Happy New Year! Can you believe it is 2018 already? It hardly seems like another year has passed, and yet so much has happened. I was sealed to my sweetheart in the Bountiful temple, my sweet brother passed away, I finished some professional development, and now my mother has come to live with me in Utah. There were many sad times and a lot of happy times. Most of all, there was lots of good food.
New Years Resolutions
Like everyone else, I have lots of goals that I’d like to accomplish in 2018. I kinda fell off the wagon with what I was eating and drinking. I didn’t gain much weight, just a bit, but enough that I’m not happy with the choices I’ve made. This year I need to tighten my eating back up and get back to the gym. Professionally, I want to make more of my blog so you can expect lots of awesome (healthy) recipes coming this year.
To start off, I’ve quit caffeine and soda…again. Two weeks so far. I used my time off of work for the holidays and the time I was in the U-haul moving my mom to detox. It wasn’t easy. Still isn’t. But now it isn’t physical withdrawals that I fight. Now I just struggle with the psychological desire for the act and enjoyment of Coke Zero. Within two days, my skin began to clear. I’ve lost a pound (WAHOO!) already and I’ll continue it. I’ve replaced the caffeine with lots of water, Powerade Zero, Crystal Light and an occasional Diet A&W Rootbeer.
E-Z Sous Vide Meals For Busy Families
This is the first recipe in a series that I’m doing on meals that you can prep ahead for easy dinners. So easy. So delicious. I’ll be covering a lot of these over this month and the next few months. I hope you’ll enjoy this series. I know I need it in my life.
One thing I have to work on constantly is how to cook for my family with my incredibly busy schedule. Bulk preparing food on Saturday is mandatory and I want to share a few recipes over the next few weeks that will help you to become masters at bulk preparation.
Sous vide cooking makes bulk prep so easy. I can come home from Costco (where I get the majority of my meat) and season, brown, and package my food in short order. I’m not a huge fan of reheated meat, so I don’t cook them all at once. If I’m going to cook them in the next few days, I’ll keep them in the fridge. However, cooking from frozen is so easy and keeps food fresh if plans change. Often, I’ll just freeze the meals, then pop them in the water.
Sous Vide Meatloaf
What is the benefit of a sous vide meatloaf? First, it doesn’t overcook. I know my Nana used to make meatloaf that was dryer than sawdust. She grew up with many brothers and sisters during the depression and they survived on meatloaf because they could stretch it. But cooking was not Nana’s strong suit and we would eat her meatloaf at least once a month when we visited her weekly for dinner. Grandpa would bemoan that it was time for the “Terry Special”. I think she’d be pleased that I carry on the tradition, and the fact that it is enjoyable to eat now.
Second, I can prepare the meatloaf and put them into individual serving bread pans, freeze them, then cook them in batches – bringing an individual serving to lunch at work. High protein, low carb with the grated parmesan cheese, and full of flavor this is one of my favorite lunches. If you aren’t low carb, may I suggest a meatloaf sandwich? Another favorite use of leftover meatloaf, especially after it has cooled for a day in the fridge.
| Prep Time | 15 minutes |
| Cook Time | 3 hours |
| Passive Time | 3 hours |
| Servings |
servings
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- 6 ounces garlic-flavored croutons replace with parmesan cheese for low carb
- 1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 5 cloves whole crushed garlic
- 1/2 red bell pepper small diced
- 1 whole onion small diced
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
- 1/2 pound diced bacon
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup catsup
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- Dash Worcestershire sauce
- Dash hot pepper sauce
- 1 tablespoon honey
Ingredients
For the meatloaf
For the glaze:
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- Preheat the water bath to 149F.
- In a large skillet, place the oil in a pan and heat on high until it shimmers. Add the onion, garlic, and red pepper in the pan and sauté until tender.
- In a food processor bowl, combine croutons, black pepper, cayenne pepper, chili powder, and thyme. Pulse until the mixture is of a fine texture. Place this mixture into a large bowl. Combine the vegetable mixture, ground beef and bacon with the bread crumb mixture. Season the meat mixture with the kosher salt. Add the egg and combine thoroughly, but avoid squeezing the meat.
- Loosely pack this mixture into a 10-inch loaf pan lined with parchment paper. Still in the pan, place the meatloaf in a large Foodsaver bag and vacuum seal it or in a large gallon ziplock and use the displacement method to get the air out. Sink into the water bath and cook for 2.5 - 3 hours. For a frozen 10 inch loaf pan, add another 1 hour to the cooking time.
- Preheat the oven to 350F
- Combine the catsup, cumin, Worcestershire sauce, hot pepper sauce and honey.
- Pull the meatloaf out of the water and run a knife around the edge of the pan. Dry the surface of the meat with a paper towel. Brush the glaze onto the meatloaf
- Caramelize the glaze in the oven for 10 minutes at 350F. Once it is nice and caramelized, pull the meatloaf back out and give it another dose of glaze. Serve immediately.
How many carbs per serving if you don’t use the breadcrumbs?
Great question – If you add 6 oz of parmesan cheese (or pulverized pork rinds) and leave out the honey from the glaze, you get 10.3g carbs, 5.9 of which are from sugar. I do this regularly.
Rachel, is the bacon pre-cooked before adding to the meat mixture?
Mine was pre-cooked from breakfast that morning. However, I have many times just cut up raw bacon and cooked it at the same time. You are looking for the smokey bacony flavor, not crispness. In fact, if you don’t want to use it, just leave it out. 🙂
Thank you. I made it tonight (Keto). It was very good and my family loved it.
That’s awesome Andrea! I’m glad it worked well for you. I need to get back to Keto… (as I chew on a candy bar *sigh*)
I know the feeling, when you’re busy it’s hard to stay focused. Every morning I start with “today’s the day, I’m starting Keto again” by the end of day I’ve fallen off the Keto train.
One word: WOW! This was amazing Rachel. The recipe is fantastic, as is the glaze recipe. This was very easy to make. Your instructions were excellent. I had no issues at all. I actually prepared my meatloaf such that it finished a few hours before I was serving it. I then baked it in the oven at the 350 for 30 minutes to make sure that it was heated through. I then broiled it to bubble up the glaze (I think I put it on too heavy). It was very moist, not drying out, even after baking in the oven. This is definitely a recipe that will join the rotation. I might even have to buy some mini loaf pans to make and freeze small ones and batch cook them! Awesome! Thank you so much. Your blog is great!
This makes me so happy to hear. I always keep extra glaze on the side to dip cuz I’m obsessed.
One question: the meat is cooking inside the bag with the pan’s metal. Mine has been used in other things so there’s always that little rusted edge. Am I missing something about separating the meat from the pan? I don’t know that I want metal rust or other metal taste in my meatloaf. I apologize if this is a dumb question, just wondering…
Not a dumb question at all. Obviously, you are going to want to keep any rust away from your food. However, the water doesn’t touch the meat because it is in the bag so it won’t encourage rust – use a clean non-rusted pan. Glass pans are great too. Normally meatloaf is cooked in a pan like this turned out from a pan onto a cookie sheet. In the end, it is fine. 🙂
Also – a hint with bread pans. You wash them, then put them in the oven at 200F to dry them out.
Your recipe looks great. Question about the pan. When cooking in the bag, isn’t the pan all greasy when it comes out of the bag? Are you removing from the pan to caramelize the glaze or keeping it in the same pan? Thanks!