Meatloaf Yumminess!

Welcome to the first Food Friday! I'm going to attempt to make a food post every two to three weeks. I might even have a guest blogger stop by with some yummy ideas and recipes!

Personally, I don't *love* the typical meatloaf. Thankfully, this isn't your typical dry and boring meatloaf recipe!!

Ingredients:
~3 lbs of ground beef of your choice
~1 lb of ground turkey of your choice
~2 eggs
~1 tsp (ish) of Worcestershire sauce
~1 c (ish) of your favorite bread crumbs
~1 can stewed tomatoes **
~Parsley - how much I add depends on if I have fresh, or if I'm using dried.
~Mashed potatoes - approximately 4 - 6 cups

*OPTIONAL*
~Other spices such as steak seasoning, or oregano, or tarragon, or whatever else you think smells good.
~In this version of my standard meatloaf I added all the typical ingredients, but I also added a shredded sweet pepper. Why shredded, you ask?! Because if it was NOT shredded (into itty bitty nothingness, I might add) My husband and daughter would have whined and complained that there was a pepper in the meatloaf. Since it was shredded up to nothingness and added it's yummy good flavor without them knowing it - they were none the wiser and enjoyed it! ***Side note - this trick works in MANY dishes, and with MANY different "disliked" foods. I even do it with stuff I don't like (cauliflower) and when it's all mixed/cooked into whatever the food is you typically don't notice. A great way to eat more veggies without forcing the veggies down!
~Garlic in whatever form you like. I prefer pressed or shredded cloves over powdered or garlic salt. Personal opinion - it just tastes better! For this much meat I'd use probably 4-5 cloves.

Instructions:
Turn oven on to 375 degrees.
In a large casserole dish put the meat (both kinds), eggs, worcestershire sauce, bread crumbs, stewed tomatoes, parsley, and whatever optional ingredients you would like to add.

Take off any/all rings (and likely bracelets too) - cleaning meat out of your jewelry is NOT fun, but it's even less fun to have meat rotting inside your jewelry because you couldn't get it all out. Mix all the ingredients together with your hands. It's kinda nice to squish it all together -  great way to get frustration out!
In a separate bowl make/mix mashed potatoes (I prefer using the instant kind, but however you prefer them, use that kind!).
Make sure meatloaf is completely mixed together, and the bread crumbs, seasonings, and whatever veggies you've added (including the stewed tomatoes) are nice and squished up and evenly distributed throughout. Pat the top to be fairly even and smooth.

Wash your hands - they'll be full of meatyness at this point.
Evenly spread the mashed potatoes on top of the meatloaf. Trust me, you want the stuff to be all sitting in the large casserole dish fairly evenly. Otherwise you'll end up with meat spots less/more cooked than others, and the potatoes might burn in places....it's just best to have it even!
Place in oven and bake for 30 minutes. Rotate. Bake for another 30 minutes. The potatoes will take on a sort of crust around the edges, and the meatloaf juices will be bubbling up the sides.

Take out, let it cool down for a few minutes (long enough to get out plates and forks and heat up a side veggie like corn or whatever else you want to eat!), cut up, serve, and eat! You will NOT need ketchup on it. As a matter of fact, you'll probably thoroughly enjoy how it tastes without ketchup on it.

mmmmmmmmm Good stuff! This much meatloaf will feed 8-10 pretty hungry people. You could cut all the ingredients in half for a smaller amount or freeze some for later. I'm not sure how good it is after being frozen since it never lasts that long around here!

**If you want your meatloaf to not be SO juicy then you can drain the can of stewed tomatoes. I prefer all the juice, and then everyone uses it as a sort of gravy.

P.S. Leftovers are JUST as good as the original night. YUM!
Please excuse my blurry pictures I took using my cell phone. :)