A Loaf of Meat

When Jason and I went for our first big grocery shop in the new place we made a mistake that I'm sure a lot of people make when they first move out on their own - we bought too much. Specifically, we bought too much meat. We walked out of the local Superstore with 4 chicken breasts, 4 lbs of ground beef and a box of 15 hamburger patties... all expiring within 1 week. Clearly we didn't think of the logistics of how much meat people typically eat. So, as the calendar started winding down to the day everything was about to expire we did the only practical thing one can do - we froze it. What's my point? It's a cautionary tale, now if I'm planning to make something for dinner I need to remember to take it out of the freezer before I leave for work or else we're having KD.

When I suggested to Jason that we have meatloaf for dinner on Friday he was all over it - with one condition - it HAD to be my Mom's meatloaf *sigh*. God love my Mom but she doesn't exactly do things "by the book" per se. So when I asked her for her recipe she rattled off a list of ingredients to me with measurements such as "bit of this, a bunch of that" please Mom... does bunch = a 1/2 cup or 1 cup. The response? "You'll figure it out as you go." OK so as I'm attempting to recall everything my Mom said I remember one kind of important detail, how long do I cook it for and on what temperature? If my Mom hadn't left on Friday for vacation this would have been a simple fix, thank goodness for the internet because if it wasn't for www.allrecipes.com we may have gotten food poisoning. 


So without further ado... my take on "Mom's Meatloaf"

I'm not going to include my recipe for the cheese sauce on the brussel sprouts because I made it up in 2 minutes and it showed. My overall thoughts on the meatloaf? I'm not the best person to ask, I'm not a huge meatloaf fan. In fact I'm not even a huge ground beef fan but for what it was it was pretty darn good. My Mom's holds together a little bit better (as you can see by the picture) so I'll be asking her next time what the key to a firmer, less crumbly meatloaf is.

Hubby Approval Rating?     4.5/5.0
This apparently would have been a perfect five however you "can't just give'm away".
Why? "The sauce was as sweet as it was supposed to be. My only, although small, problem is that the sauce is quite sticky. The meatloaf itself was very well seasoned. The flavour and texture almost reminded me of the Kobe Burger at Samz Pub in PoCo. Also it's quite good in a sandwich the next day."

Mom's Meatloaf 

1 1/2 lbs ground beef            1/2 a white onion (coarsely chopped)
1 egg                                   1/4 cup ketchup
1/2 cup rolled oats                 3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 cloves garlic (minced)        1 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon butter                 1 teaspoon pepper 

Glaze:
1/4 cup ketchup                  3 tablespoons brown sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease a 9x13 baking pan
In a large bowl combine beef, egg, oats, garlic, ketchup, soy sauce, salt and pepper
In a small skillet melt butter and saute onions until soft
Add cooked onions to beef mixture
Form beef into a loaf shape in baking pan
In a small bowl combine ketchup and brown sugar
Coat beef with ketchup and brown sugar mixture
Bake for 50-60 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 70C (158F) and center is no longer pink.


Thanks for reading this addition to "Learning to be a Wifey"

Ketchup and Brown Sugar,

Dani