Meat Loaf Wednesday

Boy is it hard to make meat loaf look sexy and I apologize in advance if you are on a vegan diet.  Avert your eyes! Get out, get out! 

Okay – for those of you who can and will eat meat, this is a quick and hearty meal.  Thanks Callie (little sis) for bringing it to my attention, she gets the credit for the major part of this recipe. 

 No offense Mom but the mention of meat loaf brings a shudder of distaste.  I hated meat loaf as a kid, those chunks of onion and the celery and salty cold ketchup.  My mom is going to say I’m exaggerating and being a drama queen but seriously it didn’t sound appealing.  Little Sis convinced me mainly on the easiness factor! And no, that isn’t plain ol’ cold ketchup! By the way, be sure your ketchup IS gluten free, not all of them are.

If you are wondering spell check doesn’t like catsup or ketchup so call it what you like – you say tomAto, I say tomOto.

Do I really have to go there? (Shopping List)

• hamburger 1 1/2lb (give or take, I actually did measure so you could see how much the recipe makes.) Also, I read a helpful magazine article recently that recommends using half ground pork.  Because I really did not want to go there (shopping) I sent the hubby after work and told him ground turkey by mistake. I ended up just using the beef.
• rice crackers like these.  I got mine at Costco

 

• 1 egg
• onion soup base; just add extra onion powder to the soup base (or store bought if you can find a gluten free version)
• catsup/ketchup (gf of course)
• evaporated milk, fresh milk, goat milk, or rice milk… you pick!

If I can do it you can do it! (The Recipe)

• 1 1/2 lb hambuger or 3/4 lb ground beef and 3/4 lb ground pork
• 1/2  cup crushed rice crackers (the boys loved helping me smash them with a cup in a plastic bag-good fun until the bag broke)
• 1/2 Cup milk (if you use evaporated milk you can use up to 1/4 cup more)
• 2 Tbsp soup base or an onion soup packet
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder (better yet saute’ some onion with veggies in cooking oil-I like Coconut oil)
• 1 egg
• 1/4 Cup catsup

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees

Gently whip the egg, add the rice crackers and the milk, stir in soup base or packet and extra onion powder if you are using the base.  Next mix in the remaining  ingredients.  Your clean hands work best but a wooden spoon can be used as well.

Painstakingly mold the meat loaf mass into a pan that is slightly oversized or you can use an actual loaf pan. Scott Peacock says an oversized pan helps the fat to escape.

Bake for 45min.  You can bake with or without the glaze below…

Glaze:

• 1/4 Cup catsup/ketchup
• 1/4 Cup brown sugar (or to taste)

This has been another recipe for the “What’s for Dinner Wednesday Blog Carnival” hosted by The Gluten Free Homemaker.