My good friend over at Sprout Culinary Studies (http://sproutculinarystudies.blogspot.com/) issued a challenge to the world: Dig out one of your cookbooks and find a new recipe to make. Write about it, take a picture of it, and you could win a free cookbook! I was excited (as everyone knows that I love the chance to get free stuff) and resolved to submit an entry. That was a few weeks ago.

I found myself in my kitchen today, the day before the contest closes, thumbing through my only nice meal cookbook, scrambling for a recipe and ingredients. I settled on the Bacon-Topped Meatloaf and the Emerald Rice from page 230 of the 2002 Taste of Home Annual Cookbook.

I liked the idea of both recipes… The meatloaf had chili sauce in it and bacon on top of it. Two items that make any meal delicious in my mind. The rice had spinach, cheese, and cream in it. Mmmm. I figured it would be a fun experiment, and my kids will eat whatever I put in front of them (eventually) so I rolled up my sleeves and dug in.

The meatloaf was very easy to prepare, so I plopped it into a stoneware laof pan and set it to baking while I prepared the rice. I didn’t have half and half cream, so I made a mix of sour cream and milk instead. I also ran out of cheddar cheese making the meatloaf so I put mozzarella in instead. I considered lightly steaming some broccoli to go on the side, but my husband and I decided the spinach, rice and meatloaf would suffice for a complete meal tonight.

As the family dug in, they started rating the meal. Boy #1 said that meal was 997 good. (The meatloaf was 1000, the rice 997). Girl #1 said the meatloaf was 1000 and the rice was 2. (She was not a fan of the spinach in the rice.) Boy #2 said the meatloaf was 81 and the rice was 10. He’s four though, so any number he throws out is arbitrary. When I asked my husband he said, “I’d eat it again.” Coming from a man who thought he hated meatloaf until a couple years ago, that’s a pretty good rating.

The meatloaf did not hold together well, but it was so moist and tasty. I think next time, I’ll do them in individual loaf pans. I also commented to Hubby that the rice would be great with mushrooms. He agreed… But he’s always trying to get more mushrooms into my recipes. I’ll definitely give them both another try! I give the meatloaf an A- and the rice a B. And my good friend over at Sprout Cilnary Studies gets an A+ for prompting me to try something new!

Recipes:

Bacon-Topped Meatloaf

½ cup chili sauce

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 Tbsp Worchestershire sauce

1 medium onion, chopped

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

2/3 cup dry bread crumbs

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

2 pounds lean ground beef

2 bacon strips, cut in thirds

In a bowl, combine first nine ingredients. Pat into an ungreased large loaf pan or 13×9 dish. Top with bacon. Bake, uncovered, at 350 F for 70 minutes. Drain and let stand 10 minutes before cutting. Yield: 8 servings.

Emerald Rice

3 cups cooked brown rice

1 pkg frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry.

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 cup half and half cream (I used ¼ c sour cream and ¾ c milk)

½ cup chopped onion

1 Tbsp butter

1 tsp salt

In a bowl, combine all ingredients. Bake in a covered 1 ½ qt baking dish at 350 F for 25-30 minutes, until heated through. Yield 8 servings.