Old-Fashioned Meatloaf

On occasion, I find myself craving one of the ultimate comfort foods...no, not my most common go to - Macaroni & Cheese - but equally comforting meatloaf. There are insane amounts of meatloaf recipes floating around, the most appreciated usually being your own mother's version. For those of you out there that despised whatever family recipe you were forced to choke down as a child, I urge you to give it a second chance.

Meatloaf featured on the menu at least once a month for most of my childhood. By no means am I complaining. It was usually accompanied by another kiddo delight...tator tots...which T & I may or may not have indulged in for last night's meal. Moving on. While I appreciate and enjoy my mama's meatloaf, I was hoping to find a way to pack in more veggies than the standard onions mixed with meat, and ketchup topping used in almost all meatloaf recipes.

Lucky for you, I stumbled across a gem of an easy recipe, and altered it slightly to up the ante and include lots'o'veggies. YUM!

Step One: Gather the ingredients.

Step Two: Mix all of the meatloaf ingredients and ketchup glaze ingredients together. Press the meat mixture into the baking dish to make a loaf, of shape to your dish. Spread the ketchup glaze on top.

Step Three: Preheat oven to 375 degrees, and bake for 1 hour.

Step Four: Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before serving, then enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Food Network

OLD-FASHIONED MEATLOAF | Yield: 6-8 servings | Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 large red onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes with juice
3/4 C quick-cooking oats

Ketchup Topping:

2/3 C ketchup
4 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp prepared mustard

NOTE: I used grass-fed local organic ground beef for this recipe. I happened to be at the organic grocery store shopping for ingredients, and that's what I came across. You can use regular ground beef just as easily. I personally find that organic meat is usually more flavorful. If you get a chance to try it out for yourself, I'd love to hear your thoughts, or if you know anywhere in NW Iowa where I can purchase it!

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix all meatloaf ingredients together, and transfer to a glass baking dish. Pat down to shape of baking dish.

NOTE: I used a 8" x 10" baking dish, but whatever you have available is fine.

Ketchup Topping:

Mix all ketchup topping ingredients together and spread on top of meatloaf in dish. Bake for 1 hour. Allow to cool 5-10 minutes before serving.

Do you have a favorite meatloaf recipe?