Meatloaf (Basic)

I made it plain and basic because my husband doesn’t like meatloaf made by other folks or from a diner or cafeteria. He says he likes my meatloaf because it doesn’t have all the other ingredients most people put in it like green peppers, celery, etc. It does have most of those except I chop them very fine or run them through a small food processor.

Two of our school-aged grandsons, Rigby and Reagan, visited us with their father one day. I only had meatloaf prepared for dinner and I was not sure if the boys would be finicky and would not like it. I was totally surprised that they asked for seconds, even thirds and Rigby even asked to take the rest home. Their father was surprised too because they also make meatloaf at home but they never got excited about it.

They also asked for meatloaf the next time they came over and also took the leftovers home too. So, I now have them frozen, ready for when they would come to visit on short notice.

This is similar to Filipino Imbutido except Imbutido is made with ground pork, mixed with sliced Vienna Sausages and hard-boiled eggs. They use pork intestine membrane (utosinsal) to wrap it to hold it together then steamed.

This is only a small batch. It can be doubled.

1 lb. ground beef
1/2 c chopped onions
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
3 slices bread or 1/2 C bread crumbs or 1/2 C quick cook oatmeal
1 egg
1 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. pepper
1 – 8 oz. can tomato sauce or 1 cup diced tomatoes or 1 cup Rotel

Topping:

Mix together – 1/3 c ketchup, 2 TBS brown sugar, 1 TBS Dijon or prepared mustard

Mix all very well except the topping. Place in a loaf pan sprayed with Pam or a non-stick one or in a roasting pan and shape it into a loaf. Spread the ketchup mixture for topping on the top and bake in 375° F oven for 1 hr. or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Chopped green peppers, and other herbs, or even raisins can be added if desired.