Easy "Back-to-School"

I know that August doesn't officially begin for a few days, but I've already started getting excited about Back to School "season". Don't get me wrong...I love my children, but long for school days to escape their boredom and resentment at "having nothing to do" in the house (it is, after all, 104 degrees outside!). They do , in fact, have plenty to do to keep them busy such as tons of toys, art and craft supplies and cleaning their rooms (yuck!). They just don't WANT to because they've been doing all these things most of the summer, except the cleaning bit. So we've been frequenting the local community water parks, the Museum of Science and History, and the dollar movies - but even these get old after the umpteenth visit .
Therefore, I'm excited about shopping for school supplies, registering for fall activities and trying new recipes to cook in a hurry on the nights we have to run around to all those above mentioned activities!

I'd love to share all of the great Back to School recipes and ideas that we find in this series!

In fact, just this week I picked up my copy of the Back to School Special Issue of All You magazine and found some great ideas I can't wait to get started on! It's loaded with recipes for weeknight dinners and great kids lunches, meal prep ideas, saving on school shopping, you name it....

To start off, I thought I would share one of my girls' favorite recipes that we came across in a Taste of Home Back to School mini-magazine a couple of years ago, Mini Cheddar Meatloaves. These are so easy to throw together and I've even made a double batch and frozen a second pan for later several times.

Mini Cheddar Meatloaves

1 egg
¾ cup milk

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

½ cup quick cooking oats

½ cup chopped sweet yellow onion

1 tsp salt

1 lb ground beef chuck

Topping:

2/3 cup ketchup

½ cup packed brown sugar
1 ½ tsp yellow mustard

In a large bowl, beat the egg and milk. Stir in cheese, oats, onion and salt.

Add beef and mix well.

Shape into 8 loaves and place in a greased 13x9

baking dish. 

Combine ketchup, brown sugar and mustard and spoon over loaves.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Makes 8 servings.

I'll keep adding more recipes and ideas for Back to School, feel free to share any of your ideas or tips to make Back to School fun and stress free!