Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Coming Soon!

We're getting guinea pigs!!!!  Emma has been begging for a dog for awhile now but I'm just not ready for that kind of responsibility yet and our house is just really too small for a dog of any size.  So after visiting Matt's aunt one day and seeing his cousin's guinea pig, I thought, why not start with one of those?  I didn't bring it up for awhile, and when I did, Emma wasn't really into it.  But she eventually warmed up to it and just last week we went into PetSmart and looked at them.  I wasn't really thinking about getting one for another few months though, but just days later a friend from church posted on facebook wanting to know if anyone wanted free guinea pigs.  Well, if that wasn't awesome?  

Matt and I had a more serious conversation about getting them, (me for it, him not) and I set up a time to go visit them to check them out!  I talked to several people who have owned them and I've read quite a bit online researching all kinds of stuff on them.  We finally compromised and we'll be the proud new owners of 2 guinea pigs very soon!

We just got back a bit ago from taking a peek at them.  They are 5 weeks old and very cute.  They are quite big for being so young, I was surprised.  I talked with the owner for almost an hour, asking questions and he gave me tons of advice.  We picked out the 2 we wanted (and I feel HORRIBLE for the third one) and told him we would be back in a week or two after we got everything we needed.  A few people have asked about whether having 2 guinea pigs together is suitable.  My first thought in this whole process was just to get one but after some research I found that they are very social animals and their preferred setting is with a companion, so I decided to go with a second, not only so Emma and Hannah could each have one, but so that the guinea pig itself would have a companion.  

I named Hannah's "Patches" because of her checker board looking back and Emma finally settled on "Cupid" from the Rudolph song (dasher, dancer, prancer, vixen...).  First she picked "leashy", but I told her she needed something else, then after Matt suggesting Snowman (???) and Bandit, she began thought of Rudolph and then ended up with Cupid.  

I'm pretty excited most of the time as this is my first pet other than a fish since leaving home which makes it Emma and Hannah's first pets as well!  It's an exciting time in our house!  I will try to get some pictures of them soon!

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Meatloaf or Meatloaf?

I've never been a meatloaf fan but have recently come across two excellent recipes.  The first is from a family member of Brittany's who makes everything from scratch, including pasta noodles, so you know it has to be good! It is a sweet-n-sour meatloaf. The second comes from my beloved Paula Deen Cookbook, Aunt Peggy's Old Fashioned Meat Loaf. 

Sweet-n-Sour Meatloaf

1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 cup dry bread crumbs
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 eggs
1 tsp minced onion
1 - 15oz can of tomato sauce - halved

1. Mix ground beef, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, eggs together.
2. Add onion and 1/2 of the tomato sauce
3. Form into loaf (9x15x13 pan)
4. Bake for 50 minutes at 350 degrees

During the last 5-10 minutes, mix together the following ingredients for the sauce:
The remaining half of the tomato sauce
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp vinegar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 tsp yellow mustard

Bring those ingredients to a boil.  Take meatloaf out of oven, drain the fat off the top of the meatloaf and then  stab with a fork in a few places so the sauce will soak into meatloaf.  Pour the sauce over the meatloaf, reserve some for dipping if desired.  Bake an additional 10 minutes.  SOOOO YUMMY!!!

Aunt Peggy's Old-Fashioned Meat Loaf

1 pound ground beef
1-6oz ounce can tomato paste
1/2 cup chopped vidalia onion
1/2 cup chopped green onion
1/2 cup quick cooking oats
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon dijon mustard

1. Preheat oven to 375. In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, tomato paste, onion, green pepper, oats, egg, salt and pepper.  Shape the mixture into a loaf and place it in a 9x5 loaf pan.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the ketchup, brown sugar and mustard. Slather the glaze on top of the meatloaf and bake for 1 hour or until the meat loaf is firm and cooked all the way through. Serve hot!  DELICIOUS!!!