Meatloaf! Who does not love meatloaf?! Yet so many people manage to make theirs taste like the stuff you do not want to stand in line at the cafeteria for. My secret is adding root vegetables. The carrots soak the grease and add texture and flavor to the meatloaf. This is my basic meatloaf and month to month; I make slight variations on my basic recipe. One month, I will want an Asian tang. The next, I will want a Mexican kick. Then I’m looking to go to India and yet another month, I’m looking for an Italian twist. You get the idea. The basics are the same. As I make more meatloaf later, I will update this blog to share how to make it taste different with just a few changes. Sometimes, if the lamb is a very good deal, I grab half a pound of ground lamb, but this month the lamb was marked really high at $10+ a pound so I passed that up.
Meatloaf takes a little bit of preparation work, which is why I like to just buy the family size and make four meat loaves at once and freeze the rest. The cost is a little higher initially, but works out to be lower in the long run because this makes four dinners and four leftover lunches the next day- that’s every Monday dinners and Tuesday lunches in the month right there! Just get it out of the freezer and pop in the oven. I like to enable myself to be lazy every once in a while, ya know?
Okay, let’s get started! Here are the ingredients for my basic meatloaf.
3# tube of ground beef $5.88 @ WalMart
2# ground pork $2.31 @ WalMart
1# tube of sausage (I chose hot, you may choose mild if you prefer) $2.88
bag of shredded carrots- 16 ounces for $1.22 (it is cheaper to buy whole carrots and shred yourself, but I did not feel like doing that this time, besides it’s only pennies.)
half an onion $1 each at Wal Mart – 50 cents
3 cloves garlic- one bulb is 50 cents- used about 5 cents worth (If you are not a big fan of garlic, use one clove)
2 eggs – 12 for $2.59= 22 cents each… 44 cents.
Oats- 1 cup (always on hand in this house hold)
Worcestershire sauce- always on hand in this household
Dijon mustard- always on hand in this household
Relish- always on hand in this household
Also, you need the seasonings- Oregano, salt, pepper
$13.28 total cost.
$3.32 each loaf.
40 cents for a generous serving.
Set everything out about 30 minutes before you get to work so that everything has a chance to come to just below room temperature. This way the eggs will break up easier and you do not freeze your hands off mixing the meat. That is right, take your jewelry off for this- you are going to get your hands dirty. While the ingredients are sitting out, you can get out the hardware you will need. A bowl, a cutting board and a good knife, four loaf pans, aluminum foil, freezer paper, and have hot soapy water in the sink ready for the dirty bowl when you are finished.
Place the three meats in a large bowl.
Mix the meats together. Do not squeeze, squish, or mash the meat. Just fold them together with your hands. If you know how to sign the word “grey” do that motion over and over in the meat. Think combing through the meat, that’s how you want to blend the meat. You want the texture to be intact, not all mooshed into tough fibers.
Now poke holes and start adding the two eggs. The poked holes helps make sure the meat is evenly seasoned with less effort. Break the yolks and add 1 Tablespoon each of Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard, and relish.
Now shake in the seasonings- one teaspoon each salt, pepper, and oregano.
Get the three cloves of garlic out and place on the cutting board. Awww, the poor things, they don’t know what’s about to hit them.
Gently balance the flat side of your knife on a garlic clove and with the side of your fist hit it; crushing the garlic. Sometimes, if you do it just right, the clove will slip right out of the papery covering! Watch for that, don’t want to shoot anyone’s eye out or cut a finger off. Now the garlic are whacked, it’s time to mince them.
Now that the garlic is minced, scatter them over the meat.
Get an onion and halve it.
Oh, wait, here’s a trick…. Lemon juice. A splash of it will help combat the tearjerking issues that come with chopping onions. If you are ultra-sensitive like I am, stick your head in the freezer for 30 seconds. No, I am not kidding. Seriously, stick your head in the freezer for 30 seconds. Go on, I’ll wait. Oh, while you’re in there, check on your ice supply as an excuse for how silly you will look with your body sticking out from the freezer.
Ready? Juiced cutting board and frozen eyeballs? Okay! Here’s one more trick of fighting the tears back. Leave the root alone! See, I left it intact. I learned from Alton Brown’s Good Eats show that most of the chemicals are in the root end, so I leave it uncut as long as I can.
Cut the onion horizontally without touching the root end and then slice parallel to the cutting board without cutting into the root end. Now when you slice across the rings, they will fall off in a dice! Easy, huh? Add to the meat.
Now the carrots.
Now the oats.
You want to fold it in, not mash it in.
It is mixed through.
Now grab the loaf pans lined with foil.
Divide the meat evenly among the four pans and pat into a flat layer.
Fold the foil over and wrap down snugly. Run a hand around it to make sure foil is touching the entire surface of the meat.
Four meatloaves, ready to go.
If you tend to have trouble with freezer burn, like I do with my old freezer, double wrap it. Once in foil and once in freezer paper.
Lay on a 18 inch long piece of freezer paper and fold a corner over…
tuck corner under
Flip over twice
Tuck corners in and then finish rolling it and secure with tape.
To cook:
Thaw a loaf in the refrigerator overnight.
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Unwrap one loaf and lay it, foil and all on a rimmed cookie sheet. The foil means minimal clean up. Bake for 1 hour.
Slice ½ inch thick and serve with your choice of side dishes. Our favorites are instant mashed taters and a bagged salad blend, bringing our total meal cost to $2.30 each serving, including second helpings of everything.
