Breakfast Bickering

It is no secret that when you first move in with someone things can be pretty rough. It isn't easy to adjust to each others' habitation habits and idiosyncrasies. When Forrest and I first moved into the same house I was determined to break the mold. I wanted to make the experience of living together easy and I wanted us to be the first couple to sail smoothly through the waters of cohabitation.

I went to the grocery the day before he arrived and stocked the house with his favorite snack foods. I made sure there was turkey for midday sandwiches and ingredients to make blueberry muffins for him on our first morning together. I woke up early that morning and hurried into the kitchen so that he could wake up to the smell of fresh muffins in the oven. Everything worked out perfectly, Forrest rose at the ideal time when the muffins had been in the oven for 10 minutes and they were just starting to give off their glorious scent. He smiled at me, bid me good morning and remarked at my homemade breakfast effort. I knew this living together business would be a breeze and I couldn't imagine why people gave it such a bad name.

Unfortunately, my gloating didn't last long. What Forrest did next set my entire homemade breakfast plan into a tail spin. Although I was fully aware that Forrest had Type 1 Diabetes before we began living together, I wasn't clued in to the ins and outs of his disease. I had no idea that he had to eat immediately upon waking if his blood sugar was low. So Forrest made his way over to the fridge and began drinking juice and snacking on sliced turkey right out of the deli zip lock bag. I didn't know at the time that Forrest had every intention of eating my muffins too and I was utterly offended. I couldn't believe that I had dragged myself out of bed early to make muffins for such an ingrate. He had the audacity to spoil his sweet fluffy breakfast with none other than sandwich meat and orange juice. The control freak in me couldn't handle the broken image of us sitting down to butter our muffins at the breakfast table as blue birds sang in the background. I instantly squawked at him asked him in a frantic irrational tone, "Who wants our first breakfast together in our new home to be "turkey muffins"!?!

In a response that would become common, he laughed at my ridiculousness and told me to relax. He was still going to eat my precious muffins and enjoy them just the same. He helped me understand that the breakfast plans would remain the same and that it was going to take a lot more than a couple slices of fat free poultry to ruin his appetite. I was instantly embarrassed at my over reaction and thankful that he handled it so well. He never let me forget that incident though and the first time I prepared this recipe below he asked, "So can I eat these turkey muffins without getting yelled at?"

Turkey Mini Meat Loaves
Adapted from Cooking Light April 2007

Yield

6 servings

Ingredients

• Cooking spray
• 1 cup of chopped onion
• 6 tablespoons dry breadcrumbs
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1lb of ground turkey breast (93/7)
  
• 2 large egg white
• 6 tablespoons ketchup, divided
• 1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (such as Tabasco), divided
  

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.

Heat a small skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add onion to pan; sauté 5 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from heat; cool slightly.

Combine onion, breadcrumbs, and next 7 ingredients (through egg white) in a large bowl.

Stir in 4 tablespoons ketchup and 1/2 teaspoon of hot sauce.

Spoon about 3/4 cup meat mixture into each of 6 muffin cups coated with cooking spray using an ice scream scoop;

place muffin tin on a baking sheet. Combine remaining 2 tablespoons ketchup and remaining hot pepper sauce in a small bowl. Divide ketchup mixture evenly between the loaves.

Brush ketchup mixture over meat loaf tops.

Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until a thermometer registers 165°.

I had never eaten meatloaf before I began making this recipe so I can't compare it to your traditional ground beef loaf. But I can tell you that these are delicious and I don't even like turkey very much in general. They are extremely moist, flavorful and easy to make. These take no effort at all and cook very quickly.