A dear friend of mine and I agree - we never make meatloaf in quite the same way twice. The last time I made it, I added one cup Brocco-Slaw per pound of meat, along with all the other ingredients, plus oats instead of some of the bread crumbs. It turned out to be very flavorful and sliced really well.
The Brocco-slaw was unnoticeable, except for a few tiny shreds of carrot here and there, so this is a good way to add vegetables for your kids. They might pick out a little carrot, but they'll eat the broccoli and red cabbage without knowing it.
Just make your meatloaf as usual, adjusting the amount of bread crumbs/oats and eggs to account for the extra liquid when the veggies cook. For 3 lbs. of ground meat, I used 1 cup whole-wheat bread crumbs, 1 1/2 cups oats (the kind that cook for 5 minutes), 2 eggs, and 3 cups slaw, and all my usual ingredients (herbs, onions, Worcestershire sauce, etc).
In addition to adding more veggies, this really stretches your meal. It made 3 nice meatloaves, 1 to eat and 2 to freeze for a lazy-day meal. It's healthier, and it tasted great!
Another good way to stretch meat loaf is to drain a can or two of beans (depends on the size of the meat loaf), mash them thoroughly, and mix them into the meat. I prefer kidney beans for the color and taste.
Brocco-slaw is sold here in the States in the produce section. It is shredded broccoli stems with a little carrot and red cabbage for color and flavor. It makes a delicious alternative to cabbage in your slaw.
By Free2B from North Royalton, OH
Check out these tips.
I have found that one way to prevent meat loaf fats from settling on the bottom of your loaf pan is to place a piece of bread on the bottom. The meat loaf is not only easier to remove, but once the bread is removed your loaf is a little less fat-laden.
To add nutrition to meatloaf and other foods, I add milled flax seed to it instead of oatmeal or bread. This way I am sneaking great nutrition into my families dinner, but they don't even know it.
Try baking meat loaf in a muffin tin instead of the usual loaf pan. It will bake in half the time and you will have individual portions.
Here's a tasty way to keep meatloaf from sticking to the pan. Line your pan with a couple strips of bacon before putting the meatloaf in the pan. It's not cheap, but it sure tastes good.
You take string cheese and mold your meatloaf around it. You can also make mini ones.
Everyone has their own old fashioned meatloaf recipe, usually handed down in the family. I know my mom taught me how to make my first meatloaf.
Line a broiler rack with heavy duty foil, with a knife make slits through the slits in the rack. Place on top of broiler pan. Now form your meatloaf on this rack, it will take care of the grease!
This page contains the following solutions.
This is a page about stretching meatloaf. Recipes for meatloaf are easy to stretch by adding some type of filler, such as rice, to the meat mixture.
These cute single serving meatloaves are great for kids, parties and freezing. This page contains muffin tin meatloaf recipes.
This is a page about making meatloaf for kids. Kids can be either easy or difficult to cook for depending on how picky they are.