I would do anything for love

But I won't do that. Meatloaf. Get it?

Seriously though, for basically as long as I can remember, I've not been a fan of meatloaf. The food. Or the artist, really, but this is a food blog so lets stay on topic. There's just something about a big mound of ground meat that's covered in ketchup that is sooo unappetizing. And if you've ever seen me eat a cheeseburger this would make sense. For those of you who haven't had the pleasure (ha!) I'll fill you in - I top my cheeseburgers with every imaginable topping (which almost always slide off and cover me in total mess) because I'm not a huge fan of plain ole ground meat.

Unfortunately for me (or maybe for him), Jon likes meatloaf. And I'm a bad wife who never makes it for him. So I decided to face my fear head-on, and searched for a meatloaf recipe that I thought I'd like, enlisting the help of my Facebook friends. I got lots of great suggestions and eventually decided to combine several with a recipe I found, make my own twists, and give it a shot!

Mini Meatloaves (adapted from Cooking Light, March 2006 + numerous fantastic friend recommendations)
Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

1 lb lean ground beef
1 cup onion, finely diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup green bell pepper, finely diced
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried parsley
15 saltine crackers, finely crushed
2 tablespoons shredded parmesan cheese
1 cup ketchup, divided
2 tablespoons spicy brown mustard
1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 eggs
1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons cajun or creole seasoning

Preparation:

Heat up one teaspoon of olive oil in a skillet and add the green pepper, onion, garlic, parsley and oregano. Cook the mixture for just a couple minutes until the vegetables have softened, then take it off the heat, allowing it to cool.


In a large bowl, mix together the ground meat, 1/2 cup of ketchup, mustard, worcestershire sauce, cheese, saltines, eggs, cooled veggies, and pepper. To get my saltines all nice and crushed I just tossed them into a plastic bag and rolled over them with my big rolling pin. Since I don't bake I feel obligated to bring the poor guy out every now and again so he can get some exercise.

I just used my clean hands to mix everything together. Mmmmmmm

Now here's what ultimately made me pick this recipe - the muffin tin!! No big mound of meat! Coat the muffin tin with cooking spray and spoon the meat mixture evenly into the cups. Next mix a teaspoon or so of cajun or creole seasoning (I have Tony Chachere's at home) with the remaining 1/2 cup of ketchup and spoon it over the top of the meat.

Bake the mini meatloaves at 350 degrees for around 25 minutes. You want the internal temp to read 150 degrees to know it's cooked. This made 12 mini meatloaf muffins.

Since I've learned that you HAVE to have meatloaf with potatoes, I served ours with garlic smashed potatoes and a mixed greens salad.

Survey says??? Pretty good! I can definitely see us having this again whenever Jon is in the mood for meatloaf. (Aren't I just the best??)