Recipe & Gadget of the Week: Meat Loaf Miniatures + Flat Whisk

Recipe of the Week: Meat Loaf Miniatures
I found this recipe from some old cookbook on my shelf while desperately in search of something to make with the limited groceries we had on hand at the time. It immediately became one of my husband's favorites. It freezes really well too!

Ingredients:
1 C ketchup
3-4 Tbsp Packed Brown Sugar
1 tsp Ground Mustard
2 Eggs, Beaten
4 Tsp Worcestershire Sauce
3 C Crispix Cereal, crushed
3 tsp Onion Powder
1/2 to 1 tsp Seasoned Salt
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp Pepper
2-3 lbs lean ground beef or ground turkey

Instructions:
In large bowl, combine ketchup, brown sugar, and mustard. Remove 1/2 C for topping; set aside. Add eggs, worcestershire sauce, cereal, and seasonings to remaining ketchup mixture; mix well. Let stand for 5 minutes. Crumble beef over cereal mixture and mix well.

Press meat mixture into 18 muffin cups (about 1/3 cup each). bake at 375 for 18-20 minutes. Drizzle with reserved ketchup mixture; bake 10 minutes longer or until meat is no longer pink and meat thermometer reads 160 degrees.

Cool remaining loaves; freeze. Transfer to freezer bags; freeze for up to 3 months. To use frozen meat loaves; Completely thaw in refrigerator. Place in a greased baking dish. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until heated through, or cover and microwave on high for 1 minute or until heated through.


Kitchen Gadget of the Week: the "Kitchzen Flat Whisk" by Chef'n
Okay, purely by chance we have another gadget by Chef'n this week, and no, I don't get royalties from them. However, if anyone from Chef'n is reading this and would like to mail me an envelope full of cash, I will not object. Heck, I'll probably just use it to buy more Chef'n stuff anyway.

I love this whisk. I actually found it at a thrift store, brand new, still in the package. I know our local Target store often donates brand new product to the thrift stores, so I believe it likely came from there. I find a lot of great new items that way! Here are a couple reasons why I love this whisk...

1) Store-ability
If you own a whisk, chances are it's been the cause of your drawer jamming more than once. That, or it gets tangled up with the other tools in your drawer. Being almost flat, this one fits perfectly in my shallow drawer, and does not get snarled up with my other tools.
2) Scrape-ability
The end of this whisk is not round like most standard whisks. Instead, it has rounded corners. This works fantastic when I need to whisk in a pot on the stove, which do not have rounded bowl bottoms. So, I can scrape around the corners and get everything mixed well.
3) Non-Scratching
Having the end dipped in silicone saves my pans from scratches, and holds up to the heat.
4) Non-burning
If I let the whisk sit in a hot pot, grabbing the handle doesn't burn a metal spring pattern in the palm of my hand. It has a nice rubbery handle.
5) Clean-ability
Last but CERTAINLY not least, one of my favorite things about this whisk is how easy it is to clean. I don't have to try to get inside the cage like a round whisk between wires to clean it. Being almost flat (each wire is about 1/8" separated vertically when laid down on the counter), a wipe of the soapy sponge on the front and back of the wires will clean all sides of the wires. That's hard to describe without seeing it, but trust me, it's a piece of cake to clean!

Happy whisking! :-)