Meatloaf With Roasted Potatoes

How many of you like meatloaf?  Is it a comfort food you grew up on?  Or do you view it as a mystery food to be avoided at all cost?   I grew up eating meatloaf and I can't say it was always my favorite.  As an adult I've made many many varieties of meatloaf.    I've made complicated versions with lots and lots of chopping involved and simple versions that called for picante sauce.  I've decided, though, that I really wanted more from my meatloaf.  When it's made from turkey it just doesn't seem real to me.  It lacks flavor and just misses that special something.  But when I make the traditional ground beef meatloaf I find myself wishing for a more lean dish.  That's why I started playing around with the idea of my recipe.  I make no claims to be the only person who ever made it this way but back when we lived in Texas there weren't recipes posted all over the internet like there is now and I just decided to experiment.  I'm crazy like that.   As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I found this recipe in my files.  It's on a little recipe card with an armadillo on it that says "From Texas With Love" and I decided to see how it turned out by having Joe follow the directions I wrote down way back then.   I was curious to see if my brilliant idea had stood the test of time.  In other words.. would we feel the love??

I think the people that don't like meatloaf fall into these categories:

• People don't eat meat
• People have a fear of not knowing exactly what all is in it
• People have texture issues and envision big hunks of bell pepper hiding out in there

I might be able to help with a couple of those things. You don't want to omit the peppers and lose all that flavor!  
This recipe calls for half ground turkey meat and half ground beef.  I believe it makes it have a little firmer texture and is a little bit lighter while providing the same great flavor of more traditional meatloaf.
Here's what you need:

1/2 pound of ground turkey
1/2 pound of ground chuck
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp. of either sage or poultry seasoning
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 cup of cracker crumbs or bread crumbs
2 cups of grated cheese
1 T. dried minced onion flakes
1 bell pepper

The first obstacle that I ran into was Joe calling from Wal-Mart saying that our store doesn't offer half pound portions of meat.  I CAN'T TELL YOU HOW MUCH I MISS H-E-B!!!! 

SO.... he bought a pound of turkey and a pound of ground chuck and we doubled the recipe!

You know, I'm always saying use what you have! and so this is what we had on hand.  Swiss cheese, and panko bread crumbs.  But I've got to tell you my first choice would be pepper jack cheese.  I think it would really add that extra zip needed.  I'm all about zip.  

I stood leaning on my crutches and Joe did all the chopping and mixing.  One time I did tell him " I like to finely chop the peppers" and he said "It IS finely chopped."  so I just dropped it.  :)  Sideline chefs can't be too bossy.   But take note people with texture issues.... You can even pulverize this in the food processor if you like and you won't have so much as one chunk of bell pepper if you don't want it.  But me? I like a little bit of color so I leave bits.  I'm all about bits.  

Zip and Bits.  (why yes, cabin fever has sunk in, why do you ask?)

So mix all of that up REAL good and then put it in a casserole dish.  I used Pam in it first just as an extra measure to make sure it doesn't stick. 

And you know I forgot to add the sauce for the topping in the ingredient list.  But here's what you can use... Ketchup.  Or my new favorite thing Chili Sauce!!!  I'm in love with Heinz Chili Sauce.  Just sayin'. It has....... ZIP!!! 

Now, cover this with foil and bake it at 350 for an hour or so...  I like to uncover it for the last few minutes to brown the top a little.  I think we ended up having to cook these over an hour. 

Need a potato side dish but don't want to work too hard at it?  Here's Carrie's roasted potato recipe. It is super quick, easy, and delicious! 

You'll need a bag of small red potatoes, a packet of Lipton soup mix, and olive oil.  My potatoes weren't exactly tiny.  I would normally just cut them in half but I had to cut some of those into quarters.  

Throw the potatoes once cut into a large ZIP-lock bag (heehee) and add a packet of soup mix and some olive oil.  I couldn't tell you how much I used.. maybe a half a cup??  Basically just enough to coat all of the potatoes.

Just mix,mix, mix...

And throw it in a pan!  Cover tightly with foil and put it in the oven with the meatloaf while it's cooking.

I think this night it was just the two of us at home.  Amy was tumbling or stunting and Evan was at work.  We really are going to have to change our habit of cooking enough for an army soon. But it was even better left over.   Speaking of left-over meatloaf.  My favorite thing to do is use it as a homemade pizza topping.  It's the BOMB as a pizza topping.   It is ZIPPY!! 

Happy Cooking!!! 

P.S.  What shall I call this recipe?  Meatloaf? How about Zippy Meatloaf?!  yes.. that's gotta be it!