Today's Homecooking Saturday meal is meatloaf. Meatloaf is one of those dishes that can be prepared countless ways and have countless ingredients. In our house several people claim they don't like many of the ingredients in traditional meatloaf so I tend to lean towards fewer ingredients. As their taste grow and change I slowly add a few items into the mix.
Here is what I start with:
- 1 1/2 pounds of lean ground beef
- 1 1/2 pounds of ground pork
- Homemade bread crumbs
- 2 farm eggs
- 1/2 cup of homemade onion soup mix (dry)
- Water
- Ketchup
First I mix the beef and pork until well blended. If you have a free
standing mixer this is very helpful, but if not, no biggie. Just recruit
whoever has the biggest, strongest hands in the family.
Next I incorporate all the ingredients listed above. If your family
likes any of the extra ingredients such as whole sliced onions, bell
peppers, brown sugar, dry mustard, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, etc.
this is the time to add it.
Since I just blogged about the
The Tools of My Trade, I wanted to take a picture of my meatloaf pan. This is a fairly new item that has been added to my toolbox in the last year. I love it! Notice how it has two pans that nest inside each other. The one on top has holes in the bottom to allow the grease to drain off the meat. This is very convenient and reduced the amount of grease in the meat. I also have a Pampered Chef stoneware pan that I have used for 10+ years that was my favorite and still runs a close second to this one.
You might want to lightly grease your pan with a little oil if it's not seasoned well so the loaf doesn't stick to the pan. Divide the meatloaf into two portions and pack it into the loaf pans. I used three pounds of meat because I wanted to make two loaves at once and freeze one for a later meal. This is a really easy way to feed your family a home cooked meal when the time you have to work in the kitchen is just not there!
Lastly you will want to place the meatloaf in a preheated oven @ 350 and bake for one hour. If your pan doesn't have drainage holes like mine then you'll want to drain some of the grease off as it cooks. After an hour if you have a meat thermometer you can temp the loaf to verify if it's done in the middle. The temp should be between 165-170 degrees. If it's not at the proper temp continue to bake until done.
Once it's done I drizzled it with additional ketchup and put it back in the oven to brown or glaze.
Meatloaf is easy to reheat as a leftover. If you have never tried, a heated meatloaf sandwich the day after it has been cooked you are missing out. Here are a few different recipes your family might enjoy.
I really hope this meal makes it into your recipe box. Trust me, your family will love you all the more for it!
