Dinner #1! Easy, old fashioned, but oh so tasty!

Last night we had a family favorite...Meatloaf and mashed potatoes!  I can't tell you how my mouth waters when I just think about it.  Yes, I know that sounds strange.  Meatloaf?  Yes!  Meatloaf!  My kids love it and so does my husband.  It doesn't take a long time to make, but some people shy away from it.  You can make it as simple or as complicated a flavor as you like.

The basic ingredients for my meatloaf are a pound of ground beef, some onions, Worcestershire Sauce, salt, lemon pepper, bread, and an egg.  That's it!  I use 90/10 fatty ground beef.  Mostly because it's cheaper to buy at Sam's that way!  I buy it in bulk.  When you're feeding this many people, you gotta keep a lot of meat handy.  Right now, since I have small children I only use a pound.  As they get a little older, I'll have to increase that.  If you need more yourself, just increase all of the ingredients except for the egg.  You still only need one egg.

First you'll take the ground beef and put it in a bowl.  I have a very nice set of metal mixing bowls from Pampered Chef that I love to use.  Three sizes...I can always pick the perfect one!

Add about a half teaspoon of salt (to taste really).  My cooking theory is this...if you add salt while you're cooking you use less and everyone is less likely to add later.
Add about a half teaspoon of lemon pepper.
Tonight I used dried chopped onions in my meatloaf.  Add about a tablespoon to the bowl.  Sometimes I use fresh onions.  I sautee them in a little butter first, because I do not like the flavor of raw onions in anything!  But the dried onions have a little bit of extra flavor to them, so I don't mind using them in this.
Next you'll add about a half tablespoon of Worcestershire Sauce.  Then crack one egg right into the bowl.
The egg will bind the meatloaf and hold it together.  You don't have to use it.  But it makes it stay in one piece a whole lot better!
My last ingredient is half a slice of bread.  We eat wheat bread, so that's what goes into mine.  You can use white if that's what your family likes.  The bread is nothing more than a filler, again you can take it out if you want.  But I find that it's a smoother consistency with the bread.  No one in my family eats the heal of the bread...so I use it for my meatloaf.  Just break it into tiny pieces into the bowl.

Your prep time on this should really be no more than about 5 minutes.  Unless of course, you have to chop and sautee the onions.

We now have all ingredients added to the bowl.  At this point I usually stop and prep my pan.  I use a skillet on top of the stove.  Add about a tablespoon or less of vegetable oil to the pan ( I do this even in my non-stick pans.  Keeps everything nice and slick.) and then turn it on high heat.

Now back to the bowl.  Using a fork, I start mixing the meatloaf ingredients.  Pressing into the bowl to mash up the meat as well as getting everything well blended.  Nothing tastes worse than a big bite of meatloaf with a CHUNK of salt in it because it didn't get mixed well.  Then comes the fun part!  STOP!  Put the fork down...and use your hands!  There's no way to make a meatloaf without using your hands.  So dig in!  With your hands, make sure every bit of the meat has been squished.  This will ensure that all ingredients have been incorporated.  Then, using those same hands...mold your meatloaf.

My meatloaf is more like a meat round.  I make a circle out of it  And I never form it any thicker than about 3/4 of an inch thick to an inch thick.  It cooks more evenly, and faster!  Once you've got it formed...turn and plop it into the already hot skillet.  Carefully please...don't want to read that anyone got burned! Mine looks like this:

I like to brown the loaf on each side on high heat.  About 2 to 3 minutes each side.  Once it's browned, I turn the heat down to medium and pour two cans of tomato sauce on top.  A lot of folks use ketchup, or brown gravy.  I prefer the tomato sauce because it doesn't take over the flavor so much.  Using the empty cans, I fill each can about 1/4 of the way with water.  This allows me to get every last drop of the sauce out!  Don't waste!  Then I pour it around the meatloaf.  Now cover the pan...and let it cook for about 30 minutes.  A little longer if your meatloaf is bigger.  But regardless of how much meat you use, if you don't make it any thicker than about an inch...it shouldn't take much longer than the 30 minutes.  And you'll want to watch the pan and add additional water as needed.

The 30 minutes should be right on for cooking time.  But I test mine to be sure by just cutting it in half.  It looks pretty for presentation that way any way!

I do gravy for my potatoes using the extra sauce in the pan.  I do it two ways.  Sometimes, if I've used 3 cans of tomato sauce instead of just two, I just scoop it out and use it like that.  But sometimes, like last night, I make "real" gravy.  Put three tablespoons of flour, a half teaspoon of salt, and a little pepper into a measuring cup.  Add a cup of water and stir with either a fork or a small whisk to get the lumps out.  Once you've removed the meatloaf from the pan, pour this flour mixture into the tomato sauce with the heat on low.  Stir until you're sure there aren't any lumps or bumps and let it cook for just about 5 minutes.  You're ready to take it up and pour it over your creamy mashed potatoes!  Mmmmmm...

When I'm cooking a dinner for my family I almost always have a meat, a starch, and at least one vegetable.  Sometimes two vegetables if I can.  Last night I made fresh mashed potatoes, which are easier than you think, and some boiled broccoli.  I use frozen broccoli normally, because it's so hard to keep fresh vegetables unless you go to the store constantly.  But I watch Dr. Oz!  And he said the frozen are just as good as fresh.  So I'll take his word for it.  Just put the broccoli in a small pan and cover it with water.  Add about a half teaspoon of salt, and some of those same dried, chopped onions.  Let them come to a boil and voila!  They're done! I add about a half tablespoon of butter...and it's served!

I hope this helps someone to be able to put a simple home cooked meal on the table.  Please ask if you have any questions!  And in the words of Julia Childs "Bon Appetit!"