Mama's Meatloaf

I call this one Mama's Meatloaf because this is what we always referred to it as. This is my mother-in-law's recipe, but as my strong genetics shine through, I modified it a little bit. Nothing extreme but when I don't have a certain ingredient, I tend to replace it with whatever I have on hand. And I say my strong genetics shine through because my mother is notorious for doing this exact same thing. I remember as a child we would ask what was for dinner and she would reply "(insert dinner meal) a la Di". Which meant she had put her own twist on it. Her name is Diane, hence "a la Di". Sometimes it worked, sometimes...not so much. Hey, you live and learn.

So, I did the same thing with this recipe. I made some substitutions and some conversions for measuring and voila it became my husband's favorite dinner. Pair it with my southern mac and cheese and it's a definite winner. See here for that awesome recipe. So I will post the original recipe, and in parenthesis I will insert my substitutions. That way, if the meatloaf God moves you, you can try both and please feel free and let me know which one turned out best for you.

Ingredients:
2 lbs. Ground beef (or the 2.25 lbs. pre packaged ground beef)
1 5 oz. can of evaporated milk (2/3 C. of milk)
2 eggs, beaten
3 Tbsp. Worcestershire Sauce
1 C. Onions- or less (I just chop up half an onion)
5 Slices of bread, crumbled (1 heaping Cup of Italian bread crumbs)
1 C. Ketchup
Salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350.

You might notice that instead of a white or yellow onion I have green onions. This is an example of "a la Di" that shined through. I had forgotten to get an onion and this is all I had, so I went with it. You could also omit the onions, but please, onions just add that "je ne sais quoi" and I had these on hand.

Here's my milk in the measuring cup, and I'm adding the Worcestershire Sauce.

I'm a big fan of combining, so in goes the eggs as well. Beat it all together.

Got my meat in the bowl and I'm adding the onions. I felt like 1 green onion wasn't enough and 2 might be too much. So I had some cut up green onions in my freezer and added some to it.

Next comes the bread crumbs...

And the ketchup...

Pour that nasty looking milk, sauce, egg mixture in, add salt and pepper if your heart desires, and go to town with your hands. It might be a good idea to remove any rings before digging in. Put them somewhere safe now. I don't want to be held responsible for any lost jewelry. Especially wedding rings.

I like to separate mine in 2 loaf pans. There's too much meat to put in just 1 but you could also use a square 8 X 8 pyrex. It might just take a little longer to cook all the way through. Cook on 350 for an hour.

These have a lot of grease in them so what I do is pour out as much grease as I can without dumping the loaves in the sink.

I always like to return them to the oven for 10-15 minutes more. I feel like the grease that accumulated keeps it from cooking all the way through. And there you have it, delicious meatloaf...a la My.