RecipeOfTheDay MK's Meatloaf

I love a good meatloaf. It's just good Southern comfort food. And I love cooking it, if done correctly. This is something I love that I took my Mamaw Sue's recipe, my Mamaw Estelle's recipe, and tweaked what my mother had done to come up with my own when I first moved out and started cooking. Now, it's not for everyone, but in reality... it is. It's very good meatloaf, and you can top with whatever you like, but I love the recipe "as is"...

I am TRYING to work up an organic or vegetarian/vegan alternative recipe that actually tastes/compares to this one, but I just haven't gotten it "right" yet. Until then, I do try to make sure I buy local, buy organic, and buy the best quality I can. Hopefully soon...

You Will Need:
~1/2 cup ketchup (if you can, get the sugar free/juice sweetened kind that is organic. It is just as tastey, but the glycemic levels are much, much lower and will help with insulin spikes.)
~1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons brown sugar
~1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons bacon bits (NOT the chemically treated fake kind. Either get real bacon, fry it, and then crumble it. OR get the fake soy bacon, cook it, and crumble it.)
~1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons crushed pineapple, drained
~1-1/2 dashes Worcestershire sauce
~1 pound ground beef, sirloin, or chuck (the leaner the better since we are combining meats that also have a fat content for flavor and juice. We are all trying to be more conscious of our diets)
~1/4 pound ground pork (as lean as possible from the butcher. Get you some pork chops and have them ground)
~1/4 pound ground turkey (this is already pretty lean. Just get it from your local trusted organic butcher)
~1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons dry bread crumbs (I usually like these to be very, very fine so there are not hunks of bread in the meatloaf, but please feel free to do this to YOUR liking. I sometimes use Jiffy cornbread crumbs that I will make the cornbread and then crumb them in a blender or food processor)
~1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons crushed saltine crackers (crushed finely)
~1-1/2 egg, beaten
~3/4 clove FRESH garlic, minced
~3/8 onion, minced (just a little less than half of a medium sized onion)
~1/2 medium green bell pepper, minced
~Salt, pinch
~Black pepper, pinch
~White pepper, pinch
~Cayenne, pinch
~Paprika, pinch
~3 dashes Worcestershire sauce (or a tablespoon if your aren't very sure of your dashes)

Directions:
1. Preheat your oven to 350F. (It doesn't have to be exact, but let the oven heat up and get hot. Don't turn it on and then let the loaf heat up with the oven.)
2. Stir ketchup, brown sugar, bacon bits, pineapple, and 1 dash Worcestershire sauce together in a small bowl; Cover, and reserve in the fridge.
3. Combine the ground beef, pork, and turkey together in a large bowl and fold with your hands. (Don't get squeamish now, it's messy, but it's necessary to thoroughly mix the meat, and to get the ingredients mixed in well.) Add the remaing (2 or so dashes) of Worcestershire sauce in with the meat and keep folding. Then add the dry ingredients and keep folding. Add the bread crumbs, saltines, garlic, onion, bell pepper, and then last, the eggs (the eggs are necessary as a binder, if you are watching cholesterol, you can use an egg substitute or a vegan alternative); Mix well. Pat meat mixture into a loaf pan.
4. Bake meatloaf in the preheated oven for 30 or so minutes. Remove from oven; pour reserved pineapple mixture over loaf. Return to the oven; bake until no longer pink in the center, about an additional 20 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 160F when done.

Enjoy!
#JustBeingMichael