Post-Thanksgiving. The leftovers followed Mom's protocol: turkey sandwiches, turkey soup, stuffing waffles. The cornbread became cornbread pudding (a new Rachel invention — leftover cornbread cubed, soaked in a custard of eggs, milk, sugar, and vanilla, baked until set. It's bread pudding's Southern cousin and it's extraordinary).
Waste nothing. Cook everything. The Donna doctrine, applied to Thanksgiving leftovers in the Mojave Desert.
The anatomy scan is next week. Twenty weeks. Halfway. We'll find out if Caleb is getting a brother or a sister. Ryan wants a girl ('One of each — balanced'). Caleb wants a dinosaur (he doesn't understand the assignment). I want healthy. Just healthy.
The book ARCs are being shipped to reviewers this month. Clara sent me the list: food bloggers, military spouse publications, a few mainstream media outlets. The book is about to be read by people who are not my mother, my husband, or my best friend. Professional readers. Critical readers. People who might not like it.
'They'll like it,' Clara says.
'How do you know?'
'Because it's honest. And honest is the only thing that works.'
Honest. Professor Kim said that. Dr. Marin said that. Mom said that (in her way — 'don't lie about the onion soup mix' is Donna's version of 'be honest').
I've been writing more RecipeSpinoff posts — the four per month is sustainable now that the nausea is gone and the energy is back. The second trimester energy is REAL. I'm cooking, writing, photographing, and chasing a three-year-old with the vigor of someone who has been lying down for three months and has THINGS TO DO.
This week's RecipeSpinoff post: 'The Recipe Binder: Why Every Cook Needs One.' A practical guide to starting a recipe binder — how to choose recipes, how to organize them, how to write cards that include not just ingredients but stories. The post references Mom's binder throughout. The binder is in the book. The binder is on the blog. The binder is everywhere.
Made Mom's chicken and dumplings tonight. The default. The comfort. The recipe that means 'something is ending and something is beginning.'
The dumplings were perfect. They're always perfect now.
Something is ending (the pregnancy's first half). Something is beginning (the baby's second half). The dumplings know.
Mom’s chicken and dumplings are in the book, in the binder, and permanently in my muscle memory — but the recipe I keep coming back to when I need that same grounding, savory warmth is this chicken loaf, which lives just two pages over in her binder and carries the same energy: humble ingredients, no fuss, and something deeply satisfying waiting on the other side of the oven timer. Second trimester, halfway there, book ARCs out in the world — tonight called for exactly this kind of dinner, the kind that holds you steady while everything around you is beautifully, terrifyingly in motion. It’s the Donna doctrine in loaf form: waste nothing, cook everything, and let the food do the talking.
Chicken Loaf
Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 55 min | Total Time: 1 hr 10 min | Servings: 6
Ingredients
- 2 lbs ground chicken
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup plain breadcrumbs
- 1/4 cup whole milk
- 1/2 medium yellow onion, finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoons ketchup, plus 2 tablespoons for topping
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven. Heat oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan with olive oil or line with parchment.
- Soften the aromatics. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the diced onion and cook 4–5 minutes until softened. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
- Mix the loaf. In a large bowl, combine ground chicken, eggs, breadcrumbs, milk, cooled onion and garlic, Worcestershire sauce, 2 tablespoons ketchup, salt, pepper, thyme, and parsley. Mix with clean hands or a fork until just combined — do not overwork.
- Form and glaze. Transfer mixture into the prepared loaf pan and press gently into an even shape. Spread the remaining 2 tablespoons of ketchup evenly over the top.
- Bake. Bake uncovered for 50–55 minutes, until the internal temperature reaches 165°F and the top is set and lightly caramelized.
- Rest and slice. Let the loaf rest in the pan for 10 minutes before slicing. This helps it hold together cleanly. Serve with mashed potatoes, roasted vegetables, or whatever is left in the refrigerator that needs using up.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 285 | Protein: 31g | Fat: 13g | Carbs: 10g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 520mg
About the cook who shared this
Rachel Abernathy
Week 293 of Rachel’s 30-year story
· San Diego, California
Rachel is a twenty-eight-year-old Marine wife and mom of two who has moved five times in six years and learned to cook a Thanksgiving dinner with half her cookware still in boxes. She married young, survived postpartum depression, and feeds her family of four on a junior Marine's salary with a freezer full of pre-made meals and a crockpot that has never let her down. She writes for the military spouses who are cooking dinner alone in base housing and wondering if they're enough. You are.
