What I've Learned About Making Mistakes

One of the most important things I've learned from cooking is that it's ok to make mistakes. In fact, sometimes you can even make a dish better by doing something wrong! When I first started cooking, I was SO afraid of messing up that I would actually toss entire dishes out cuz I added a wrong ingredient! I would read a recipe over and over again just to make sure that I don't miss a single step or measurement. Nowadays, I'm much more comfortable in the kitchen and have learned some tricks to "fix" my mistakes or make substitutions. Tonight's dinner was a great example! When I first saw this recipe for Meatloaf Pie, I immediately knew I wanted to make it. I checked that I had all the ingredients, including the Evaporated Milk, and told Greg that I was making it for dinner! So what went wrong, you ask? My Carnation Evaporated Milk came in a can of 12oz NOT the 5oz called for in the recipe. I didn't notice and added the whole can. WHOOPS! The mixture was VERY wet and I knew something was wrong. The thought of tossing the whole thing out and making pizza did come to mind but I REALLY wanted Meatloaf Pie. So what did I do? I improvised by adding another cup of breadcrumbs and it totally worked! The breadcrumbs soaked up a lot of the liquid making it the right consistency again. The pie came out moist and totally delicious! This is the perfect meatloaf recipe on a weeknight cuz it only takes 30 minutes to bake up instead of the usual hour. I also really liked the cheesy ketchup layer on top!