I’m an avid reader of cookbooks and food magazines and as of late, have noticed a trend in getting “back to the basics” when it comes to preparing meals for the family.   Not only are homespun foods comforting, especially during these cold winter months, but cheaper to prepare.

To that end, I’m concentrating on finding some recipes to share this week reminiscent of down-home foods our mothers and grandmothers used to make. 

Since I’m a lover of meatloaf, I found a recipe that’s made much the same way I make it, other than instead of using bread crumbs as I do, it calls for nutritious oats.

The menu seldom varies when I serve meatloaf — salad, mashed potatoes and a green vegetable, usually peas.  And if there are leftovers, one can look forward to those yummy meatloaf sandwiches!

Meatloaf

• 1 ½ pounds lean ground beef

• 1 ½ cups quick-cooking oats

• ¾ cup milk

• 1 egg

• 1 small onion, chopped

• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

• ¾ teaspoon salt

• ½ teaspoon dry mustard

• ¼ teaspoon pepper

• 1/3 cup ketchup or barbecue sauce

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix all ingredients except ketchup.  Spread in ungreased loaf pan, 9 x 5 x 3-inches.  Bake uncovered 1 to 1 ¼ hours, spooning ketchup over top of meat loaf during last 15 minutes of baking, until done.

8 servings.

Chicken is a pretty good buy right now and even better, most people like it.  Several years ago, I shared a chicken recipe with my brother from a cookbook titled the “Best of the Best from Idaho Cookbook.”

I made the Extra Good Chicken recipe once shortly after I received the cookbook and liked it, but like many recipes through the years, filed it away and forgot about it.

In an email over the weekend, my brother noted he’d taken the dish to a church potluck and it was a big hit.

I dug the cookbook out last night and decided it was one worthy of sharing with readers.

Extra Good Chicken

“Idaho Cook Book” by Janet Walker of Golden West Publishers Inc.

• 8 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

• 8 thin slices Swiss or mozzarella cheese

• 1 10-1/2 ounce can cream of chicken soup

• dash Kitchen Bouquet

• 1/4 cup water

• 1 6-ounce package stuffing mix

• 1/4 cup butter, melted

Place breasts in greased 9 x 13-inch pan and top each with a slice of cheese.  Combine soup, Kitchen Bouquet and water.  Pour over chicken.  Toss stuffing mix and seasoning packet with butter.  Sprinkle over chicken breasts.  Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.  Remove cover; continue to bake an additional

Weather may become a factor as the day wears on. Keep an eye out for tomorrow’s prep roundup to find out who played and who delayed.

See you on the sidelines!

The campus has been closed all day, but the Aggies and Vandals are going to do their best impression of the post office, going through with their game despite the weather.

Brave the conditions and come on out. After a not so inspiring outing on Saturday, I expect Idaho to come out with a lot more focus and energy.

I wish I could report that my holiday vacation was fun and relaxing, but my time off was far from ideal.  For starters, was unable to spend Christmas in Spokane because of road conditions and from the looks of things, may not be making it to the Lilac City before spring.

I had intended to post a few recipes during that time, but major computer problems made that impossible.  Hopefully, those problems are solved and life will become a bit easier.

Being home bound for the past couple of weeks gave me an opportunity to peruse cookbooks and since the economy continues to be a nightmare, kept my eye open for economic recipes that are easy to prepare for those who have a limited amount of time to spare in the kitchen.

I am sharing a recipe today from an old Ladies’ Home Journal Cookbook titled, “East as 1-2-3:  Family Favorites Cookbook.”  It focuses on “homey meals that taste as if they took hours to prepare.”

I have made the pork chop dish listed below and it is very tasty.

Normandy Pork Chops

• 1 tablespoon salad oil

• 8 thin pork chops

• ½ cup frozen chopped onion

• ¾ teaspoon salt

• 1 cup apple cider or juice, divided

• 4 unpeeled apples, cored and cut into wedges

• 1 tablespoon cornstarch

• chopped parsley

In large skillet heat salad oil.  Brown pork chops; remove.  Add onion; sauté 2 minutes.  Return chops to skillet and sprinkle with salt.  Add ¾ cup cider or juice.  Top with apple wedges.  Cover and simmer 15 minutes.

Dissolve cornstarch in remaining ¼ cup cider.  Transfer chops and apples to serving dish.  Stir cornstarch mixture into skillet.  Bring to a boil; cook 1 minute, stirring.  Pour sauce over chops.  Sprinkle with chopped parsley.

Serves 4.

The Vandal men rocked Saturday night, beating Nevada in Reno and picking  up a crucial conference win on the road.

It was a fabulous win for first-year coach Don Verlin and his squad.

If possible, things will be even tougher tonight as the men take on Utah State in Logan. It’s the first time in 10 years that Verlin will be in the visitor’s locker room, and he admitted before the road trip that it’s going to be a strange game for him.

He has a lot of good friends in Logan, and he also knows first-hand just how difficult it is for visitors to pick up a win  there.

Idaho enters with momentum and mojo, and how cool would it be if they came home 2-0 in conference play?

Tipoff is 6 p.m.PST.

Neither Vandal team is going to win every game this season, but both teams have improved drastically and both are entertaining. They push the ball up the floor. they play solid defense and they work together. Win or lose, they are fun to watch.

I know it’s snowy, cold, wet, and generally miserable outside, but brave the conditions and head to Cowan Spectrum this Saturday to watch the Idaho women take on Boise State at 2 p.m. On Monday the Vandals host Utah State at 7 p.m.

The Idaho men are on the road at Utah State and Nevada, and won’t be home until Jan. 8, when they host Hawaii. Don’t forget about them.

The students aren’t back yet, which means fans from the Palouse are needed more than ever.

Give the Vandals a chance. You won’t be disappointed.

The cold could have a little to do with sitting through the second coldest game in Denver Broncos history on Dec. 21. It was well worth it as the Buffalo Bills survived to pull off a rare victory. Of course they returned to the normal form on Sunday, losing to the Pats 13-0.

While I was gone, it looks like the WSU men’s basketball team lost a tough game to LSU. Today, Coach Tony Bennett seemed to be proud of the way his team played for the most part, but not how they played in the final three minutes of the game when they committed six turnovers and allowed the Tigers to roll off an 11-0 run.

For more on the Cougars’ struggles check out my article in Wednesday’s paper. I also will have a preview of Pac-10 play in the coming days.

Idaho doesn’t play well on the road (they are 1-5 away from Moscow), and the Bengals have played a pretty tough nonconference schedule this year, so it’s hard to know what to expect.

The Vandal women lost to Portland last night in their final nonconference game, and it wasn’t pretty, at least in the first half. However, the Vandals showed they have grown up enough to battle even when they are down.

They didn’t win, but they put together a solid second half and forced Portland to really earn the victory.

Next week WAC play begins and I’m excited.

Both Idaho teams are playing much better than last year, and what I like best from both teams is their desire to win.

In the past it seemed like both teams were only hoping to play well. Now both are expecting to win and it’s fun to see.

The WAC season is going to be tough, but that’s great. I’m ready to get rolling.

And finally, hats off to La. Tech. The Bulldogs defeated Northern Illinois in the Independence Bowl on Sunday, giving the WAC its first bowl win of the season.