Recipe 16: Meat Loaf

Alex being a big helper!

I'm sure you're saying to yourself, "What's so special about meat loaf??"  Well, I have cooked Kevin's version of meat loaf a few times with good success, but when I came across this recipe, I wanted to have a chance to try my own. One of the agreements we have in our kitchen is that we don't duplicate recipes because we both want to be able to prepare unique dishes for our family.  But, my justification for prepping this recipe was it gave me a chance to work and learn about working with beef (which we don't eat often) and playing with herbs.  Kevin's meat loaf and mine varied in that his uses green onions and ketchup and I used carrots, milk, and bacon (yes! bacon!!!)

I knew I would like this recipe right away because it's super easy to do. But, I guess that's one of the things about meat loaf...if you've got ground meat and other stuff, then you're good to go. I followed the recipe to the letter, except that I used dried parsley instead of fresh...my last run-in with parsley was not fun and ruined a good batch of salsa.  Regardless, it came out yummy. I paired it with mac and cheese with extra cheese and butter and mashed potatoes made with butter and cream. Yes, right now I can smell the butter through my pores, haha! It was so yummy though...it's not often we eat Paula Deen style, so what the heck!

Now that I have made this recipe, though, I don't expect it to be a regular because Kevin's meat loaf is a family staple. I'll keep mine tucked away for when it's the right time to give it another shot. And, I think I'll be waking up early tomorrow to make sure I get a run or ride in to help hold of some of these butter pounds!!