Good Ol Fashioned Meat Loaf.. with a twist!

HELLO!!!!! I know, I know, its been a really long time! There's been a whole lot of doing the exact same thing every day here on the ranch and on top of that, the Holidays! But, I'm back. And I promise I'll do my best to never leave you that long again... Pinkie Swear.

So, are we friends again? Good, because I really want to tell you about my Meatloaf!

Meatloaf can be tricky. We all remember the hard as a rock, flavorless, cardboardy meatloaf our friend's moms make ( not my mom of course, she is a master meatloaf maker!) so I made it my personal goal to find a traditional meatloaf that is tasty and nutritious.

Here's all the usual suspects.  Half a red pepper, half a red onion, 2 garlic cloves minced, 1 cup of mozzarella cheese, 1 egg and 1 cup mushrooms and 1 cup of breadcrumbs. (Usual for me, maybe not for you, my usual is everyone else's weird.)

To 2 lbs of ground beef add a little S&P, the egg and the breadcrumbs. I like to get this rockin and rollin first before the veggies go in.  Once its pretty melded add the rest of your ingredients and keep folding. 

  Its tempting to work this meatloaf to death but that's where the brick like texture comes in to play so get it just mixed.  Add a big ol squirt of Ketchup and a couple little dollops of Dijon mustard, mix one more time. 

Place in a loaf man, top with a little more Ketchup and a little more cheese
Bake covered for 45 minutes at 350 degrees, uncover and bake for 15 more minutes.

Of course you serve this with mac and cheese... what else do you eat with meatloaf?