For the March 2010 Menu I cooked with some local Once A Month Mom friends who have been doing my menus for over a year now. One of them is pregnant and thus unable to participate to her fullest extent, so we made a 1.5 batch of everything and had three cooks. While we were cooking a husband chimed in with a great family meatloaf recipe that he suggested I try. I loved the fact that it had ham in it and I was looking for ham recipes for the menu.

I was definitely not disappointed. This is a great tasting meatloaf. It isn’t your standard meatloaf which is what appealed to me. I like trying new things, or old treats in new ways. It is easy to make and easy to freeze.

Author/Source:

Tricia @ Onceamonthmom.com

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds ground beef
• 2  eggs, beaten
• .75 cups bread crumbs
• .5 cups tomato juice
• 2 Tablespoons parsley
• .5 teaspoons oregano
• .25 teaspoons salt
• .25 teaspoons pepper
• 8 slices boiled ham
• 6 ounces shredded Mozzerella cheese

Directions:

Mix first 7 ingredients, then add to beef, combine.

On wax paper form meat mixture into a 10×12″ rectangle.  Line with ham and cheese. Roll and seal seam. Cut in half. Seal ends and seam well, otherwise the cheese will just ooze out all over the place. Place on a foil lined baking sheet and bake 1 hour 20 minutes at 350 degrees. (You may wish to freeze one at this point if you are not serving 8-12 people).

This makes a really big meatloaf, so you can either make 2 and freeze one or have lots of meatloaf sandwiches for the week.

Freezing Directions:

Follow directions but do not bake. Instead, wrap the meatloaf in wax paper and then plastic wrap. Place in a freezer bag until ready to use. To serve: Thaw. Unwrap and place on a foil lined baking sheet. Bake 1 hour 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

Servings: 8-12

A few readers have asked me if I have ever considered doing a toddler menu. I definitely have, but time isn’t always my friend. Well, Kristi wrote to me to let me know that she and her sister-in-law were planning to put one together which I thought was a fantastic idea. (I am still working on potentially coming up with one of my own as well).

After seeing Kristi‘s mini meatloaves I decided to find a recipe and try my hand at one as well. This is what I came up with after altering a recipe in Deceptively Delicious.

Author/Source:

Tricia @ Onceamonthmom.com

Ingredients:

(Keep in mind I am making this for a 12-18 month old, adjust milk and fats if you are serving to older children.)

• 1 cup Italian-style breadcrumbs
• .5 cup whole milk
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• .5 onion, finely chopped
• 2 celery stalks, finely chopped
• 1 pound lean ground turkey
• .5 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• .5 cup carrots, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1 cup tomato sauce

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray muffin pans with cooking spray. In a large bowl, soak the breadcrumbs in milk. Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and set it over medium-high heat. When the skillet is hot, add the oil. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, 7-10 minutes. Add the celery and cook 3 to 4 minutes longer. Add the cooked mixture into the bowl with the breadcrumbs. Add the rest of the ingredients and combine. Place portions in muffin pans. Bake until the center of the meatloaf is no longer pink, approximately 45-50 minutes.

Freezing Directions:

Remove from oven and place on wire rack to cool. When cooled, place on a cool cookie sheet and flash freeze for 10-15 minutes or until starting to freeze. Place in gallon freezer bag. Freeze.

Toddler Servings: 12-16

I wish I could tell you that my son loved these, but that wouldn’t be the truth. Don’t let it deter you though, my son isn’t a big meat eater at this point so I wasn’t too surprised. They freeze well so we will keep trying.