This weekend just flew by! My mom and I had a mother/daughter weekend. I’d been looking forward to this weekend for so long! Our time together definitely lived up to my expectations, and now I’m totally bummed that its over. 
Friday Evening
With my mom set to arrive on Saturday, I spent my entire evening cleaning my apartment and prepping some food.
First up, meatloaf. I cannot remember which blogger made meatloaf recently, but it totally inspired me to make this dish. (Please speak up if you’re the meatloaf maker!)
I am not usually a big meat eater. In fact, I’ve recently labeled myself as a flexitarian.
Flexitarianism is (according to Wikipedia)
a semi-vegetarian diet focusing on vegetarian food with occasional meat consumption. A self-described flexitarian seeks to decrease meat consumption without eliminating it entirely from his or her diet.”
So despite my tendency to avoid meat, I felt a rare urge to try my hand at meatloaf.
I did a little internet research and found Alton Brown’s recipe. I healthified it a bit, and the result was rather tasty!
Slightly Spicy Meatloaf
(makes 6-8 servings)
Ingredients:
- 8 oz. Kashi Heart to Heart Roasted Garlic Whole Grain Crackers (or cracker of your choice)
- 1/2 tsp. black pepper
- 1/2 tsp. red pepper
- 1 tsp. chili powder
- 1/2 onion, chopped
- 1 carrot, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1.25 lbs. ground turkey
- 1.25 lbs. 93% fat free organic ground beef
- sprinkle sea salt
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup oats
- 1/2 cup organic ketchup
- 1 tsp. ground cumin
- Dash worcestershire sauce
- Dash hot pepper sauce
- 1 tsp. agave nectar
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- Pulse crackers, black pepper, red pepper, and chili powder in a food processor. Place the mixture in a large bowl.
- Pulse onion, carrot, garlic, and red bell pepper in the food processor.
Stop when veggies are roughly chopped. (Mine were too soupy. My Ninja is a bit efficient.)
- Use the large bowl and combine the cracker mixture, veggie mixture, ground turkey, and ground beef.
- Add the egg and oatmeal. Sprinkle sea salt. Combine the mixtures, carefully avoiding to squeeze the meat.
- Place the mixture into a 10-inch loaf pan.
- Bake loaf for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, combine ketchup, cumin, worcestershire sauce, hot pepper sauce, and agave.
- After the loaf has baked 10 minutes, spread ketchup mixture on top of the loaf.
- Bake for about 1 hour and 50 minutes, but check on meatloaf frequently. (*Note: the original recipe states to bake the loaf for 45 minutes. This will not be enough time!)
- Enjoy your hard work!
This was delicious! I thought it had more of a kick than a traditional meatloaf. I tend to be a fan of the spice. 
Saturday
I woke up early enough to attend both Group Power and Group Centergy at my gym. I can really feel it today.
Am I the only person who gets sore from stretching? My goodness, hip openers always make my groin sore the next day!
My mom arrived around noon, and I greeted her with some Mary’s Crackers and mung bean hummus, which I forgot to take pictures of. After snacking, we set out for a mini road trip to a local organic farm.
My mom and I stopped to admire the livestock.
I think this guy was sick. He was quarantined from his brothers and sisters.
I love cows! And all animals really, which is one of many reasons why I am working on decreasing my meat consumption. [Says the hypocrite who just made meatloaf.]
We also chatted with the goats.
“Baaaaaaaaaa.” This buddy was a talker. How sweet!
Look at the babies!
I was really excited to check out some local produce. But the selection was quite small.
So I chose to buy blueberry white cheddar cheese, goat cheese, and peach jam. 
After leaving Live Oaks Farm My mom and I were really craving some fresh produce. So we drove out into the boonies to pick up a gallon of freshly picked Strawberries!
Look at these beauts! Not quite as big as the strawberries I scored at work, but satisfying nonetheless!
Sunday
Today my mom and I rounded out a great weekend by baking some strawberry muffins!
We used Jessica’s Very Berry Whole Wheat Muffin recipe as our guide. Instead of whole wheat flour, we used whole wheat pasty flour. We also subbed extra strawberries for blueberries, and added an extra cup of milk in order to produce the following delectable treat.
I’m a muffin lover, and these might be the best I’ve ever had. They are almost as tasty as my favorite Apricot-Coconut Bran Muffins!
***
Question: How often do you buy organic produce?
I buy organic whenever the upgrade is affordable, which is a rare occurrence. I probably only buy organic about 10% of the time.
I don’t buy organic produce very often at all, because it is very expensive. I try to keep groceries for my husband and I to $60 or less, and it would be impossible to do that with organic produce. Maybe one day, when I have a “real” job as opposed to this whole grad. school thing, I’ll be able to afford it.
PS: The meatloaf looks great. I’m re-incorporating meat into my diet, and I might try this on Wednesday night!
I really try to buy organic whenever possible. I work at an organic and natural foods store so the discount makes the pricing comparable to non-organic. Looks like a great weekend!
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Lily Catherine. Lily Catherine said: Hypocrite http://www.lilyshealthpad.com/2010/05/02/hypocrite/ [...]
Cute cows!! I love animals
That meatloaf looks amazing with all the ktechup – baked ketchup is the best!
I always do if it’s an animal product I’m buying though cos I think it’s very important.
I buy organic whenever I can, but sometimes ££ constraints mean it just isn’t possible
great pics! that meatloaf looks so good! I love the idea of adding crackers to the meatloaf that must make it super moist
blueberry cheese?!! umm I need to get taht ASAP!! bloobs are my favorite and who doesn’t like CHEESE??! yum sound so good!!
I buy organic if the price isn’t crazy expensive!!
THat blueberry white cheddar cheese sounds amazing!
I don’t buy organic too often either. I usually buy our apples and spinach organic, but that is because they are basically the same price as non-organic in our store. Otherwise I just don’t have the budget to pay $2 more for every vegetable/fruit we buy.
The farm looks fun!
i buy organic when I shop at whole foods…cause I have no choice! All their produce is organic! It’s so expensive! But I know it’s “worth it” in the long run and that every little bit helps! I do NOT have any farmer market’s near me
BTW what a fun weekend! I love how healthy you and your mom are!..not your dad 
I’m glad that you had a great weekend with your mom! I always buy organic apples, since I eat the skin. Yesterday they were more expensive than usual. 8.50 for 5 apples! wtf. I went to a different store because I’m house/dogsitting but I didn’t even realize it until I got home and looked at the receipt. Not cool.
Those strawberries are GORGEOUS! I buy organic produce as much as I can, but I prioritize meat (grass-fed, organic, hormone-free, local) ahead of produce. I consider myself a flexie, too…but I’ve increased my meat with my recent blood sugar issues!
I know what it’s like to miss mommies…I miss mine all the time! I’m always the girl SOBBING in airports!
I’m glad you had a nice weekend with your mom! I think goats are cute
For organic, I only buy what’s on the “dirty dozen” and then the rest I buy non-organic. In a perfect world where I had unlimited funds, I’d buy organic all the time but you gotta do what you gotta do!
We buy organic meats when possible and eggs! Veggies and fruits…I usually only buy organic root veggies (things grown underground) and just make sure to wash everything else really well!
those strawberries look so good! we planted a strawberry plant and they are just now getting ready for picking!
Um, if the cow you saw was a “he” (a bull)– he was probably alone in his field to keep him away from the “shes” as it is springtime when a young bull’s fancy turns to ummm, “shes” and sometimes when his people aren’t ready for him to um, exercise his “fancy”! LOL
I can’t decide which I would devour faster: the strawberries or that muffin! YUM!
those muffins look amazing! I’m dying to try a strawberry muffin, I’ve never had one before.
i never buy organic produce. I simply can’t afford it. I can’t justify spending 2 or 3 times more for organic…not worth it to me.
I too only do organic when it’s affordable. That blueberry white cheddar looks so amazing! I am salivating!!
And P.S. DO NOT feel bad about your meatloaf. It looks delicious!!
I buy organic produce every week. I usually stick to the “dirty dozen” so I don’t feel obligated to buy all organic.
I try to buy organic for most things because I feel like the price is isn’t THAT big of a difference. If it’s ridiculous though (like $4.99/lb vs $0.99/lb) then I’ll buy regular.
I’ve never tried making meat loaf. Looks good though! And it’s not a big deal. Labels are nothing. Do what you do girl!
[...] This weekend Stephen had National Guard drill, so my mom and I had a girls’ weekend! You can read about my last documented mother/daughter weekend here. [...]