Lunch with Friends

I've mentioned before that I rarely go out for lunch.  If I'm working there is no way to stop, eat and start again.  If I'm not working then many of the people I know are working so that's out.  I also do tend to get involved in things like baking, quilting, etc. 

Everything aligned correctly today and I met some friends for lunch.  One friend will be moving shortly, his wife is being transferred to Kentucky and one friend I haven't seen for a while, she has been fighting some serious health issues.  Lunch was great.  My female friend looks good if a bit thin and sounds good.  She chose the restaurant, only fair since she hasn't even been able to leave the house.

We went to Tanaka a Japanese restaurant in Roswell on Alpharetta Highway.  It's a small place but the good was great.  They have teriyaki, sushi, sashimi, tempura and specials.  I got a combination box that came with salad, soup, tempura and sashimi.  Excellent!  All the meals were beautifully presented and everyone was happy.   They serve dinner also, I will go back.

I got home and after checking email and the phone, I decided that the dust in the living room needed to be dealt with.  I turned on the tv while dusting and Oprah was on.  The show had 3 celebrity chefs, that I like, going to regular family homes to help families eat better for less money. 

A good show, I agree with what was shown and even if I am not a celebrity with my own show, would love to work with anyone that needs menu planning advice and cooking lessons.  You really can save money by planning meals and cooking.  If you need help, or if you have friends that need help, let me know! 

I've been cooking out of the freezer, using up what's there and I've been trying to use ground meat every week.  I love burgers and spaghetti sauce but there are more recipes out there.  When we buy our meat we buy 40 pounds at a time.  Half of that is made up of steaks and roasts and half ground beef. 

Tonight we had meat loaf and we both thought it was excellent.  Very simple, basic meatloaf with good flavor and fast cooking time. 

 Mini Meat Loaves from Cooking Light January 2003

• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1 pound ground sirloin
• 3/4 cup finely chopped onion
• 1/4 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Combine ketchup and mustard, stirring well with a whisk.  Reserve 2 1/2 tablespoons mixture. 
3. Combine remaining ketchup mixture, beef and next 6 ingredients (beef through egg) in a large bowl, stirring to combine.
4. Divide beef mixture into 4 equal portions.  Shape each portion into a 4x2 1/2 inch loaf;place loaves on a jelly roll pan coated with cooking spray.
5. Spread about 2 teaspoons reserved ketchup mixture evenly over each loaf.  Bake at 400 degress for 25 minutes or until done. 

I only made one change, I used a cookie sheet and covered it with foil and then coated it with cooking spray.  Much easier after dinner cleanup!  We now have 2 left for dinner maybe Saturday. 

I haven't done any sewing for a couple days.  I needed a bigger cutting mat and went and purchased that after lunch.  Maybe tomorrow I'll cut some borders and get them on my sampler quilt.  Here is the sampler quilt with the first set of borders.