Every so often, ground beef goes on sale at a pretty good price, so I buy huge amounts of it. Some gets cooked right away – like a batch of chili, or double lasagnas or casseroles, some gets wrapped and packaged up – all for the freezer.

Sometimes it’ll all go into the freezer in big packages, or as they were in the warehouse-sized packages I bought them in.

And that’s when I make meatloaf… I don’t like doing it often, and the girls love it. It doesn’t seem to matter what recipe I use, they love ‘em all. These are the three I’ve done the most though. Enjoy!

Meaty Meatloaf

1 lbs extra lean ground beef
1 lb ground turkey or chicken
1 lb bulk sausage or ground bacon
1 onion, chopped fine
2 celery stalks, chopped fine
salt & pepper, to taste
2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp oregano, dried (not ground)
1 tsp ground sage
1 sm can tomato sauce
3 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 egg
1/2 cup bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Split into two equal parts, and fill Pam-sprayed loaf pans. Bake for 1 to 1½ hours until completely cooked through.

If you won’t be using both loaves up immediately, one could be frozen if removed from pan and wrapped with foil, then placed in a freezer bag. Or, better yet, make meatloaf sandwiches for a day or two!

* * *

Meal-in-One Meatloaf

2 lbs lean ground beef
2 eggs, beaten
1 c instant brown rice
1 c brocolli flowers*, cooked
1 pkg onion soup mix
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp sage
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 c HP Sauce
1 tbsp hot water

* The easiest way to get the flowers is to trim the flower ends from the stalks, bring to a boil in very lightly salted water, then remove from heat. In fifteen minutes, drain, then gently break them up with a fork.

Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Split into two equal parts, and fill Pam-sprayed loaf pans. Bake for 1 to 1½ hours until completely cooked through. Mix the hot water with the HP Sauce, and spread over the top of the loaves, return to oven for ten minutes.

This one doesn’t make good sandwiches, but does freeze well.

* * *

Mexitali Meatloaf

1 1/2 lb lean ground beef
1 lb ground pork
1 pkg onion soup mix
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp cumin
2 tsp garlic powder
1 c fine bread crumbs
1 egg
1 c hot salsa
1 can Campbell’s Tomato w/Basil & Oregano Soup
2 c Kraft TexMex and/or Italiano shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Split into two equal parts, and fill Pam-sprayed loaf pans. Bake for 1 hour. Mix the salsa and soup together, spread over loaves and return to oven for half to three-quarters of an hour, then top with cheese blend, and return only long enough to melt the cheese.

This one makes great sandwiches, if it lasts that long!

(I have occasionally modified this one to include rice: 1 c instant brown rice, double eggs, half the bread crumbs.)