My husband and I love this meat loaf! I’ve been making it for years and have never strayed because of the simplicity and deliciousness of it! There are two pages ‘bunny eared’ in my Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book; one is the Banana Bread, which I will make as soon as the bananas that are sitting on my counter are ready and two is this fantastic Meat Loaf! Don’t get me wrong, I have tried other recipes in the book and do go back to random ones from time to time, but I have to admit that I keep this gigantic book on my counter mainly for these two recipes and because it’s a pretty off white color!

I made this Meat Loaf for dinner the other night and paired it with mashed potatoes and roaster cauliflower. I’m only posting about the meat loaf, but wanted to let everyone know that I add sour cream to my mashed potatoes as I’m mashing them…such a fatty. And the roasted cauliflower recipe that I use can be found here: http://www.wegmans.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10052&catalogId=10002&productId=347545 The cauliflower is super easy and is DELICIOUS!

Ingredients

2 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup milk
2/3 cup fine dry bread crumbs or 2 cups soft bread crumbs
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
2 tablespoons snipped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried leaf sage, basil, or oregano, crushed
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef, lamb, or pork
1/4 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon dry mustard

The original recipe says that the Meat Loaf yields 8 servings. I beg to differ, unless you are planning to feed 8 small children. This recipe fed my husband and I for two dinners. Keep in mind that neither of us are big eaters, but my husband did have seconds at dinner number one. You can see the size of the serving in the final picture at the conclusion of the recipe.

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a medium owl combine eggs, milk and bread crumbs. Stir in onion, parsley, salt, sage, and pepper.

Add ground meat; mix together. I find it easiest to mix the meat with a clean hand. (I’m sure my husband would cringe if he knew that)

Lightly pat mixture into an ungreased 8x4x2 inch loaf pan.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 1 to 1-1/4 hours or until internal temperature reads 160 degrees F.

Remove meat loaf from oven and spoon off fat.

In a small bowl combine ketchup. sugar, and dry mustard (whichI forgot to add into the ingredients pictured at the top).

Spread ketchup mixture over meat and bake for an additional 10 minutes.

Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Reagan was uninterested in the meat loaf, the mashed potatoes or the cauliflower…UGH! However, she LOVED dipping her finger into the ketchup topping!