Yesterday's Meatloaf

It is now my pleasure to introduce the world to this new blog for South Provo dinner groups: Yesterday's Meatloaf.

The point of this blog is mainly to share recipes for the wonderful foods we get to eat on a regular basis at dinner group. But feel free to share other things as you see fit.

The blog got its name because today at dinner we were eating yesterday's meatloaf. Somehow the phrase seemed to fit. And I've since learned that "yesterday's meatloaf" is but half of a handy little saying: "Yesterday's meatloaf is tomorrow's sloppy Joes." Of course, in our case it would have to be restated for accuracy: "Yesterday's meatloaf is today's meatloaf burgers." Wisdom for the ages, no?

Anyway, enough with the introduction. Let's dive in with the first of what I hope will be many posts on this blog, a recipe ostentatiously titled "Meatloaves of Yesterday". Not that anybody was clamoring for the recipe, but I want to jump-start this blog with some content. Here goes.

Meatloaves of Yesterday

For our potluck dinner on Groundhog Day I cooked meatloaf. The recipe I used is my own variation on the "Easy Meatloaf" recipe at AllRecipes, but scaled up substantially, replacing breadcrumbs with oats, adding some ground pork to make it more suitable for Groundhog Day, and adding a bell pepper.

Ingredients

• 3 lbs ground beef
• 1 lb ground pork
• 3 large eggs
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 2 cups oatmeal (non-instant)
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/3 cup brown mustard
• 2/3 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup barbecue sauce
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450° F
2. Lightly grease/oil enough casserole dishes or baking sheets to hold a few hefty meatloaves. I used olive oil for this.
3. In a large bowl, combine beef, pork, eggs, onion, bell pepper, and oatmeal. Stir until the mixture has become largely uniform.
4. Shape the mixture into loaves as desired and place in the casserole dishes. I made 3 loaves.
5. In a smaller bowl, combine brown sugar, mustard, ketchup, and barbecue sauce. Stir until mixed uniformly.
6. Spread the sauce on top of the meatloaves.
7. Bake the loaves for 1 hour and 10 minutes.

Be sure to check that the meatloaves have cooked through to the center. Once they're cooked enough to make you happy, slice them up and serve!

Meatloaf for Groundhog Day?

Meatloaf is a perfect food for celebrating Groundhog Day. It looks vaguely like a groundhog, and it has its origins in a food called scrapple, which has been eaten in Pennsylvania since before the Revolutionary War.

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures. Next time!