Simple Meatloaf

Hello again my cooking class heroes! There's lots of time to update you on where I've been over on my personal blog, but for the time being, how about this weather? In the morning it's freezing, and in the afternoon I'm shedding layers right down to my yoga shorts and t-shirt! We've been keeping busy here in Bloomington, and let me tell you, busy doesn't even begin to cover it! It's nights like these that I want to get dinner in the oven, pull my computer out from under the school books, and browse the endless expanse of FoodGawker until it's time to snuggle up to a warm meal and a comfy boyfriend! This meatloaf is just the answer for that. Perfect for any time of year, this meatloaf is moist, delicious, and best of all simple! The ingredient list is so short it'll blow your mind, and honestly you probably have all of these things on hand! (Coming from a person who never has any of the things that "should be in your pantry already", this is huge!)

Freedom Jars

"Is it fireworks season yet?"

I've been asking Man-Hands this question for literally a month and a half. I love fireworks. And unfortunately I don't really get fireworks down here in Central Illinois. I found this out the hard way - fireworks only come on (and the days surrounding) 4th of July. What an awful thought! When I lived in the suburbs of Chicago, I used to watch fireworks from the edge of my townhome complex every Friday night when they would burst in vibrant color over the baseball stadium. Loud pops of color would shoot through the night sky in blues, reds, purples, and the shimmery ones that crackled as they came down were my favorite! This week on Cooking Class Hero, we decided that we would be remiss if we didn't do something patriotic. I decided to make something reminiscent of those fireworks that remind me of home. The brilliant colors bring to life everything I miss about summers back home and bring promises of all the wonderful memories I plan to make in the firework-less town I now call home :)

Walking Tacos

Portable food has always been the coolest form of food for me. I mean seriously, why would I have pizza in actual pizza form when I can grab a bag of little mini pizza rolls and pop them in my mouth while I walk to the park? Or why would I have a slice of cake when I can grab a little cup full of the same stuff maybe even with a fun surprise filling in the middle? Portable food is my favorite kind of food, so the only surprise here is how long it's taken me to make these!

S'mores Cookie Cups

Hi guys! This week I'm coming at you with a recipe from... 9 hours ago! It's true, this week I was so awful in procrastinating I didn't pick a recipe until 11 am. I must say though, I picked an awesome one! It was a toss up between these and a trial recipe that someone suggested a few days ago. Unfortunately I was a little slow to start this morning and sat on Reddit for entirely way too long, so my time constraint decided on these amazing S'mores Cookie Cups! I promise they are every bit as delicious as they sound ;)

Black Bean Burgers

Do these look amazing, or do they look amazing? Because I think they look amazing :) These black bean burgers were seriously good, and I'll be honest, I was really surprised! I've always heard that black bean burgers are fantastic, but the thought of a burger without any meat was honestly just a huge turnoff. But, I had a can of black beans that I just had no clue what to do with, so I figured now was as good a time as any! Being that it's super low calorie while still being tasty and super easy on my wallet, I think we'll be going vegetarian Saturday nights from now on!

No Bake Birthday Cake Truffles

I made these Saturday night, and by the time I left work on Monday, they were mostly gone. Keeping in mind that this batch made 34 truffles, and my department is only 4 people, that can only mean that word spread quickly around the building and goodness gracious do people love their birthday cake! Needless to say, by the end of the day I was one popular lady at work ;)

Homemade Greek Pita Bread

Doesn't that look delicious? I assure you it was every bit as chewy and tasty as this picture makes it look. I didn't have it in a very traditional way, but if ever I had a sudden hankering for pita, this is the recipe I'm going to from now on! It's so quick and easy, it tastes like you spent hours over it!