Meatloaf, Double Beet Loaf ... I Love Meatloaf!

But I used to hate it. Grey meat ... ugh. Covered in ketchup ... no thank you! I tried it and apparently didn't like it. Everyone I knew, though, loved it, so I thought maybe I hadn't given it a fair shake.

So I tried it again, but this time I made it myself. I used my mom's recipe from - I believe - the Betty Crocker Cookbook, and tweaked it a bit. Let me tell you, I must be one hell of a tweaker because I love meatloaf now! (Not that my mom's is bad ... aside from the ketchup she puts on it it's actually quite good and very close to mine.)

Because this is the way I make it and this is MY blog, I'll give you my take on Betty Crocker's classic.

Meat Loaf

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

1 pound hamburger
1/2 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1 small onion, chopped*
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground sage
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 slice of Colby Jack cheese
lots of barbecue sauce

Mix all ingredients except cheese and barbecue sauce. Divide in half. Take one half and plop it into the bottom of a greased 3 quart (or 9"x 11" - which ever you have) pan. Form it into a flattened oval. Tear the cheese into smaller pieces and place them on the meat, careful to keep them away from the edges (probably by about 1/2"). Plop the other half of the meat mixture on top of the cheese and form into the traditional oval loaf shape, making sure to seal the edges really well**. (I do the plopping and forming with a wooden spoon because I don't like touching raw meat, but it is much easier to do it with your hands.) Zig-zag barbecue sauce across the top - or write something with it if you're feeling spunky and have a good squeeze bottle.

Cook uncovered for 1 hour, or until done. (Which, if you've made it ahead of time and kept it in the fridge will be longer. Please learn from my mistakes!)

* If onions bother you or someone you know, you can use my mom's trick and use 1 tablespoon of flaked onions in place of fresh onion. I usually use WAY too much onion, creating more of an onion loaf than a meat loaf, but that's kind of the way we like it. Onion is good. I have used various colors of onion for this recipe and prefer either white or red, depending on my mood that day.

** If you don't seal the edges well, some of your cheese may seep out during cooking ... and that is just not acceptable.

I hope you enjoy it as much as we do! If it means anything, this happens to be Baylor's current favorite meal I make. He hoovers it without much, if any, prodding.