Meatloaf, Parmesan Broccoli Mashed Potatoes & Homemade Creamed Corn

Talk about home cookin’! This is not my typical meal… but hubby was craving creamed corn and mashed potatoes, and he’s taken such good care of me this past week with this stupid cold I have. I finally had some energy today, and he’s been working really hard at work, so I thought I’d make him a yummy, feel-good meal. A call earlier in the week to my mother-in-law revealed ‘meatloaf’ was the proper protein to go with creamed corn and mashed potatoes, so meatloaf it is!

This was my very first time making meatloaf. Not sure why I’ve never made it before, but I’m sure I will be making it again. I did a quick search on Foodgawker for a meatloaf recipe, and settled on this one from Sweet Pea’s Kitchen. It’s definitely a keeper. Very flavorful! Healthiest? …probably not, but every once in a while, won’t kill ya.

Next up was the Parmesan Broccoli Mashed Potatoes. These are very easy to make and very flavorful. Plus, I feel like they offer more nutrition because of the broccoli. I made this after I got the meatloaf in the oven. Once I got my potatoes and broccoli in the boiling water I started on Homemade Creamed Corn. It was an overachiever night… First day back to work with this stupid cold, long, physical day at work… And I decide to make 3, from scratch recipes. Thank God they all turned out, so it was worth the effort. Plus, I had one happy hubs in the end.

Brown Sugar Meatloaf

Ingredients:
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 pounds ground beef chuck
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup milk
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 package of dry onion soup mix
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 cup Italian bread crumbs

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a casserole dish with foil.
In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, ketchup and 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce. Divide evenly among three separate bowls; set aside.
In a large bowl combine garlic, Worcestershire sauce, milk, eggs, salt, pepper, soup mix, ginger, bread crumbs and one bowl (1/3) of prepared brown sugar/ketchup mixture. Add ground beef and mix to thoroughly combine.
Shape into a loaf and spoon one bowl (1/3) of prepared brown sugar/ketchup mixture onto the top of the loaf.
Place the meat loaf, brown sugar/ketchup side down, into prepared casserole dish. Top with remaining bowl (1/3) of prepared brown sugar/ketchup mixture.
Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing.

Parmesan Broccoli Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients:
4-5 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into small pieces (about 1½”)
2c broccoli florets, uncooked
4 Tbsp butter
½c milk
½c fresh parmesan, grated
salt and pepper to taste (I used about 1 tsp salt, ½ tsp pepper)

Directions:
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add potato pieces and broccoli and boil 15-20 minutes, or until potatoes are very soft and can easily be mashed with a fork. Drain broccoli and potatoes well.
Place in a large bowl with butter, milk, and parmesan. With a hand mixer, whip mixture until very smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste (I used about 1 tsp salt and ½ tsp pepper).

Homemade Creamed Corn

Ingredients:
1 C heavy whipping cream
1 C milk
1 tsp salt
2 Tbs sugar
32 oz bag of frozen whole kernel corn
2 Tbs butter
2 Tbs all purpose flour
1/4 tsp black pepper

Directions:
In a large pan on medium high heat, add heavy cream, milk, salt and sugar. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil and add frozen corn. Bring to a boil again.
In a separate small sauce pan, melt butter and add flour. Stir to combine. Add flour and butter to corn and stir to combine. Reduce heat to medium and cook until it begins to thicken. Turn off heat, add black pepper and season to taste.