5 Weeknight Dinner Ideas, #5
Hot meatloaf sandwich for supper? Yes, please! There’s just something about meatloaf being sandwiched between two slices of soft bread and soaked in a brown gravy that is so satisfying! Oh, and don’t forget the mounds of mashed potatoes. Yummy! Take a look at what my friend Audrey from the Melady Cooks food blog had to say about this magnificent recipe:
Meatloaf is one of those easy dishes that you can throw together in a few minutes, bake, and have on hand for all kinds of dishes later. You can change the flavor of the basic meatloaf by switching out a few spices or make it fairly plain and change it when you use it in a meal the next night for dinner. I love having meatloaf on hand; besides quick sandwiches for lunch I also love a hot meatloaf sandwich for supper. Or maybe a sub made with meatloaf and a rich marinara sauce. Your creativity is your only limitation with this basic ingredient.
I love the flavor of onions in my meatloaf 🙂
Ingredients
3 lb ground beef
15 ounces ricotta cheese
1/2 cup Quaker quick cooking oats
1/2 cup onion; finely chopped
1 teaspoon Morton salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon McCormick garlic powder
2 eggs
1 teaspoon oregano; optional
1 cup Kraft parmesan; shredded
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Mix all ingredients with a potato masher or your hands in a large bowl. Divide between two 13″ x 4 1/2″ loaf pans
Bake on center rack of oven for one hour.
Serve hot or cold in sandwiches.
Save the drippings from the pans to make gravy if desired.
Serves 8
Beefy Gravy
Drippings from the meatloaf pan
2 cups beef broth
1/2 teaspoon salt; or to taste
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried diced onions or onion powder
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 cup cold water
Heat drippings and broth in a medium sized kettle over medium high heat. Add seasonings. Bring to a boil. Mix water and cornstarch in a cup. Pour slowly into boiling broth, stirring as you pour. Stir until it thickens then turn heat to lowest setting and add slices of meatloaf. Heat through.
Skin On Mashed Potatoes
Scrub the potatoes well with a brush and cut into uniform sized chunks. Place in kettle and fill with water until just covered. Add 1 teaspoon salt. Bring to boil and cook until potatoes are tender.
Drain potatoes and add several tablespoons of butter; roughly one tablespoon per potato. Add 1/2 cup milk and mash with potato masher until desired consistency. Add more milk if necessary.
Recipe and image courtesy of Melady Cooks.
USE THE RED NEXT PAGE LINK BELOW FOR #4 OF OUR 5 WEEKNIGHT DINNER IDEAS
Quick Tip: Hot meatloaf sandwich is best served with a side salad and mashed potatoes.
Apparently, the author has not checked the price of ground beef recently.
It said simple dinners, not cheap.
Actually it did say….
And easy on your wallet too!
When I shop at my favorite supermarket. The first thing I do is to look page by page at what’s on sale. Usually they have a few things in every department. Produce, cereal, grocery items can tomato products., pasta etc. then check the meat dept. Chicken, ground beef, pork etc. Then dairy eggs, cheese, yogurt sour cream or cottage etc. then bacon, sausage, hot dogs etc. Then bread isle or bakery dept. buy only what’s on sale. Paper products, toilet,towel baggies etc. Every week they change but they always put different items on sale in every dept. about every four weeks they repeat. Try not to buy anything that’s not on sale, unless you have to. You will be supprised at how much you will save. If ground beef is on sale buy several lbs. and freeze, when you need more it will probably be on sale again in a couple of weeks.
Ricotta cheese in the mixture?? Has anyone else tried this?