Old-fashioned home cooking - Meatloaf

When I think of meatloaf, I think of TV dinners or a family sitting around a kitchen table in the 1950s. I don't think I have ever eaten meatloaf before, and if I have, I must not have liked it and blocked it out.

I was on the phone with my mom the other night asking her and my dad to come over for dinner. We talked about how comfort food sounded good, and she mentioned that she hadn't had meatloaf in years. I remember Jon making meatloaf before (I was a vegetarian though and wouldn't touch it), and nominated him to cook for us!

I was so impressed with this dinner! He made an amazing meatloaf and scalloped potatoes. I kept complimenting him on the meatloaf (we all did!) but he tried to play it off by saying "it's only meatloaf!!"

My favorite part was the part I was most unsure about - the ketchup topping!

His recipe is pretty simple -

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground beef (90% lean)
• 1 lb meatloaf mix (beef/pork/veal)
• 1/2 green pepper, chopped
• 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
• 2 eggs
• 1 c (+/-) breadcrumbs (you have to go on feel)
• Salt and pepper (a few pinches each)
• Ketchup

Directions

• Mix all ingredients together and form into a loaf. Add more breadcrumbs if you need more help holding it together.
• Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray
• Place loaf in the center of the sheet and top with ketchup
• Bake on 400 for 1 hour 20 minutes, or until internal temperature has reached 160 degrees.
• Let rest on a cutting board for a few minutes before slicing and serving.

This loaf served 4 of us, Jon and I had dinner again, and my parents split another serving for lunch - so 7 nice sized servings total.

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Now I have to share this picture and story just because I find it so funny...

My mom was sitting in our family room when Jon pulled the meatloaf out of the oven. She turned around and saw it sitting on the cutting board and kept making comments about how beautiful it was, and telling us that we had to see it from her angle. Then she asked for my camera so she could take a picture of how pretty it looked... My mom cracks me up. So here it is, her picture of the meatloaf -