Cooking Baking Eating

My mom was not THE best cook, but she did what she could. There were times where the burned bottom of a roll was “extra flavor”. The one thing I remember from being a kid that my mom made was meatloaf. It was one of the recipes from scratch that always came out good. Whenever we found a good recipe we tended to stick to it, not really just “going with it” and see what happens, mostly because the result could be disastrous.

I called my mom recently and got all of the recipes for food that I remember growing up. It’s something that I wanted to do before I forgot or before the recipes couldn’t be found again. That tends to happen.

There were a few changes I made to the recipe, you know me, I have to do things like that.

When I add oats to a recipe I tend to crush them first, make them slightly like bread crumbs so they can incorporate easier and not be as noticeable since they aren’t really there for texture. I decided to do half crushed oats, and half bread crumbs for the grains that were required. I also doubled the amount. There’s a few reasons why.

The recipe also called for 4 ounces of tomato sauce. Well the can I had was 8 ounces and I really couldn’t think of another use for the rest of the sauce, so I just threw it all in there with it.

I then added all the spices and eggs to hold it together.

Then comes the meat. This is the other reason why I doubled the tomato and crumbs mixture, I used the leanest beef I could find so the bread crumbs were to try and keep it moist since it could dry out easier. I wanted to use super lean sausage (its under the beef) but I couldn’t find it at the store, so I had to go for regular.

There really is one thing I hate about making meatloaf or meatballs, the smooshing of the meat into one conforming mass. Why? Because the meat is generally freezing cold from the fridge and it makes my joints hurt. I just have to remember to put it out 20 minutes or so before I make it so my hands don’t hurt.

And then onto the loaves. I lined a pan really well with foil, and even made a little “dam” of sorts so that the fat wouldn’t leak out onto the pan. Hey, I’m lazy and don’t feel like cleaning the pan. Deal with it. 🙂

Most people will make meatloaf and slather it in gravy or ketchup on top, but I don’t do that. Granted I love ketchup on my meatloaf, but I love it when the ketchup is icy cold and the meatloaf is hot. I love the contrast. Besides, the meatloaf is juicy enough as it is that it doesn’t REQUIRE any extra sauce. I just like the flavor.

Meatloaf
Makes 2 small, or one large loaf. Serves 8 total.

• 1/4 cup bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup instant oats
• 1 (8 ouce) can tomato sauce
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon dried onion flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
• 2 pounds lean ground beef
• 1/2 pound lean sausage
• Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF
2. In a bowl, mix oats, bread crumbs and tomato sauce until all the bread crumbs are covered.
3. Add remaining ingredients and mix well using hands, until all ingredients are incorporated.
4. Form into one large loaf, or two small loaves. Bake for 1 hour for small loaves or 1 1/2 hours for a large loaf.