On my previous cooking blog, I used to do Make a Meal Mondays, but then I decided not to limit to one day and would post a Make a Meal whenever I made a full meal worth sharing, rather than just a part of it. I found that oftentimes when I was searching for meal inspiration, I appreciated the full meal, not just an entree or a side, so that's what I wanted to provide when possible.
About a month ago, I thought I would finally jump on the band wagon of the InstaPot. We had given my parents one for Christmas two years ago and so I asked mom if I could borrow it to give it a test drive before we invested in our own. I was hesitant to use one because, and I've said this for years, I'm not a big fan of the crock pot. I used to use one all the time, and sure they can really help to make life easier, but call me super picky - there is a crock pot taste. I don't know how else to describe it, but though it make take me longer, I appreciate the taste and flavor from slow cooking in an iron pot than the crock pot. So I didn't know how I was going to feel about the InstaPot, but with another baby coming and our life with two under two getting closer, I thought now would be a good time to try it and see what kind of ease it could add to meal making and more so, the time of making food for our family.
Well, for anyone that follows my Instastories, you saw my first attempt with it was a bust. I had seen a meatloaf and mashed potatoes recipe that sounded like a great idea, but in my own experience, it just didn't turn out. I actually used my favorite go-to meatloaf recipe that I had found in a magazine years ago and continued to adapt into the way we liked it, but aside from that, I did everything this one told me to do for how to prepare it. In the end, the meatloaf was under-cooked, but the potatoes were burnt - and yes, I cooked with the proper amount of liquid it said to provide.
So I ended up finishing the meatloaf in the oven and scraping the burnt bits off the potatoes to still be able to make a tasty dinner. The experience did help me in realizing a few things:
- I really loved my meatloaf recipe and we hardly ever make it anymore. Needed to change that.
- If I had made it my way to begin with, it would have only taken 10 minutes longer than using the Pot of Doom.
- and probably most importantly.... I didn't have an InstaPot. I had a Cuisinart Pressure Cooker. They are not the same thing, contrary to what I had thought. They require different instructions for cooking things, InstaPot being faster than a Pressure Cooker. Who knew? Not I. My mom enlightened me.
Here I was thinking that InstaPot and a Pressure Cooker were interchangeable. I thought it was like brands of paper towels. One may be Bounty, the other Brawny but they are the same thing. Or like in the Texas, we call every soft drink a "Coke" but it could be a Sprite, or Dr. Pepper. I thought InstaPot was just a brand of pressure cooker and they were all the same. So we can attribute that to my dinner-making mess up.
However, since then, I have tried a few other things in my pressure cooker not InstaPot, while trying to use the correct instructions for a pressure cooker and it's just still not really working out for me. I just can't seem to get the timing right for the recipes I try. I would rather do it the "long way" since that seems to work better for me.
Not all is lost, though. That incident did remind me how much we enjoy our meatloaf recipe and it was Hadley approved, so as I made our meal plan and grocery list on Sunday, it was first up in our menu for the week. As for the time and ease aspect of making it, I used to make this quick and easy in 30 minutes for Max and myself when it was just the two of us. Add in a 16 month old who wants to be held all the time right now, and that did throw a little kink to it, but between tempting her with her own "nom noms" and distracting her in the high chair with some BabyFirst TV screen time, this recipe was quick in prep and completely doable with a small human.
So what makes the meatloaf skinny? It may all be tomayto/tomahto but I sub out heavier ingredients for lighter versions. For instance, instead of using all beef, I use half lean ground beef and half ground turkey. I also use 2 egg whites, as opposed to 1 full egg, panko breadcrumbs rather than biscuits or chunks of bread, and skim milk as opposed to whole. One last tip is that while I do not mind onion, many do, but I don't love the crunch of chopped onion in my meatloaf. So, I grate my onion instead. This helps to enhance the flavor, it really permeates. I do this in sauces too!
Speaking of sauces, the last directive I leave you with for this recipe. I used to make a ketchup sauce that was just really tasty, it was a typical meatloaf ketchup glaze. However, we discovered this Bronco Bob's BBQ Bacon Chipotle Sauce last year during Central Market's Bacon Fest. It was life changing. I tried it on the meatloaf and it was incredible, taking the place of a traditional ketchup-based sauce glaze. If you need a sauce you can whip up real quick, click here for one but note that the ingredients for it are not included below.
Ingredients:
For meatloaf
Yields 3-4 servings
- 3/4 lb. lean ground sirloin
- 3/4 lb. lean ground turkey
- 1 cup Panko breadcrumbs
- 1/4 cup fresh Parsley, chopped
- 1/4 cup grated onion
- 2 egg whites
- 3 tbsp. skim milk
- 2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tbsp. garlic, minced
- Lightly season with salt and pepper
- Sauce (whatever you decide to use)
For Maple Whipped Sweet Potatoes
- 3 medium sized sweet potatoes
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tbsp butter
- Maple syrup
For Parmesan Roasted Green Beans
- I follow the Skinnytaste recipe exactly, no need to retype it out!
To begin, set your oven to 400 degrees.
Chop your sweet potatoes, place in a pot of water on the stove on medium-high heat to bring to a boil. As those cook, use your hands to combine your ground meats, breadcrumbs, parsley, onion, egg whites, milk, Worcestershire and garlic in a bowl. Mold the ingredients into a loaf, then place in a baking dish. I like to line my baking dish with foil for easy clean up and to prevent the sauce from burning onto the dish.
Bake in the oven for 35 minutes, then remove and top with sauce. While meatloaf is cooking, prepare the green beans as according to the recipe link above. Place back in oven and cook another 10 minutes. At this time, you can also put your green beans in too.
While the meatloaf bakes, tend to your sweet potatoes. Once they are easy to pierce with a fork, remove. I like to use my large food processor for a very whipped consistency, but you can use electric beaters or a potato masher as well. First add the butter in with the potato chunks to get that nice and soft from the heat. Next add the brown sugar, and finally I take the maple syrup and add about two circular squeezes, then begin to mix. If using electric beaters or a potato masher, you may need a little more liquid such as milk, but if using a food processor, your consistency will not need the excess liquid. Blend or mash until all chunks are gone and keep warm until ready to serve.
Remove meatloaf from oven and make sure internal temperature has reached 160 degrees. Let sit for about 5 minutes before cutting. During that 5 minutes, add the Parmesan to the green beans and bake for a final 5.
If you follow these steps, the timing should all match up perfectly to complete each part of dinner to be ready to serve at the same time. Plate and enjoy!
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