Brown Sugar Meatloaf

This is another Cooks Club recipe, from the Taste.Com.Au forums. Normally I avoid cooking meatloaf, because it is always a disaster, and DP doesn't like meatloaf. But I have Pies in the freezer for him, and bgp from the forum suckered me in with talk of leftovers on sandwiches, and my freezer lunch stash is getting low again. The kids absolutely demolished this. I forgot to put the milk in, and made a few other minor adjustments to the original recipe. I've written it here as I made it, only I've left the milk in for you. ;)

Brown Sugar Meatloaf
650 gm Lean Beef Mince
¾ cup Milk
2 eggs
1 ½ tsp salt
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp minced garlic
½ onion
2 spring onions
½ cup bread crumbs – either fresh or packet
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup tomato sauce

Directions:
• Preheat oven to 180 degrees C
• Press brown sugar evenly in the bottom of loaf pan
• Spoon tomato sauce mixture evenly over sugar
• In a large bowl, mix all other ingredients until well combined
• Shape into a loaf & gently place on top of the Sauce
• Bake in oven for approximately 1 hour or until cooked
• Two ways to cut: Use tongs & spatula to lift out of loaf pan & slice on board or slice in the pan
• Stir the sauce in the bottom of the pan & pour over Meatloaf slices

Although not essential it is a good idea to use the leanest mince you can afford, if you find there is too much oil, spoon off before giving the sauce a stir.

Alternatives: Replace ½ cup tomato sauce with ¼ cup Tomato Sauce & ¼ cup Sweet Chilli Sauce

If you don’t have a loaf pan, you can use a muffin tin – just divide mixture evenly & half the cooking time.


Don't forget to get messy with your young 'uns for Kids In The Kitchen, training our next generation of food bloggers! ;)

Menu Plan Monday

This week's meals, complete with links when applicable.

Monday Mini Meatloaves, mashed potatoes
Tuesday Chicken & vegetable pies
Wednesday Chow Mein
Thursday Chicken kebobs with rice
Friday Fish and Chips
Saturday Pasta with toasted Cheese & Chive bread
Sunday Ham, pineapple & cheese scrolls

We had the mini meatloaves tonight. I forgot to take a photo, but I must say I was unimpressed. DP doesn't like meatloaf, but I thought we'd give it a try anyway, since it was so different from his mother's recipe. Turns out, he just doesn't like meatloaf. But Miss Two and Master Three weren't all that enthused either. So many of the reviews lauded this recipe as a sneaky way to get the kids to eat their vegetables... I would have done better to serve carrot and zucchini in recognisable forms, as they are two of the favourite vegetables in the house. Aside from that, thesse were bland, and crusty/crunchy dry outside, while being rather too moist in the middle, falling apart at the drop of a hat. A pity I was trying to be smart and made a double batch, now we have a whole meal's worth in the freezer. Still, better than having to resort to toast in extreme circumstnces I guess. At least the mashed potatoes went down with no hassles.