Food For Thought Thursdays: Down Home With The Neelys

Down Home with The Neelys is a new show on the Food Network and is quickly becoming one of my favorites. I am usually working when the show airs but I was able to catch it last Sunday. First just let me say, Pat and Gina are such fun to watch, you can really tell they are in-love. They seem like the family next door who creates kick-ass food and always has a plate ready for their neighbors. The Neelys have several restaurants in Tennessee and are world famous for their BBQ.
Meet Pat and Gina Neely
It had been so long since I last made a home-cooked meal (and no, dressed up take-out does not count, lol), I thought I would give Pat's favorites a try. On the menu: BBQ Turkey Meatloaf, Mac and Cheese and Green Beans with garlic and lemon, comfort food at its best. So after a hard day's work, I came home on yesterday to work a little bit of my kitchen magic.

Now, it seems everyone has their own recipe for mac and cheese and I'm no different but I thought I'd give Gina's a whirl. Not a huge fan of mustard so I left that out as well as the bacon and potato chips, but I added bread crumbs to the top halfway thru the baking time. The result? Velvety and smooth.

The meatloaf remained moist and flavorful which is sometimes difficult to achieve with turkey meat, the sauce mixture was the ideal solution. The spice mixture really lifted the turkey which tends to be kind of dull.

I love my veggies, so the green bean recipe was a snap (pun, intended)!