<p>hmom5, I’m afraid as long as I have kids in college, it will only be in my dreams. Poor me!</p>
<p>I’m very late to this thread, but sometimes I add to the mix a drained can of MexiCorn (Green Giant??).</p>
<p>Shrinkrap, for now, there’s Youtube:</p>
<p>[YouTube</a> - Phuket Thailand Scenery](<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGAySqjsKyM]YouTube”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGAySqjsKyM)</p>
<p>Y’all are making me so hungry and I can’t cook right now - I’m on bedrest for another couple of weeks until this baby is safely old enough to be born. Arrrrrggggghhhhhhh.</p>
<p>hmom5 – Some of my boys went to Phuket with my brother and talked their villa cook into giving them the most incredible prawn congee recipe… ummmm!</p>
<p>“Shrinkrap, for now, there’s Youtube:”</p>
<p>Sigh…</p>
<p>The best meatloaf I ever made was in the Crock pot. No kidding. The cookbook that came with it had a recipe that I suppose was like all other meatloaf recipes, but you baked it slowly in the pot and it came out SO tender. </p>
<p>I haven’t done it that way in years and I’m not sure where the cookbook is.</p>
<p>Am I the only one who makes the meatloaf, cooks it, then lines it with cheddar cheese slices and frost it with mash potatoes and toss back into the oven till slightly crusty brown???</p>
<p>Does nobody else sneak veggies into their meatloaf? My kids still eat a limited number of veggies and I have always added cooked carrots mashed up in there. The family has always liked it enough to eat seconds. I figure if you hide the carrots with ketchup, nobody is the wiser.</p>
<p>If you read my Mom’s recipe, her Mom always put veggies in. I do sometimes. One of our grocery stores makes very good meatloaf that’s often available at their lunch hot table. It usually has carrot and beans and sometimes mushrooms.</p>
<p>No one in our family likes the blended meats so I only use ground beef.</p>
<p>2 lbs. ground beef
1 egg
1/2 c. finely shredded bread crumbs
1 slice of bread, soaked in milk
3/4 c. barbecue sauce
1/4 c. finely minced vidalia onion
3 or 4 baby carrots, shredded
1 tsp. garlic puree
1 tsp. parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp. oregano
salt & pepper to taste</p>
<p>Combine beef, bread crumbs, bread, half the bbq sauce, onions, carrot, egg, cheese, garlic and spices. Mix together. Spray a broiler pan with PAM and form the loaf onto the pan. Do not use a loaf pan. Top the loaf with the remaining bbq sauce and cook in a preheated 350 oven for an hour.</p>
<p>Ok - I’ll share my best tip:
Before you lay the loaf in the pan, put in a tiny bit of olive oil and 3 - 4 thick slices of onion. Keeps it from sticking, keeps it out of the grease & adds great flavor & moisture too. I do this under my pot roast, baked chicken, or just about anything that might have the slightest chance of sticking - sort of a home-made “rack”.</p>
<p>I’m the mother of 3 boys who, along with their dad, don’t really like the texture or strong flavor of crunchy bits of onion or green pepper in meatloaf. (They usually end up eating the onion anyway like this b/c after cooking underneath whatever I’m cooking, it tastes fantastic). </p>
<p>Of course I always use vidalia or a “sweet” variety of onion. And I cook the loaf covered w/ tinfoil until the last 15 min or so - never dry - and I usually only use (lean) beef 'cause that’s usually only what I’ve got! I usually just use whatever of the 3 fillers I’m trying to use up quickest, but I always add worchestershire, minced garlic & mustard along w/ the ketchup, egg & seasonings (Montreal Steak is pretty good to add) and of course the obligatory “striping” of ketchup on top. Sometimes I add some baby carrots or cubed potatoes around the sides to cook along w/ the loaf too. </p>
<p>The boys always rave about my meatlof & say it’s the best ever - every time! And it’s the first thing my oldest asks for when he comes home for a visit…</p>
<p>And I know you’ll really think I’m crazy when I tell you that one year for Valentine’s Day I made them a heart-shaped meatloaf & pink mashed potatoes!</p>
<p>A couple months ago, H bought 1/2 a buffalo (bison)–without MY permission (I’m not a meat person, or even a food person). The meat is similar to beef, but very lean. I’m not a fan of meatloaf (probably because Mom always put green pepper in hers, and I didn’t like that. . .) and have only made it a few times in the last 20 years. Well, I had to figure out what to do with all this ground bison meat, so we’ve had meatloaf a number of times recently-- and the kids love it. I use onion soup mix, ketchup, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, black pepper, bread crumbs (or oatmeal) and eggs (and no green pepper! Sorry, Mom). I put in an extra egg and add a little vegetable oil because the meat is so lean. I cover the loaf with foil when I bake it to keep it moist, then remove the foil about 3/4 through baking and pour 1/2 bottle of honey BBQ sauce over the top and finish baking. H suggested I make this for guests–and I did last weekend. </p>
<p>I really like the muffin cup meatloaf idea–I’m definitely going to try that.</p>
<p>my recipe is similar but I also add milk to moisten the meat.
I make mine in the microwave so it stays juicy…when finished top with a ketchup/bbq sauce.</p>