Birthday Dinner "Cake"

I made a delicious birthday "cake" for Max's dinner out of mashed potatoes and meatloaf. It was so delicious and fun! I used the ketchup sauce to frost his name on top.

Recipe for turkey meatloaf cake:

1 lb. ground turkey

1/4 cup dried bread crumbs

1/2 cup oats

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

salt and pepper

* I usually add 1 shredded zucchini or carrot

mashed potatoes

ketchup sauce:

1 cup ketchup

3 Tbsp mustard

3 Tbsp brown sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl (I like to put on latex gloves and mash it all up by hand, it seems to mix better). Meanwhile, line two 8-inch cake pans with foil (spray with oil). Divide meat mixture evenly into the two pans and bake for 20 minutes or until the internal temp reaches 165 degrees.

Remove from foil and place on "cake" on a plate. Top with mashed potatoes, then place the other "cake" on top. Cover entire thing with mashed potatoes. Decorate as you like!

Tamales!

I was so excited about making a huge batch of tamales for Christmas Eve dinner, and even MORE excited to have help! Amberly, McKinley and Izzy assisted in making the BEST tamales ever! Thanks, ladies!!

Here's a link to the recipe if anyone is interested!

We made some refried bean tamales and pork-potato tamales.

Mike started off the holiday with some egg nog (which I find repulsive. the nog, not Mike! Don't worry, even though it's produced by a whiskey distiller it is non-alcoholic)

Oh yeah, my tamales are THAT good!

The finished product:

Tamales with Salsa Verde and Tortilla Soup

Corn Chowder with Chilies and Cheese and Garlic Scones

Corn Chowder with Chilies
adapted from Pioneer Woman
Original link
2 slices bacon cut into 1/2 inch pieces (I used Turkey Bacon)
2 Tablespoons butter
1 1/2 onion, diced
5 ears corn, shucked about 4 c.(although I am sure fresh is killer, I only had frozen)
2 whole chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, finely diced
1 whole can diced green chilies
32 ounces chicken broth
1 1/2 C. Heavy whipping cream (I used whole milk)
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
3 Tablespoons corn meal
1/4 C. water
I didn't have quite enough corn so I also added:
1 can Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained
2 small baked potatoes, cubed
Add bacon pieces to a pot over medium heat. Cook for a couple minutes. Throw in diced onion and stir, cooking 3-4 minutes. Add butter and melt. Add corn. Stir and cook one minute. Add both kinds of chilies and stir.
Pour in chicken broth and cream. Add salt. Stir and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low. This is where I added the potatoes and beans.
Combine cornmeal with water. Stir to combine, then pour into the chowder. Cover and cook for 15 minutes over low heat. Cook for another 10 minutes.

The Easy Cheese and Garlic Scones from Allrecipes.com I have posted before. They are a must with soup!
One note about this recipe. When you get all the ingredients together it is really wet. I find that it is way too wet to knead, as the instructions say, so I just pour it right onto a heated pizza stone and then bake it.

Asian Turkey Meatballs

I love this recipe! I have made these a few times now and they are a huge hit with the kids. I have made a few kid-friendly changes:

* low-sodium soy sauce in place of the fish sauce (only b/c I didn't have any)

* 1 Tbsp chili sauce (3 Tbsp was a bit spicy)

* I used short grain brown rice and added the shredded carrots to the meatball mixture