This isn't a recipie but,a funny story about meat loaf..

One night after work,my stepmother was making meat loaf,and accidentally knocked it onto the floor,pan and all.Dad comes in,hears the commotion,they ate the meatloaf,and Dad said it actually tasted better than usual.

So,our family joke,is whenever meat loaf is served at my dads,we always ask my stepmom.."Did you drop it on the floor,first?"

1 1/2 to 2 lbs lean ground beef
1 small can (5 1/2 to 6oz) evaporated milk
1 envelope dry onion soup mix

Combine ingredients, shape into a loaf or two smaller ones. Bake 45 minutes at 350 degree preheated oven.

This is so simple and has good flavor. Of course DH pours ketchup all over his!

I would mix together the following ingredients for meatloaf, always loved by my family, hope you try it, with all of these recipes sent, you may get tired of meatloaf for awhile! Take 1 lb. lean ground beef, add 2 large eggs, as much garlic as you love,(I use tons of garlic in my cooking)add 1/4 cup bread or crushed cracker crumbs,1/4 cup ground oatmeal,1/2 cup ground flax-I grind my flax in a coffee bean grinder-then add i pouch of Liptons onion soup mix,and sometimes I add 1/2 cup mashed beans,anykind of canned beans.Mix it all together, so everything is well blended, add it to your greased meatloaf pan. Pat down the top of the mixture, then with your fingers, poke holes thru the top of the meat, a half inch deep or so,then take worcestershire sauce,and let the holes fill up abit with the sauce, and let it marinade like that for 30 minutes or more,then bake it at 350 for 45-60 minutes.Yes, abit different, but it does not get dry, stays moist, and tastes full of flavor. And its a great way to add fiber to your diet, without really tasting all of the fiber, great for the kids. You don't need to add the mashed beans if you don't like them, sometimes instead, I will add a 1/2 cup shredded sqaush, or I also add some cooked lentils, they can be pureed in food proccessor, and mixed in, so no one will even know they are in there! When I was raising my girls, I would often add extras like lentils,etc. to their food, and they never figured it out, just cleaned their plates! A moms got to do what a moms got to do! They used to roll their eyes, and called me "mother nutrition"!

I had recently gotten a package of flax seed but had been trying to decide how to use it. What a great idea! Thanks!

Friend2U, I looked up in some of my herb books for a sage idea but I wasn't able to find anything. I know you don't like the tomato sauce on top but I've posted my meatloaf glaze below.

When I make the actual meatloaf I just use the mince, some onion (but I always pre-cook the onion before I put it in the mixture. (not browned, just transparent). Sea salt, ground pepper and some chopped parsley. Could use sage instead.

I use grated carrots, garlic and an egg yolk but really I could put anything in it.

I use evaporated milk in mine too but what I do is use a small amount of broken up bread as crumbs and soak the bread in the evaporated milk before I mix it into the meat and vegetables mix. It's not necessary to use the bread but I like it myself. It all gets integrated in the meat mix, so you can't tell there's bread in there. It just seems to help bind it all together and hold during the cooking process.

So then I mix up the mixture and put it in a loaf cake tin. Then I have the oven heated already and turn the loaf tin upside down on a baking tray (I usually use some baking paper because the caramelization (that's not an actual word LOL ! ) process at the end of cooking tends to stick all over the baking tray) and leave the cake tin on top.

Towards the end, when it's getting almost cooked, I take the cake tin off and mix up ketchup with dry mustard and some brown sugar and a tiny dash of worchestershire sauce and spread that all over the top and the sides and then I put it back in the oven. The sugar seems to caramalize it very nicely.

Actually it's mostly my husband who doesn't like the ketchup on top. You glaze sounds good to me. I guess I could do it half and half.

Thanks for taking the time to write. (Everyone else too) I'm going to try many of these eventually. I am very excited about the new recipes. It will be fun to experiment.

Thanks

FRIEND2U-I have been using flax for years now, i will list some ways i use it, but you must first get a good coffee bean ginder, its waht i use to grind the flax, keep flax in your freezer, so it doesn't go rancid-grind it fine when you need it-pancakes, breads, waffles,pie crusts,any Brown Bettys,chocolate cakes, any cakes,cereals,casseroles,quiches,basically in everything!! and instead of eggs in baking, you may substitute 2 tablespoons ground flax for every egg doing this for 15 years now, you don't miss the eggs, and add alot of fiber.hope you try some of these ideas!

I make my meatloaf differently everytime; I'm not a measurer. Besides meat, all my meatloaf always has eggs, onions, cracker crumbs, and worcestershire sauce--we call it meatloaf in a bottle.

I like to mix ground beef with ground turkey. All turkey tastes too dry and bland, but the mix tastes the best to me. I also like to make free-form mini-loaves on a baking sheet, and that helps the fat drip off. But when I want a little fat, I'll put a couple slices of bacon on top, and once I wrapped the loaves in puff pastry. That was yummy, but definitely not healthy!

My husband's favorite glaze is ketchup mixed with barbeque sauce and maple syrup, with a little brown sugar sprinkled on top towards the end. Meatloaf is fun to experiment with. I like chopped tomatoes and tomato sauce mixed in.

This recipe was included in an email I received today. I haven't tried it but it sounded like it might be good:



A Luxury Meatloaf

4 Tbs. butter (can use less butter if desired)
2 C. sliced fresh mushrooms
1 small onion, finely chopped
1-2 Tbs. fresh minced garlic (or to taste)
1 small red bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped
1 tsp. dried thyme (can use more)
1 1/4 lb. lean ground beef
1 1/4 C. Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
1/2 C. grated parmesan cheese
1/2 C. plain yogurt
1 large egg, slightly beaten
1/4 C. ketchup or chili sauce
1 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce
8 oz. cheddar cheese, shredded or finely diced
2 tsp. season salt (or to taste)
1-2 tsp. black pepper (or to taste)
Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan. In a skillet melt butter over medium heat, add in mushrooms, onion, red bell pepper, garlic and thyme; sauté for about 6 minutes, then transfer to a large bowl. Add in all remaining ingredients; using clean hands mix thoroughly. Place mixture into the prepared loaf pan, then place them onto a baking sheet to catch any spills. Bake for 50-60 minutes. Using 2 forks remove the meatloaf from the pan. Let rest 5-7 minutes before slicing.

Make mine from what is on hand.
Buy a good burger, 2 or so lbs.
2 eggs
3/4 C applesauce about a 1/4 c or so per lb It is a feel to not be sloppy,
chopped onion
some ketchup
salt and pepper
bread crumbs

My Dad loved elbow noodles too, cooked & drained ones added.

The special hidden ingrediant family fav, peel a hard boiled egg and place it in the loaf for suprize slice of it.