Comfort Food

I went to visit my folks this week-end. I have two responsibilities while there...take Mom shopping and provide home-cooked meals. Dad will grill and occasionally fix a real meal, but mostly they live off of frozen dinners.

After spending 1 1/2 hours in Tuesday Morning and another 2 hours at Publix with Mom pushing the speed limit on that little cart up to about 100 yards per hour, we made it home.

I made a pantry meatloaf in which I threw into whatever I found in the pantry, fridge and freezer. I served it with the Pioneer Woman's Crash Hot Potatoes and a salad. Dad really liked the meatloaf, and so did I. You never really know with Mom.

Pantry Meatloaf

1 3/4 lbs ground chuck
1 c shredded cheddar cheese
2 eggs
1 pkg onion soup mix
1/2 sleeve Ritz Roasted Vegetable crackers
1/2 c KC Masterpiece BBQ Sauce
2 T A-1 Steak Sauce

1/4 c KC Masterpiece BBQ Sauce
1/4 c catsup

Mix together eggs, BBQ sauce, and steak sauce and set aside. Blend ground beef, cheese, and onion soup mix with crumbled crackers. Add egg mixture and blend well. Form into a loaf in a greased 9 x 13 pan and bake @ 375 for 45-50 minutes. Mix together catsup & BBQ sauce. After 30 minutes, spread on top of loaf and allow to finish cooking. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

After I cleaned the kitchen, Mom wanted to make some cookies. Since she so seldom wants to do anything, we made Paula Deen's Thumbprint cookies. Mom was so proud! She kept insisting that Sis and her hubby have some when they dropped by.

I decided to cook Honey Curry chicken breasts for lunch yesterday, with fresh green beans. Since we had had potatoes the night before, I was reluctant to use more for a starch for lunch. I found some left-over corn that Dad had grilled on Thursday and it became the inspiration for a salad.

Corn & Tomato Salad

4 c roasted corn
2 c diced and seeded tomatoes
1/4 c fine diced onion
1 c shredded cheddar cheese
4 slices bacon cooked and crumbled
1/4 c mayo
Salt & pepper to taste.

Mix and serve.

I brought home two market baskets of tomatoes and am contemplating more tomato basil jam, salsa, and/or tomato pineapple relish.

What to do? What to do?