Meatloaf....meat-joke!

I have to admit that I am currently very upset and frustrated with myself tonight. This past Sunday evening, I decided that I would plan out our dinners for the week and only write the items that we absolutely needed on my grocery list. I was happy as a clam because I actually stuck to my list. (However, Marcus was successful at sneaking in cinnamon flavored marshmallows.)

I decided that Sunday night, before Marcus left for work, I would make a great big pot of minestrone soup and some cornbread. I chopped up all my ingredients, followed the recipe I found online precisely, and let the soup simmer. Okay, well, I kept tasting the broth and I felt like it needed something. So I added salt, pepper, oregano, and pretty much all of the spices that we have in our kitchen. (no joke) Finally, I got the soup tasting the way it should. Then came the fun part- I noticed that the elbow macaroni and the cannellini beans were totally absorbing the broth. It was more like vegetable goolash(sp?) than actual soup as I continued to stir it. On the bright side, my cornbread was phenomenal. One day I might share my cornbread recipe with you all.....but for now its a secret recipe because thats all I got going for me.

Already in low spirits about my dang soup disaster, tonight's dinner didn't get any better. *Sad face* I decided to make meatloaf and mashed potatoes. As I was happily mixing up the meat, eggs, milk, and bread crumbs, I was thinking to myself, " Wow, this is looking good." After giving my hands a workout, I started making the sauce to go over the meat-mustard, ketchup, and brown-sugar. It was starting to come together, or so I thought. I put it in a loaf pan, had the oven already heated at 350 degrees, and set the timer to one hour. I started boiling my potatoes so that they would become soft enough to mash. My future was looking bright at this point.

When the little "ding" went off I told my bf, "Honey, I hope your hungry!" as I removed the loaf from the oven. It looked great and smelled good. I served a good size of the loaf and the taters on a plate for each of us and we started to cut into it. That's when I realized- the meat wasn't fully cooked! Aye aye aye! I put the meat back in the oven for another 10 minutes, and tried eating it again. It was just way to onion-y, even for me and I love onions. It's a sad feeling when you watch someone constantly picking out ingredients of the main entree and shoving them to the side... (Ahem...Marcus! However, I really don't blame you babe.)

In conclusion, my meatloaf tasted like shit. Maybe tomorrow's dinner will be better (cross your fingers and hold your breath.) A wise man once told me, never give up- you think Rachael Ray gave up?

SIDE NOTE: Attached are pictures of my Sunday soup and the meatloaf. Both foods look good, but trust me the were not. (The soup picture was taken right before the broth absorbed everything.)