"healthified" meat loaf + macaroni and cheese

Hello bloggies!  I'm going to try and catch up on some recipe posts from my first few days in Florida.  It was such a whirlwind around here with the holidays that it was all I could do to keep up with food journal posts (and I didn't do that great of a job at that!).  So, stay tuned for a flurry of posts over the next 48 hours, I'm hoping to be all caught up before we leave for Virginia Tuesday morning.  I promise to keep the writing as short as possible so that you can easily skim...

Our first night in town we had my stepfather's meatloaf and my momma's mac & cheese...a perfect combination if you ask me.  



Joe's Meatloaf (a fabulous, healthier version of a classic favorite...)

makes 6-8 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground pork


• 1 lb ground turkey


• 1 onion, chopped


• 1 red bell pepper, chopped


• 1 celery stalk, chopped


• 2 carrots, chopped


• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, shredded


• 1/4 cup Italian bread crumbs


• 2 eggs


• splash of worcestershire sauce


• splash of hot sauce


• squeeze of tomato paste


• Provencal herb mix (thyme, oregano, parsley) to taste


• 1 tbsp roasted garlic, minced


• salt + pepper to taste

Steps:

1. Blend all ingredients together in mixer.


2. Form into loaf in large baking dish.


3. Bake at 350* for 1 hour 15 minutes.

Momma's Mac & Cheese (I did a slightly healthier version here)

Ingredients:

• 1 lb macaroni noodles


• 2 bags of shredded cheese (about 4 cups) - I like cheddar and monterrey jack or mozzarella


• 2 eggs


• 1 cup milk


• extra milk


• salt + pepper


• 3 tbsp butter, cut into pieces

Steps:

1. Spray a casserole dish with cooking spray.


2. Boil macaroni noodles until al dente.


3. Spread about 1/3 of the macaroni noodles in the bottom of the baking dish.


4. Sprinkle about 1/3 of the cheese over the noodles and sprinkle with salt + pepper.


5. Repeat until you have 3 layers, ending with the last of the cheese.


6. Whisk together the 2 eggs and 1 cup of milk. Pour over the top of the casserole dish.  Add enough milk until it reaches 1/2 way up the side of the casserole dish. (its easier to tell if you use a clear glass dish, but you can wiggle an opaque dish back an forth to see where the milk level is).


7. Spread the pats of butter across the top of the casserole.


8. Bake at 350* for 1 hour.