Cranes on the Brain

So as of today we are one month from our wedding date!  YAY!  The last several months have been very stressful and more than anything I want to be married to the love of my life (being done with the planning will be a big bonus). 
During these months there has been a LOT of work done on origami cranes.  We have now folded somewhere between 900 and 1000 cranes, and are in the process of stringing up about 960 of those to hang in the windows of the church where our ceremony and reception will take place.  As much of a pain in the butt they have been, they look beautiful!

When we are done with the wedding we will be donating these beauties to a worthy cause disguised as an eye catching art project.  A wedding planner out of Toronto, Canada is creating a "Crane Chandelier" for their wedding show in January of 2011.  They are collecting 10,000 cranes from engaged and newly married couples all over the world.  For each crane received they will donate 50 cents to cancer research.  If you have any interest in checking it out here is the link.

Every Mom Should Have a Meatloaf

As my first blog post I wanted to share my very favorite recipe.
This meatloaf is easy and absolutely delicious!  The key is the topping, I have listed the amount of ingredients that I use for our meatloaf.  My family always wants extra topping with their meatloaf.  If yours is not interested in extra sauce just cut the topping ingredient amounts in half and put all of the mixture on the meatloaf.

Munchkinsmama's Meatloaf

Meatloaf Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs. Ground Beef
3/4 Cup Uncooked Rolled Oats
3/4 Cup Ketchup
2 Eggs
1 Envelope Onion Soup Mix

Meatloaf Topping Ingredients:
1 Cup Ketchup
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup Worcestershire Sauce
2 tsp. Yellow Mustard


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.  Mix the rolled outs and onion soup mix together making sure that all the chunks in the soup are broken up.  Add the remaining meatloaf ingredients (not the topping ingredients) and mix until thoroughly combined.  Place mixture in a 9x13 pan and press into a loaf shape in the center of the pan.  Bake for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, combine the topping ingredients in a separate bowl.  Mix well with a fork.  Mix well to avoid lumps of brown sugar in your mixture.
After your meatloaf has baked for 30 minutes remove from the oven and spread about half of the topping mixture over it and reserve the other half for later.  Return it to the oven and bake for another 30 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees.  Let the meatloaf stand for about 5 minutes before slicing.  Serve with extra topping if desired.

I hope that your family enjoys this meatloaf recipe as much as mine does.