Hey Ma! The Meatloaf!

That has to be one of the funniest and quotable lines from one of my all time favorite movies.....Wedding Crashers. It's certainly one of Will Ferrell's finest moments, along with his performance in Old School, and of course as a Spartan Cheerleader on SNL. Ok so I like his comedic chops.....you get the point. But this post has nothing to do with comedy, and everything to do with MEATLOAF!

I will be the first to admit that I was not much of a meatloaf fan growing up. I was (and still am) a my-food-shall-not-be-touching-or-mixed-if-I-can-help-it kinda girl. I know I'm weird. Ironically I my brother and dad were all about mixing some peas and corn and mashed potatoes on the plate before they ate them......gag me! Eric on the other hand apparently loves meatloaf, but until last night I had never made it for him, because I tend to only cook things I like in my kitchen....one of the things I do enjoy about being an adult and running my own household. =)

The other night we were in our normal Monday night routine, watching Biggest Loser, and Biingo's mom made him some meatloaf to get him to eat some veggies. (Biingo is one of the kids on the show this season, and yes he spells his name with 2 i's.) The episode aired a couple of weeks ago, and apparently got stuck in the back of the recipe book in my head. The other night I was racking my brain trying to come up with something to cook for dinner and for some reason meatloaf kept popping up, so I decided to give it a whirl.

One Pinterest search and Publix trip later, I had the few ingredients I needed and was ready to give it a try for dinner. I was really surprised how easy it was to make, and Eric gave it 2 giant thumbs up. What can I say, the boy loves meatloaf. I was a little anxious about using turkey in stead of ground beef, but it was delicious! I used this recipe, but decided instead of an actual loaf, I made them in muffin cups because #1 they would cook faster, and #2 I think everything tastes better when it is in cute individual servings!

Ingredients
1.3 lbs ground turkey (one package...who knew ground turkey came in 1.3lb packages)
1/2 cup chopped onion and green peppers (I bought the already chopped Trinity Mix from Publix that had onions, peppers, and tomatoes because I was feeling extra lazy)
1 large clove of garlic, minced
Olive oil
1 egg
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (or any other kind of cheese)
Salt and pepper
Sauce:
1/2 cup ketchup
1 Tbsp mustard
1 Tbsp brown sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Sauté veggies in olive oil until tender. Add garlic and sauté until fragrant. Remove veggies from heat and set aside.
In a large bowl, mix turkey, veggies and egg. Add Worcestershire sauce, Italian seasoning, panko, mozzarella, salt and pepper and mix until completely combined.
Lightly grease 12 muffin tins. Place balls of meat mixture in muffin cups (do not overfill).
Bake in oven for 20 minutes.
While loaves are baking, combine ketchup, mustard, and brown sugar in a small bowl.
Remove loaves from the oven, place a dollop of sauce on each one, and put pan back in the oven to cook for another 5-7 minutes, or until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees.

Like I said this recipe got 2 thumbs up from Eric, which in my experience is always a good thing because he has no problems telling me whether or not a recipe was worth the trouble. I think my favorite part was that I had nearly everything for it already in my kitchen.  I am sure this will be popping up again our dinner rotation.....for Eric's sake. =)