Just what I needed

Lyn’s Meatloaf
Wal*Mart Family Cookbook Copyright 2008

2 cups soft bread crumbs
½ cup milk
½ cup Egg Beaters or 2 eggs, slightly beaten
2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp ground black pepper
2 lb lean ground beef
Cooking spray
½ cup ketchup
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp ground mustard
¼ tsp each allspice and ground cloves

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In large bowl stir together bread crumbs, milk, egg product, onion powder, 1 teaspoon salt and ¼ tsp pepper. Add ground beef; mix well. Spray 2-quart rectangular baking dish with no-stick cooking spray. Shape meat into loaf and place in 9x5x4 inch pan.
2. Bake, uncovered, for 45 minutes. Meanwhile in small bowl combine ketchup, brown sugar, mustard, allspice, and cloves. Pour sauce mixture over top of loaf. Bake for 30 minutes more of until a meat thermometer registers 160 degrees F. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Serves 8.
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I've been craving meatloaf. Since I cut back on using meat, meatloaf has definitely been off the table since most recipes require 1.5 to 2 pounds of meat. But I found some lean beef on sale and this recipe required no other special ingredients so it came out to $5-$6 to make this meatloaf. It went a long way. I froze individual slices and this made dinner for me and the boys, a few sandwiches for lunch and even one for breakfast. There's nothing wrong with a meatloaf sandwich for breakfast.

Since I've cut back on meat, especially since red meat has mainly left my diet, my butt has been dragging. I know that one does not need red meat to feel good but I guess I haven't been eating as well in general lately. Eating this meatloaf felt very therapeutic.

There was a time when allspice and cloves would have sent me running from this recipe but after trying this sloppy joe recipe with the cloves and loving it, these spices are what attracted me to this recipe. I loved what those spices brought to this. This recipe definitely hit the spot.

I hadn't been cooking and I really needed to cook again. Every so often I think, I'm done, I'm not cooking, I'll just grab whatever and get by, but I just can't eat like that. I need to plan, I need to cook, I need to get enjoyment out of my food.

I was going to list my other meatloaf recipes here but there are too many. I'll make a separate post.

I picked up this cookbook for 97 cents in the Goodwill store. It has a lot of great recipes, that I've seen before for the most part, but it's still nice to have so many good recipes in one place. Various brands sponsor the book but it's largely from-scratch cooking. It's from 2008 - does Wal*Mart put one of these out every year? If they do, I need to track more of these down and look for future versions. I think this originally sold for $4.96 which is a great deal.