MY FAVORITE AUTHOR ELIZABETH BERG'S KILLER BABY MEATLOAVES AND LEAVING ON A JET PLANE!

FIRST of all, I'm going to start this post by telling you what an absolute IDIOT I am---really and truly. See, I've been snap snap snapping away with my camera for months now, not having a clue that the images I was capturing were WAY, WAY too big. Friends and relatives were complaining that photos I sent them were crashing their computers, and everytime I wanted to do a new blog post, it took me,  like, 45 minutes to download photos for it! Duh! Here's something that smart people always do: Read the user's manual. I guess I was using 4000 pixels (whatever the HELL pixels are!), instead of the more computer friendly 1024 pixels. I'm so glad I got this all figured out; it seriously only took about 10 seconds to download today's photos--blogging is going to be so much more fun! Yahoo! I'm also glad I figured this out before our vacation, because I plan on shooting lots of great photos to share with you upon my return........

Speaking of VACATION--this will be my last blog post until about the 27th of this month, because we're SO outa here! Spending a week in Vegas--we've already got the nightclubs and restaurants pegged that we want to indulge in. My parents, the King and Queen of Vegas, will be joining us for a few days of Blackjack and slot machines. Well, actually they'll be doing that--Big Daddy and I don't gamble, at all--we'll just hang out and watch them and sip Gin and Tonics! SO looking forward to doing some hiking out at Red Rock Canyon,  checking out the new City Center and lounging by the pool at the Wynn Encore Hotel.  At the tail end of our trip, we're heading to California to see our daughter and our family, and are staying at the amazing Claremont Hotel, which is close to the UC Berkeley campus. Big Daddy and I are really looking forward to spending a few days running around San Francisco, just about our favorite spot in the universe.

So I'm spending the next couple of days packing and cleaning and getting ready for our pet sitter. But before I go, I really wanted to share these Killer Baby Meatloaves with you--they're made with lowfat ground turkey, so they're actually quite lean and healthy. They are from the blog of my favorite author, Elizabeth Berg.  Meatloaf is such a great comfort food that can usually be made with ingredients you have in your pantry. These mini-meatloaves are very simple to make; perfect for your busiest of days, and the sauce? Well, it's TO DIE FOR!

First thing you'll do is mix up your ground turkey, bread crumbs, lemon juice, chopped onion, egg, seasoning salt, oregano and Worchestershire sauce. I always use the kitchen's best tools to do this, my hands! And remember, with any meatloaf recipe it's so important to not over-mix the ingredients--that'll make your meatloaf tough:

Yes, you read correctly--you will be using lemon juice in this recipe, plus 6 lemon slices. But don't worry, you don't eat the lemon slices when the meatloaves are done--they're just a garnish! I always get so excited to use my new lemon-juicer; especially valuable to me with my bad hands these days:

Form your meatloaf mixture into 6 mini loaves and place in a greased baking dish:

Now for the Killer sauce: Mix together catsup, Worchestershire sauce, brown sugar, and allspice. Pour over meatloaves, then add a slice of lemon to each loaf. Admire how cute they are:

Bake and serve. I found some beautiful asparagus to serve on the side. Such a yummy and healthy dinner!:

And don't forget your glass of milk, girls, to wash it all down!:

Here's the recipe:

KILLER BABY MEATLOAVES

Serves 3-4

1 1 / 2 lb. ground turkey

2 cups bread crumbs (I made my own, but you don't have to)

1 /4 cup lemon juice

1 / 4 cup chopped onion (red or white)

1 egg, lightly beaten

2 tsp. seasoning salt (I used Lawry's)

1 tsp. dried oregano

2 tblsp. Worchestershire sauce

Sauce:

1 /2 cup catsup

1 / 3 cup brown sugar

1 tblsp. Worchestershire sauce

1 / 4 cup allspice

Garnish:

6 lemon slices

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix first 8 ingredients together and form into six little loaves. Put loaves into a lightly greased 9 x 13 inch baking pan. Mix sauce ingredients together and pour evenly over meatloaves. Top each loaf with a lemon slice. Bake for 45 minutes.

TODAY I'M GRATEFUL FOR:

* The green grass outside of my office window--as I type this, there are little red robins, hopping about searching for worms!

* The fresh scent outside after the rain

*The opportunity to travel with my husband and family. I am so blessed!