me-love-mini-meat-loaves

I've never been a big meatloaf fan but my husband loves it. I've tried on numerous occasions to make a good one, most of the time ending up with something that tastes too beefy. That's why when I found a recipe in C is for Cooking (the Sesame Street cookbook) for Cookie Monster's Me-Love-Mini-Meat-Loaves, I thought it would surely be a good one if it is recommended for kids. 

This meatloaf recipe is a blend of lean ground beef and pork, oats and shredded carrot & onion. The extra step of shredding the vegetables is a great one. It keeps the meatloaf moist and therefore creating a uniform loaf. I didn't over mix or pack the meatloaf down because I feared the loaf might turn out too dense.

Here is our finished meatloaf. Although we followed the recipe for the meatloaf as instructed, we took several liberties after it was complete. First we made it into a traditional large loaf (where the recipe indicates to make mini loaves). This was simply because we wanted it to stay moist. Secondly, we added at TON of chili sauce on top. I can't stress to you how important that step is. As the loaf baked it reduced and thickened eventually creating a slightly caramelized sauce on top. We used Willies Chili Sauce (found in Ontario), which we don't use often, but it's like a sweet salsa with zip. Super delish if you can find it. But if not just blend ketchup with chili sauce and you're set.  

One thing that I really disliked about this meatloaf is how long it took to bake. My goodness, it went into the oven at 400 and stayed there for an hour and a half! Well, the best things come to those who wait, but this dinner is less than ideal for mid-week working families. Looks like Cookie was onto something making mini loaves...

This dinner was super tasty. And, if you can manage to let this dinner sit and cool, it is so delicious at almost room temperature (not sure why, but the flavours come together nicely).