Meatloaf Made Easy

We're still embroiled in heavy competition in our blogging contest, September to Remember. I'm sure I'm not in the lead, but I'm hoping that the Princess isn't in the lead either (because I'm being mean since she's so competitive), and that Lea will still let me have some Blackberry Grits...maybe if I agreed to help with the dishes? If you want to check on the contestants, you can wander over to Lori's blog and see the list of participants on the right side of her page.


Today, I'm veering off of my bloggy path a bit to bring you a post for Works For Me Wednesday. If you aren't a regular reader of Rocks In My Dryer, why not head over and check out all the great ideas?

So, "Meggy" you say, "What's up with meatloaf?"

Well... since I'm "remembering" this month, I'll tell you that I LOVE MEATLOAF. MY meatloaf, that is. I'm not really big on other people's meatloaf...but MINE is so good, it's me and Bex's favorite meal. (I'm not bragging here, just being factual!) Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes, Corn and whatever green you want to throw at it. The green doesn't matter because even though I cook it --I rarely eat anything green that is cooked. To clarify--I do eat salad greens, I do eat field peas, but nothing else green, puh-leese!

Oops...off chasing a rabbit there...

I'm "remembering" meatloaf because it was the first 'entree' I ever cooked as a young teen. I used to make it in our sparkling, brand new, Radarange Microwave Oven. Am I dating myself? Do you remember those HUGE, new fangled things called microwave ovens? Well, each one came with a recipe book and I picked meatloaf as the first to try. It wasn't really too terribly bad...Mom used to call from work and say "Why don't you make some of your meatloaf for supper tonight?" I think she was just really, really tired and didn't care about that cardboard texture!

Lest you say to yourself "YUCK! I'm not cooking meatloaf in the microwave no matter how easy it is!" I agree. We're not going to cook it in the microwave...that would be gross.

No, I'm not going to share my recipe here. Because it's a very closely held secret. Closely held, because "I" don't even know the recipe. I just know what I put in it -- which is hamburger and a little of this, a little of that, whatever's in the refrigerator that looks interesting and doesn't have mold, etc. You pick the recipe for yourself. (You probably want to put something green in it anyway!)

But my BIG tip is to cook your meatloaf in a muffin tin. Yep! Just make up your favorite meatloaf recipe and stuff that meat mixture down in those little round cups and pop it in the oven for about 20 minutes. They cook really quick this way. (Ms. Edna taught me to do this, by the way!)

There are many reasons this works for me! It is so much easier, saves energy because it cooks faster, having 'portion' control keeps me from eating the whole thing (because I love it!), and makes great sandwiches for left-overs. Even Mr. Fix-It likes meatloaf this way.

I was going to cook meatloaf for supper tonight so I could add pictures. Sorry, I guess you'll just have to wait for next time for those because I was too tired tonight (being a "working" blogger woman these days). But even without pictures, you ought to give this a try...we LOVE our little meatloaf balls!

Stay tuned.