Ahhhh, the weekend!

Hi everyone, it’s finally the weekend! What are you up to this Fall weekend? Let us know in the comments below; we love hearing from you! We have a few task and errands on the list for this weekend; fall stuff like raking leaves and mowing the lawn one last time before winter kicks in (and yes… it already snowed this past week).

A PA Day?… cool!

The boys lucked out this week! They had a PA Day (Professional Activity or Development Day) this Friday. I’m not sure if our friends south of the border use the same name, but essentially this is a day where teachers and other school staff get some time for meetings, sharing teaching ideas, discussing policies, and doing other professional development activities. For students this only means one thing… a day off! 🙂

Our boys loved their day off. They slept in, played music, played video games, watched YouTube videos, did some drawing, and baked donuts. (I wonder where they get that from?)

A loaf of meat 🙂

It sounds weird when you say it that way 🙂 …but it’s basically ground beef with lots of delicious ingredients, formed into…well…a loaf.

Although a very simple concept, I did a considerable amount of research for this recipe. I wanted something that was mine, but not so different from every other meatloaf out there. I wanted my recipe to feel familiar; reminiscent of a good old-fashioned diner meal. I still love diners and although we don’t go very often, my go-to dishes are always either turkey with all the fixings, or meatloaf and mashed potatoes.

I’ll make it again!

Our picky little guy didn’t seem all that convinced at the beginning, but then I explained that it wasn’t very different from meatballs, which he loves. This was a hit at our place and I was very pleased with the flavours.

This weekend, get some errands done (cause it feels awesome when the chores are done) and reward yourself with a hearty meal… and as always, eat well, friends.

Old-fashioned Meatloaf Recipe

 

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

1 hour 25 mins

Total time

1 hour 40 mins

 

This meatloaf recipe is simple, hearty and a perfect comfort food for a Sunday night family dinner or weekday leftovers. Great for work lunches as well!

Author: Nelson Cardoso

Recipe type: Main

Cuisine: American

Serves: 6 to 8 servings

Ingredients

• ⅓ cup milk
• ⅓ cup sour cream
• 2 slices soft white bread, crusts cut off
• 2½ Lbs ground chuck (beef)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 cooking onion, finely diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• ½ cup tomato sauce
• 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• ⅓ cup ketchup

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 ºF.
2. Mix the milk and sour cream in a small bowl.
3. Pull apart the white bread into small pieces and add to the milk mixture.
4. Mix well to make sure the bread is full coated with the milk/sour cream mixture.
5. Let the bread mixture sit for about 20 minutes.
6. Mix the mixture well so that it looks like a paste and you no longer see pieces of bread.
7. In a large bowl, Add the bread paste mixture, ground beef, egg, onion, garlic, salt, pepper (sprinkle the salt and pepper all over to avoid clumps) and tomato sauce.
8. Place the bowl in the sink (to avoid making a mess) and use very clean hands to mix everything very well.
9. For the next step, you can use a regular 9 in loaf pan like the ones used for banana bread. To make it even easier, you can also use a baking pan with the perforated removable tray. These are nice because the fat drips out under the meatloaf. If you use a pan without the removable drip tray, make sure to take the meatloaf pan out of the oven after about one hour of cooking, and carefully pour out most of the fat from one corner. Then place the pan back in the oven to continue cooking.
10. Place the ground beef mixture in the pan and shape it like a loaf of bread, a bit higher in the centre.
11. In a small bowl, whisk together the balsamic vinegar, brown sugar and ketchup.
12. Brush the glaze evenly over the meat.
13. Place the pan on a parchment (or aluminum foil) paper lined baking sheet.
14. Place the baking sheet with the pan on the middle oven rack and cook the meatloaf for 1 hour, 25 minutes.
15. After about 1 hour and 15 minutes, open the oven and check the internal temperature of the meat (poked right into the middle) with an instant cooking thermometer. You're looking for an internal temperature of 160 ºF. If it's not there yet, place the pan back in the oven and let it cook for the full 1 hour, 25 minutes or until the temperature reaches 160 ºF.
16. Take the pan out of the oven and drain the fat (you can use some of this fat for gravy).
17. Place the meatloaf on a serving dish and serve with mashed potatoes or rice or any other favourite side dish. Don't forget to add some veggies 🙂
18. Enjoy!

Notes

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