Mom's Meatloaf

Wow! That’s all I can say about the last three months. I’m still not completely ready to share what has been going on yet, but I will at some point. I personally only like to tell a story when I know there is going to be a happy ending. Since what has been going on in my life lately is still a work in progress, I don’t quite know how it’s going to turn out yet. But when I do, I will let you know why I have been MIA on this blog. For now, let’s just say I’ve been trying to save money and one of the ways I have been trying to save money is by cutting down on my trips to the grocery store. This means I haven’t been cooking as much. However, I haven’t completely given up on working my way through my mom’s recipe file. I had a chance to make her meatloaf recently.

As you can see by the well-worn recipe card, this was a frequent go-to recipe for my mom. She made it often, and I recall her serving it with baked potatoes on the side. I served mine with whipped mashed potatoes, being a bigger fan of those then baked potatoes.

The leftover meatloaf would then be used for days after to make cold meatloaf sandwiches. I remember my dad really loving those—myself, not so much. I can’t say I’ll ever be a fan of cold meatloaf, but the hot variety is definitely a comfort food.

This is a pretty basic recipe. In cookbooks and online, I see all kinds of variations of the standard meatloaf. What do you add to your meatloaf to make it extra special?

Meat Loaf

1½ pounds hamburger/ground beef
¾ cup oatmeal
2 eggs
¼ cup onion
2 teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon pepper

1 cup tomato juice (I used V8 Spicy hot)

V8 Spicy Hot Tomato Juice

Take all the above ingredients and mix well. I use my hands to mix everything up—sure it’s gross to dig your hands through all that meat, but I find it the best way to really blend everything.

Once all your ingredients are thoroughly blended, spread them evenly in a 5” x 10” loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Remove from oven and squeeze ketchup over the top and then dig in!