to meet us too. Yippee!!! The girls were beyond ecstatic! My girlfriend immediately said, Let me take a family pic for you! I jumped at the chance, handed the baby to the hubby, whipped off my Ergo and sat on the bale of hay. He had the two younger ones on his lap and I asked the oldest to sit on my lap. She said no. She wanted to sit on the hay like a big girl. I didn’t think anything of it at the time, (chaos always surrounds 5 children, ages 4-4months) but as I look back at all the photos from today, I noticed my lap was empty. Its never empty. I, for the life of me, cannot remember the last time she sat on my lap. I know she gives out hugs sparingly and doesn’t always want to hold my hand but when was the last time she sat on my lap?

For today, I promise not to ask my babies to give me space. For today, I will embrace their hugs and kisses and messy hands. For today, I will love them with everything I’ve got and hold them close.

Beautiful the mess I am.
Love&prayers,
Katie

Seeking Comfort

I have been doing a lot of cooking this week and its only Wednesday. It seems that when my anxiety is through the roof, I tend to skip my early morning bible study and when I skip my early morning bible study, I cook…alot. I start doubling recipes, stuffing them into a Ziploc and freezing them. While its awesome to be prepared and have a stocked freezer, I’m not focusing on whats really important… God and my family. That all hit me this morning when I was telling a girlfriend about the amazing Shepard’s Pie (my ultimate comfort food!) that I made last night. It hit me like a ton of bricks. Hmm… so here I am searching for comfort, so I make comfort food. When all along I should have searched for comfort from Him.

I was up early this morning and while the whole house slept, I did get about twenty minutes of study time in. Maybe that’s why I was able to see my previous actions so clearly. Maybe that’s what I needed. So I made the comfort food yesterday and found comfort from Him this morning. I do have to admit that my anxiety is at a much more controlled stated. There has been no yelling today and that’s a win for this house!

Did I receive the seed that fell on good soil? Today, I did.

“But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” Matthew 13:23

Click here for the delicious Shepard’s Pie recipe from Once A Month Meals.

Happy Wednesday

Beautiful the mess I am,

Katie

Sick day…again

My lil peanut has a fever, again. Third time since school started in August. I seriously thought we were past all this sickness with her. We had big plans this weekend. Festival parade tonight, festival tomorrow, kids mass ministry Sunday with one last stop at the festival. Praying for some quick healing!
Love&Prayers