Yum Peaceful Cooking: Turkey Cupcakes or Meatloaf Muffins?

Monday, November 1, 2010

Turkey Cupcakes or Meatloaf Muffins?


What does a food blogger, obsessed with baking and cooking person do when the kitchen is out of commission?

She goes insane.

Thank God it was temporary. (both the out of commission kitchen and the insanity)

My sink had a leak. Well, more like a gush. A pipe under the sink separated and instead of going out to the main drain and off to the water plant, all that water just ended up on the floor. Did I mention that I had a kitchen full of dirty dishes when this happened? This was Friday night and the plumber didn't consider it an emergency (ya, I know it's not a toilet....but it's my SINK!! I can't cook without the use of my sink, don't you understand? This is what my weekends are all about.....what am I going to do?) and wasn't coming out until Monday.

No cooking. No baking. No playing in the kitchen. No playing with my food. Which leads to said temporary insanity.

So I went to Trader Joes (and Santoro's Subs, and Steve's Charbroil Burgers, and Starbucks) for some food. One of the items that caught my eye in the freezer section was a box of ground turkey patties, topped with spinach and mashed potatoes. It looked really good so I bought it. I haven't re-heated cooked them yet and probably won't at this point (I'll leave them for the kids....I'm not much into spinach. So why did I get them? Good photography on the box.) but they left such an impression on my little semi-culinary mind.

I came home today from work and what did I find? A fixed sink and almost all of the dishes had been clean!! Omg...Sir Sportsalot made up for some of other things that happened over the weekend that I won't go into....yep...he does dishes. (more than I do, if you want to know the truth)

Woooo Hooooo.....I started doing the happy dance!! Defrosted some ground turkey, poured myself a glass of chardonnay and started on my own version of Trader Joe's Turkey Meatloaf Muffins.

It's really simple. I'm not giving out recipes here....just a few links and a really awesome idea on what to do with some already existing recipes.

Mix up a batch of turkey meatloaf....or what ever you're favorite recipe is for meatloak....beef, turkey...whatever. I basically used the same recipe for Turkey Meatballs

Preheat your oven to 375', and grease 12 muffins tins. Divide the turkey mixture  evenly among the tins. Sprinkle with some extra seasoning; black pepper and paprika


Bake for about 25 - 30 minutes, or until thoroughly cooked.

Get some Pesto. I had picked up a bunch of basil at the store yesterday so I made some fresh Garlic and Basil Pesto.

Make your favorite mashed potatoes. And start layering, and garnishing.



This is some seriously good stuff. It's like comfort food on another level....all in one bite.

And the veggie on the side? I peeled a zucchini with a wide potato peeler and did a quick saute in some butter, olive oil and garlic....with a little dash of black pepper.


Don't you just love playing in the kitchen? Especially when you've been deprived for 3 days!!!

Btw, I happen to have cupcakes on the brain. In a big way. You see...there's this really cool event happening here in Los Angeles on November 20 called Cupcake Camp LA and I'm going to be there. It's a charity event and I'm bringing cupcakes. Lots of cupcakes. 100 or more to be exact, more or less. Yep, I've signed up as an amateur baker participant and am so very excited!


The event is sponsored by BakeSpace.com. If you're going to be in the area and you like cupcakes, or you like supporting non profits, then stop on by and say hello!

This is my entry this week into the Hearth and Soul Blog Hop....what isn't more yum for the soul than comfort made fun

hearthandsoulgirlichef


13 comments:

  1. I'm glad you got your sink fixed! These cupcakes are adorable! I made a version of these once but I used sweet potatoes on top. I love your idea with the pesto!

    I bet Cupcake Camp will be a blast! :)

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  2. yippie on getting the sink fixed!!
    I love your idea!
    How exciting to be going to the cupcake camp! It should be a blast!

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  3. I am soo jealous of you going to Cupcake Camp! Babs had better plan a NYC version :)

    And I love meatloaf muffins! I do one with bacon and BBQ sauce and a blue cheese center. Yours look so good!

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  4. Too funny, great minds think alike! Love your turkey cupcakes!! :)

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  5. Great with the sink fixed! Caupcake Camp sounds fantastic and bet it's a lot of fun!

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  6. What a wonderful idea!!!!Love the presentation. Great for kids!

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  7. I love your muffin/meatloaf/cupcakes. I like the pesto instead of spinach too - great change up! You must have cupcakes on the brain! What a great event you will be participating in! thanks for sharing this with us at the hearth and soul hop!

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  8. Danibanani! I So knew, even before I came to your spot, by looking at the thumbnail that I was going to share this recipe on the hearth and soul hop recipe highlights this friday at a moderate life. I am SOOOO gonna make these for my kids, but since they don't like pesto, I will put a layer of cheese on with bacon "sprinkles!" LOL I love it! Thanks for sharing on the hearth and soul hop this week. Glad your sink is better and your sportie man does dishes--mine does too! Alex@amoderatelife

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  9. These look fabulous! I like 'Meatloaf Muffins'!

    Glad to hear your kitchen is up and running agin... it is HELL when I can't cook. It's fun getting take out for the first meal and then I'm over it!

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  10. Wow, this is quite something! I love the idea, I only eat turkey meatloaf or meatballs, we all love mashed potatoes, and well, pesto--I still even have some basil in the garden. Your photo is great, too!

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  11. Those turkey cupcakes sound just delicious, and they look gorgeous! Speaking of cupcakes, how wonderful to be going to a cupcake camp and for such good causes too. Have a wonderful time!

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  12. These are so cute! I love how your topped them. Now I'm in the mood for turkey meatloaf!

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  13. Yours is the third recipe I have seen for these meatloaf cupcakes, love the addition of the pesto, very nice, really dresses them up, thanks!

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