My Attempts at Cooking: Meatloaf

Meatloaf has always been one of my favorite meals, one of the things that reminded me of home.  The best meatloaf recipe I have found that is most similar to the way my Mama made it is Paula Deen's Old Fashioned Meatloaf.

The ingredients are as follows:

1 lb ground beef
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped bell pepper
1   egg, lightly beaten
8 ounces canned diced tomatoes (without juice)
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats

Topping:
1/3 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon prepared mustard

After you combine all the ingredients you just form into a loaf and bake at 375 degrees for a hour.  I sometimes make the topping or sometimes I just use whatever barbecue sauce I have in my refrigerator.  I like to put it on about 10 minutes before I take it out of the oven to form a crispy crust.  I don't have a meatloaf pan, so I just form and place on a baking sheet or pizza pan covered with foil.  I always form 2 loaves, then I just freeze one for later, since we are cooking for one!  For the complete recipe see the link below:

http://www.pauladeen.com/recipes/recipe_view/old_fashioned_meat_loaf_aka_basic_meatloaf

On a side note, I just read recently that Paula Deen has developed type 2 diabetes....I know shocker ;)  However, I still love Paula Deen, even though I think she has taken the "I'm just a country girl" routine a tad too far.  I still use her cookbooks to cook a lot of dishes that remind me of my childhood.  If you don't have a Paula Deen cookbook the best ones are "The Lady and Sons" cookbooks.  They have all the traditional southern recipes you grew up on. 

You always eat meatloaf with mashed potatoes.  Since I lack the time and motivation to cook homemade mashed potatoes I always use instant mashed potatoes! They taste just as good....to me they do anyways.  (My mother always tells the story that I would turn my nose up as a child when my aunt cooked homemade mashed potatoes, because I was used to eating Hungry Jack instant potatoes! :)  I like to use the packets of Idahoan mashed potatoes, they are my favorite. Plus, they only take 4 minutes to make!

Psalm 56:3 When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.