Meatloaf

Nothing screams comfort to me like a giant loaf of meat.  And while every time I hear the word meatloaf my mind instantly goes into "I would do anything for love" mode (i.e. the Dr. Pepper commercial), the only meatloaf going on in my house is the edible kind.  Even though my mom had their old record, and I'm kind of wishing she kept it, no lie.  Any who...This is the way my mom made meatloaf.  She never strayed from this recipe, and that's because it worked for us.  I know a lot of people are die hard fans of using bread as the binding agent, but there's something about soggy bread that completely freaks me out.  That's why bread pudding is banned from my house.  Food has always been a texture thing for me, which is why it is hard for me to swallow things like sushi, raw oysters, and fried mushrooms (morel mushrooms are a different story, good gracious those are good.  I'm talking about the fried whole mushrooms you get at old diners.)  My friends think I'm weird and we can all laugh about it but everyone has their quirks about food, and soggy bread is mine.  So for our meatloaf, we use oatmeal.  I know, I know, it's not traditional, but it's good! Darn good.  And I just might make a believer out of you yet!
Classic Meatloaf
Printable Recipe

Yields: 6-8 servings

Ingredients:

Meatloaf:

1-1/2 pounds lean ground beef or turkey
3/4 cup oatmeal

1 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup tomato sauce or ketchup (Hunts makes a really great meatloaf "ready" tomato sauce)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

"Glaze"

1 cup ketchup

4 T brown sugar

4 T vinegar

2 T Worcestershire sauce

Directions:

1.  Heat oven to 350°F. Combine all ingredients in large bowl; mix lightly but thoroughly.
2.  Bake 40 minutes, remove meatloaf from oven and spread glaze over the top.  Return to oven and cook 10-15 more minutes or until meatloaf is cooked to medium (160°F for beef, 170°F for turkey), or until not pink in center and juices show no pink color. Let stand 5 minutes before slicing.

Adapted from Quaker Oats

Freezing Instructions:

There are a few options for freezing:

1.  Freeze raw.  Wrap air tight then freeze in reusable or disposable loaf pans.  Thaw and bake as directed or put meatloaf in oven before preheating and cook 10-15 minutes longer than directed.

2.  Bake then freeze whole.  Allow to thaw and reheat in the oven or microwave.

3.  Bake, slice, then freeze individual servings.