Retro Dinner

Last week we had a retro-style family dinner, reminiscent of something my parents would have made on a weekday when I was a kid.  We had meatloaf with mashed potatoes and creamed corn.

To cater it more to our grownup tastes, the meatloaf was loaded with toasted coriander seeds and cilantro, and we topped it with a homemade cilantro pesto.

Cilantro Pesto

1-2 bunches of cilantro (stems and all, washed, trimmed a bit)
1/2-1 bunch green onions
white wine vinegar
olive oil
salt and pepper

Toss the cilantro and green onions into a good blender or food processor.  Add salt and pepper.  Drizzle in some white wine vinegar and olive oil.  Blend.  Add more vinegar and oil as needed to reach desired consistency.

We made the meatloaf with a pork and beef mixture, a couple of eggs, a squirt of mustard, some toasted and then ground coriander seeds, sauteed garlic and red onion, a whole lot of cilantro, a bit of paprika, and a splash or two of cream. 

90 minutes later we had this beauty ...

We absolutely love meatloaf.  It was so good topped with the cilantro pesto, but it's also pretty darn amazing just topped with ketchup.  I think we'll be making meatloaf a lot this fall.  It's the perfect meal for a crisp autumn evening (or a hot summer day if you live in our house).

The best side for meatloaf is mashed potatoes with creamed corn.

When you mix all three, you get a bite of perfection.

What are your thoughts on meatloaf?  

Do you think it's weird because of the word "loaf"?  

Did you have meatloaf growing up?  Have you ever made it?

November 1st Already!!!

My little nephew came by last night to trick or treat :-) He was dressed as Venom! So cute! He will be 3 in February, and he is SUCH a little boy. Apparently he was flexing his big muscles in the mirror at home!! I love this little guy SO SO much!

Last night while handing out candy, I snacked on one of these:

And a small handful of yogurt covered raisins:

We went to our friends house later on last night, and I had some drinks (vodka and water, and a couple shots), and about 10 chips throughout the night.

This morning I slept in later than I have in years. Lunch was a Green Monster made with 1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond breeze, 1 banana, 1 scoop amazing grass, 1 T peanut butter:

I also had some Mary's Crackers with herb and garlic cream cheese:

Dinner was 2 slices of meatloaf, topped with ketchup, and some Anne's Mac and Cheese:

I also had a couple glasses of milk, which is weird for me because I never really drink milk .. but I was craving it, so I guess that means by body needed calcium or something!

I choose not to drink milk most of the time, as I don't know how healthy it is, and I think that the human (adult) body has trouble digesting it. I have done loads of research about milk, and the majority of what I have read says that milk is not good for adults, particularly because it can scar the arteries, and because of the hormones/ antibiotics given to cows. But - since I was craving it today, I figured why not. Typically I think that if your body is craving a food/ drink, that food/ drink has something in it that your body needs. I listen to my cravings for this reason.

Do you drink milk?