MeatLoaffins

My friend Angie, over on Family Life Is More, was talking about food the other day, and “make ahead” meals for families on the go.  Check it out!  You too can make 50 burritos and find true (frozen) love. #food #blog | Family Life Is More

Well, my family really isn’t “on the go,” and I don’t have a freezer big enough to hold 50 burritos, just a tiny apartment one, but I do like to have stuff prepped ahead of time.  For my husband’s lunch, I really like having things ready so that I can just pop it into a bag for him.  Who wants to deal with lunch prep at 6AM?  Not me!  Not him either, lol.

On Sunday nights, I try to put together all the individual sized portions of the things he’ll be taking in his lunch for the week.  That way, I can just grab a baggie of cheese, or nuts, or whatever, and toss them into his lunch bag.  I make his lunch the night before.  If I’ve done my prep work right, I can put his lunch together in like 10 or 15 seconds.

One of the things I like to add to his lunch are these little mini-meatloaves I make.  I call them meatloaffins, since I make them in my muffin tin.  Yes, I do like to make up my own words!    I get 2 dozen out of this recipe, and just grab a couple out of the freezer when I want to add them to his lunch.

The nice thing about this recipe is it’s versatility.  You could use any kind of ground meat.  I like beef, chicken, and turkey.  I don’t use ground pork because, well, I don’t really care for it, but I’m sure it would be good in this recipe if you wanted to use it.  Plus, this has become kind of a hit at church and most of our congregants don’t eat pork, so it’s easier for me to skip it.  I bet a ground sausage would be good in this, too.  Your 3 favorite ground meats will be perfect. 

 

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground chicken
1 lb ground turkey
1 box Lipton Onion Soup Mix.  Yes, both envelopes in the box.
½ cup bread crumbs.  I forgot the bread crumbs for the picture!
3 eggs (1 for each pound)
Splash of milk to moisten.

Nutrition:

24 servings @ 2oz ea

Protein = 12g
Fat = 8g
Carbs = 3g

Total calories = 132 per 2oz serving

You could add a teaspoon or two of garlic powder and that would be good.  Or other herbs and spices if you prefer.  The recipe is great on its own, or with things added, so feel free to tweak it to your taste.

For me, it’s just easier to grab the old-fashioned potato masher to mix this up.  No loud mixer, only 1 utensil to wash, and it handles the job pretty fast.  I had this stuff mixed and portioned in the time it took me to preheat the oven.  It will be a bit on the wet side, but that’s fine because that makes it easier to portion.

I don’t use muffin liners for this.  I didn’t want to make my husband have to deal with peeling them off at work.  I don’t see why you couldn’t use them if you wanted.  For me, I am quite liberal with the non-stick spray and that works really well.  Clean-up is pretty easy too, just a couple swipes with the S.O.S pad and then pop it into the dishwasher.

Before cooking …

After cooking!  As you can see, they lost a little volume but not very much.  (I use a high fat ground beef since we’re on a Ketogenic diet.)  They come out to be roughly 2 oz per “loaffin,” maybe just a bit under.  They heat up from frozen in the microwave pretty fast, maybe a minute per 2 “loaffins”, depending on your microwave.

This particular batch I baked at 400° for about 40-45 min.  I’ve also cooked them at 325° for about 90 min.  So, it’s flexible. 

These are great for when you want something to eat, fast.  I hope you like them!

Meatloaf

 

 

One thing my daughter loves is my meatloaf.  I’m grateful for small favors.  🙂

 

2 envelopes (1 box) Lipton Onion/Mushroom dry Soup Mix
1-1½ pounds ground beef
1-1½ pounds ground chicken or turkey (I like chicken best)
2-3 eggs, 1 per pound of meat
milk to moisten
1½ cups bread crumbs (works out to about 6 slices if you make your own)
garlic powder (not garlic salt) to taste, just a couple of shakes of the jar

2-3 pounds of potatoes

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My friend Raga likes to put this topping on her meatloaf.  🙂

Topping:

Combine
3 Tablespoons catsup
3 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 Tablespoon yellow mustard

Spread on meatloaf before cooking.

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Okay, I a little weird about touching raw meat with my hands.  Especially ground beef.  So, I line my loaf pan with cling wrap first.  Then I spray my roasting pan with cooking spray.  This will help with clean up later.

Next, I cut the potatoes up into pieces and toss them into a big bowl and then pour a little oil on them, and maybe some salt, pepper, and parsley or dill weed, and set them aside.

Then I mix all my meatloaf ingredients into another big bowl.  I just use a big spatula, or you could use your mixer if you have one.  When it’s thoroughly mixed, I spread it into the lined loaf pan and press it well into the loaf pan.  Then, I flip it into the roasting pan.  Voilá!  Peel off the cling wrap and you have a perfectly formed loaf, and still a clean loaf pan that you won’t have to wash.  See?  There is a method to my madness.  😉

I pour the potatoes around the meatloaf, put the lid on the roasting pan, and bake it in the oven at 350° for about 2 hours.  I take the lid off then and let it brown up for another 10-15 min.