HASHBROWN/MEATLOAF/RED CINNAMON PICKLES RECIPES

Well the hash brown recipe that I mentioned in yesterdays post, was delicious!  AND EASY!  I put it in the oven and set my oven to come on while we were at church and we came home...dinner was ready...meatloaf and the hash brown casserole.  It was so good.  So...here is the hash brown recipe. 

Jalapeno and Cream cheese Hash brown Bake

1 (26 oz) package frozen hash browns
2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1 (4oz) can diced jalapenos

Mix sour cream, cream cheese, and jalapenos together in a 9 x 13 inch baking dish. 

Add hash browns and mix. 

Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes. 

I used fresh jalapenos as I had some from our garden.  Even at that I chop jalapenos and freeze them and have them on hand all of the time. 

I added onion too as for my husband he insists EVERYTHING have onion!  Just before taking it from the oven...I sprinkled cheese on it and baked it until the cheese was melted and lightly browned! 

My son and my husband LOVED IT!  I will make this again real soon!   HUGE HIT

For my meatloaf I put a layer of the meat mixture in the bottom of my loaf pan, put a layer of sliced cheese (careful not to get to the edge) and then covered with a layer of the meat mixture.    Came out like stuffed meatloaf!  Think I'm gonna try spinach leaves with cheese on top next time.  I also add some of our homemade horseradish for a little "bite" and some (a little or a lot depending on your tastes) jalapeno, chopped!  Put cheese on top of it when it was almost done and browned the cheese.  YUMMMMMMY. 

Red Cinnamon Pickles

7 pounds peeled, seeded cucumbers in strips
1 cup lime
1 gallon water
1 cup vinegar
1 bottle red food coloring
1 tablespoon alum
Enough water to cover pickles
3 cups vinegar
2 cups water
10 cups granulated sugar
2 to 3 large packages Red Hots cinnamon candies (see NOTE)
8 sticks cinnamon

Soak cucumbers, lime and 1 gallon water for 24 hours.

Wash cucumbers. Soak in ice water for 3 hours. Mix 1 cup vinegar, food coloring, alum and enough water to cover pickles. Simmer in this mixture 2 hours.

Pour off liquid and throw away. Boil 3 cups vinegar, 2 cups water, sugar, candies and cinnamon. Pour over cucumbers. Let stand 24 hours.

Drain liquid and bring to boil. Put cucumbers into jars with 1 to 2 sticks cinnamon in each jar. Pour hot liquid over jars and seal.

NOTE:   DO NOT use red hots candy that lists cornstarch as an ingredients. They will not work for this recipes.

So.....I had made up meatloaf from 5 lbs of hamburger.  Knowing that my son loves meatloaf.  I thought we were going to have 8 or 10 others for lunch, so was worried I wouldn't have enough!  Silly me.  Only Levi and Brooke and us for lunch!  So....we have leftovers.  Sent some home with Levi. 

I also made cauliflower for our veggie.  Was going to add Broccoli, but found out that we didn't have any!  So we had cauliflower with cheese sauce.  So our menu was as follows:  Cheesy meatloaf/Cream cheese Jalapeno hash brown bake/Cauliflower with cheese sauce/red cinnamon pickles/bread and butter pickles/tea/fresh peaches with cream for dessert!