Gettin' Domestic

Flavors of Fall
One joy of being "done" with school is that I am home a lot more and I have the time to do some fun domestic things that I didn't have time to do before. For starters, I decorated my house with everything Fall that I had in the basement this week. I had so much fun playing with different colors and textures to make my house feel so warm and cozy... all the great feelings of fall. I even had an afternoon to stroll downtown rockford to get a new candle to add to the fall scents; I went with Yankee Candle's "Autumn Leaves" Scent. This week has been great in the area of having time for things that I didn't have time for before so I'm feeling extra thankful that I can do some of these fun domestic things. Another joy of being at home for me is cooking. My great friend Stacie had Jared and I over for Chicken dinner on Tuesday and it inspired me to be better at cooking fantastic meals like that for Jared at home; not just the usual hot dogs and sandwiches. So here are some of the recipes that we've enjoyed this week.
Venison Meat Loaf Recipe

"My mother, who claims she can detect venison in any recipe, didn't have a clue it was in this tender meat loaf until we told her after dinner. She raved about this flavorful main dish the entire time she was eating it!"-Liz Gilchrist, Bolton, Ontario

This recipe is: Healthy

6-8 Servings
Prep: 10 min. Bake: 70 min.
Ingredients
2 eggs
1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 cup dry bread crumbs
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1-1/2 pounds ground venison
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons spicy brown mustard
2 tablespoons white vinegar

Directions:
In a large bowl, lightly beat eggs; add tomato sauce, onion, crumbs, salt and pepper. Add venison and mix well. Press into an ungreased 9-in. x 5-in. loaf pan. Combine brown sugar, mustard and vinegar; pour over meat loaf. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 70 minutes. Yield: 6-8 servings.


Nutrition Facts: 1 serving (1 slice) equals 204 calories, 4 g fat (1 g saturated fat), 125 mg cholesterol, 799 mg sodium, 16 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 23 g protein.

Easy Spaghetti Bake

Ready in: 30-60 minutes

Ingredients:

1 package (7 oz. size) spaghetti

1/2 cup onion, chopped1 can (4 oz. size)

mushrooms stems & pieces, drained

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 pound ground beef

1 jar (32 oz. size) spaghetti sauce

2 teaspoons sugar

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 cup Cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions:
Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Drain. In large skillet, brown beef and pour off excess fat. Add onion, spaghetti sauce, mushrooms, sugar, basil and salt. Simmer covered 10 minutes. Stir in cooked spaghetti to combined ingredients. Turn mixture into a shallow 2 1/2 quart baking dish. Cover and bake 20 minutes at 350F. Uncover, top with cheese and return to oven. Bake 5 minutes more.

This recipe from CDKitchen for Easy Spaghetti Bake serves/makes 6

A fun project: I found some pretty Autumn napkin rings that were given to me when we got married that I had never used so I decided to try to make a pretty centerpiece with these napkin rings, my fancy napkins and a fall platter that matches the rings. Here's the website I found helpful to teach me how to do this!

http://www.recipezaar.com/Serviette-Napkin-Folding-Basic-With-Napkin-Ring-241006

Happy Fall!

Sleep well and God Bless,

CW