My First Meatloaf

A few comments to share before we get into tonight's dinner extravaganza....

So last night when we made chili and I said I like to wait until it's cold to make it, well the heavens heard and making chili was my cold-weather dance. I've been wearing sweater dresses, boots and tights to try to conjure the cold, it was the chili that brought it on! Today, we have 54 degree weather (that's cold to us). Unfortunately when cold weather comes to Texas, it is usually accompanied by strong gusts of wind and lots of rain. This is hardly enjoyable, and terrible on the hair, but it makes for one great lazy night in! Not only was I able to wear a light weight pea-coat today, but I got to come home and pull out my flannel PJ pants and a long sleeved shirt! Totally chic, I know.

While sending love notes via cellular devices with Mr. Max today, we quickly went to cold, rainy weather foods for topics of discussion regarding dinner. Romantic, aren't we? I think so! From this texting, I have a great list compiled for this November as we are sure to see colder weather and lots more rain. Tonight I complete a personal feat - my first meatloaf! I perused several recipes until resorting to the best recipe source I can think of, none other than the Pioneer Woman's meatloaf.

PW, thank you. You helped make this first meatloaf such a wonderful, enjoyable experience. I made a few substitutions here and there. You will see this below, but doing it over again, I would skip the bacon and perhaps add sauteed onions for additional flavor.

This does take about 10 minutes of prep and 1 hour to cook. Enjoy this meatloaf recipe!

Grocery List:
for meatloaf
- 1 cup of milk
- 6 slices of white bread (I decided to blaze my own trail here and use the left over buttermilk biscuits from last night's chili, very pleased with this decision, great flavor!)
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- 1 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese (overflowing cup, I used Pecorino Remano, a poor girl's Parmigiano Reggianno, but great substitute.)
- 1/4 tsp Lowry's Seasoned Salt
- Freshly ground pepper
- 1/3 cup minced flat-leaf Parsley
- 2 whole eggs, beaten
- 3 shakes of garlic salt (optional, I decided it was needed)
- 6-8 slices of bacon (I used turkey bacon because she instructed thinnest slices and those were the thinnest! Plus, healthier)

for sauce
- 1 cup Ketchup
- 1/3 cups Brown sugar
- 1 tsp. dry mustard
- Tabasco to taste (I had smokey chipotle tabasco that worked like a charm)
- Lowry's seasoning salt to taste (another addition)

First, pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, pour the milk over the bread to let it soak and soften.


In a separate bowl, combine the meat, chopped parsley and Parmesan.



Then, sans extra milk, add the bread. Beat the eggs together in another bowl and add.


At this time, sprinkle in your pepper, Lowry's seasoned salt, garlic salt. After thoroughly cleaning your hands, like all good chef's do, dig in with both hands to mix it all together. Gooooeeeyyy.


I had already enlisted the help of my only cookie sheet with boiler pan top, so I did not have this available to use. My mom always made meatloaf in a pyrex dish, so I took my pyrex and formed the loaf. If you do have a boiler top and cookie sheet, I would recommend that because the PW did and she is always right.


Lay the slices of bacon across the loaf - if too long, either tear the end off to fit or tuck under the loaf. I thought this was going to make it taste better, but I don't think we cared for it. After peeling the bacon off, we liked it MUCH better. To each their own, moving forward with the recipe as made.


Next, we make the delicious sauce to drench our final product in. In a mixing bowl, combine your ketchup, dry mustard and brown sugar. Stir well and at your own discretion, add the tabasco. I decided to sprinkle a bit of Lowry's as well. Once complete, slather this concoction across the top of your meatloaf, reserving at least 1/3 for later.




Bake for 45 minutes, then add another 1/3 of sauce over the top. Bake for an additional 15 minutes. Slice and serve with the remaining sauce! I served this delectable hunk of meat with rosemary garlic roasted potatoes and steamed carrots. Perfection.





This recipe caught the eye of Foodista and I was asked to place this on my blog to link Foodista blog readers to this Meatloaf recipe and vice versa. If you would like to check out other Foodista recipes, please click on the widget below!
Meatloaf