Moderate Your Mood Meatloaf
A complete Cooking Therapy session from the pages of Cooking As Therapy.
One of the questions I hear most often is, “What does a Cooking Therapy session actually look like?”
Today I thought I’d share one directly from my book, Cooking As Therapy.
This isn’t simply a meatloaf recipe. It’s an invitation to notice how ordinary kitchen tasks can become opportunities for mindfulness, self-reflection, and emotional growth.
I hope you enjoy this little visit to my kitchen.
Moderate Your Mood Meatloaf
I’m a big fan of meatloaf, because it’s comforting to make and a comfort food. This recipe is both sweet and tangy, which is an awful lot like most of us. I’ve used this recipe to “spice up” a “stale” marriage but also to sweeten the mood for individuals and couples. Feel free to be creative and customize “Moderate Your Mood Meatloaf” to taste. In fact, studies show that creativity diminishes stress.
Ingredients
For the meatloaf
1 pound ground meat; can be beef, turkey, or lamb or a combination
1 cup breadcrumbs or panko
1 egg
½ cup sweetened applesauce
2 teaspoons whole-grain mustard
Dash of salt and pepper
For the filling
½ cup sweetened applesauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
Cooking Therapy Session Instructions
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Always think of heat as a catalyst for change. Your dish will change from “raw” to “baked,” and as it changes, so can you.
Remove the meat from the refrigerator and place it in a large bowl. Let it sit on the counter for a bit. We want the coldness to ease so the meat is easier to handle with your hands. “Easier to handle” is your first metaphor. If you feel that your sense of calm or worry is excessive and causing constant “freezing,” then you may be experiencing generalized anxiety disorder and/or panic attacks, which can be treated. See the note at the end of the recipe.
Add the crumbs to the meat, focusing on the word crumbs for two reasons: First, you always deserve more than crumbs in life. Second, just in case you feel like crumbling sometimes, remind yourself that you can add strength and build yourself back up, just as the crumbs added to the meat will make a solid foundation for the loaf.
Crack the egg into the mixture and think of “birthing” a new change into your life. Think of the egg coming into the mixture (you) and pouring a new and original way to feel. Now, add the applesauce and whole-grain mustard into the mix to represent that life is both sweet and sour at times—and that’s okay.
Mix these ingredients together with your hands. It will feel sticky. As you mix, do so mindfully, imagining that you’re creating a new way of feeling and thinking. You are the one that shapes how you feel, no matter what others may do. The mixing may also feel like hard work, but that’s often how it is when you feel stressed or pressured. But with hard work there’s some pride and ownership too, right? You’re not sitting around waiting for change to magically occur, you’re actively doing something. As you accomplish this, it will be exponentially effective in all areas of your life.
In a square pan, shape the mixture into a round loaf. Sounds like that expression square peg in a round hole, but actually it’s the opposite. A square peg does not fit in a round hole, but a round shape will fit nicely in a square pan, and that’s a representation that change can happen. It will look like a circle in a square. Tell yourself you are shaping a new attitude with fewer or no sharp edges.
Now take the back of a spoon and make a round depression in the top of the loaf where the filling will go. I hate to use the word depression in a mood changing session, and we could substitute the word crater if you like, but we can smile about this together, too. I told you Cooking therapy would also be fun, right? And smacking that spoon into the meat makes a wonderful “be gone stress” sound. Enjoy it.
Mix the filling ingredients together, noting that while the vinegar and mustard are more closely related to sharpness, which represents anxiety, there is a greater amount of applesauce and brown sugar, which will turn the sharp into the sweet. Please name two things that are sweet in your life. Don’t just do that in the session. “Smack them” into your brain all the time. I promise you this will help and will be part of your emotional tool kit long term.
Fill the crater with the filling. Now emphasize to yourself that you are doing something tangible and concrete to fill yourself with stillness.
Bake the loaf for an hour or until cooked through, until the internal temperature is 160°F. During this time, activate all your senses and especially your sense of accomplishment. You’ve cooked through an amazing cooking therapy session. Perhaps you can retrieve your phone (just this once) and take a photo! Serve your “Moderate Your Mood Meatloaf” right away or let it rest; the choice is yours. When you slice it and serve it, think about slicing in your new skills and serving up self-applause.
TO GO:
Remember that you worked to mix up a new feeling, and going forward, try to remember the power of shaping your intent for calm. Here are some prompts and reminders to take with you:
It’s possible to add more sweetness than sour.
Remember that you can fill yourself or others with goodness and also that all of the acts of shaping, filling, or smacking are intended to give you the power to change your mood.
Remember, too, the moments of mindfulness in this session.
When you feel anxious in the future, think about finding things to fill yourself up, like you did with the crater, and do not accept crumbs!
I'd love to know what metaphor or moment in this session resonated with you most.
P.S. Please click the ❤️ below - it helps more readers discover TherapeuticBites and it lets me know what connected with you.
Cooking Therapy pioneer Debra Borden, LCSW, is the author of four books, including Cooking As Therapy - How to Improve Mental Health Through Cooking. Learn more here about her writing journey, how she became known as The Sous Therapist, and the stories that shape her work.
Note: Generalized anxiety disorder and panic attacks are two recognized conditions that are frequently treated by therapists. For information on the clinical diagnosis of GAD, click this link to learn about the signs and symptoms:
https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/generalize-anxiety-disorder-gad