Minneapolis-Star-Tribune-cooksandcreates

I spent years and years (and years) hating meatloaf. My mom was a great cook, but her meatloaf was bad. Dry and tasteless (Sorry, mom! Love you!) 

It wasn't until a few years ago that I started searching for ways to jazz up meatloaf. When I found the perfect mixture of meatloaf, I was completely hooked. I make this twice a month - and I always make a double batch! This meatloaf freezes perfectly and makes a great dinner on those nights when everyone is feeling rushed.

Let's get started why don't we?

Ingredients (for two pans) Feeds 3-4 each pan

3 lbs hamburger

2-3 cups of oatmeal

4 large eggs

1/2 onion diced

1 head of garlic, diced

1/2 cup BBQ sauce

3 TBSP brown sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

Grab a big bowl! Start off by everyone jumping in the pool.

Mix with your hands. I've found this is the best way to get everything perfectly mixed. 

Tip: Run the water in the sink warm before you start mixing. Then you don't have to goo up the faucet when you go to wash your hands. 

Grab two casserole dishes. Spray each one with non-stick cooking spray. 

This is a fun trick that I learned from Paula Deen - take a slice of bread and lay it in the bottom of the casserole dishes. This helps soak up all the extra grease from the hamburger. 

Divide your mix into the two dishes. Pat down. Take your fingers and 'poke' them down into the meatloaf. This helps with the next step. 

Now for the sauce:

1/2 cup ketchup

1/2 cup BBQ sauce

2 TBSP brown sugar

Add enough water to make 1 1/2 cup of sauce

Wisk with a fork. If its too runny, add more ketchup - too thick, add more water. 

Pour this sauce over both meatloaf dishes. Take the back of a spoon and spread it all over, making sure it gets down into the holes you poked. 

Top both dishes with foil. Stick one in the freezer and the other one in the oven at 350 degrees for 1 hour! For the last 10 minutes of baking, remove the foil. 

To defrost, leaf meatloaf in refrigerator overnight, bake as above.  

You'll find this is the juiciest and tastiest meatloaf you've ever had! Not to mention easy and cheap to make!