#meatloafmonday

As promised, I would love to share recipes with you. This particular recipe is a #meatloafmonday favorite of ours, and one of my most requested recipes.

Sloppy Joe Meatloaf
1 lb Ground Meat (Beef, Chuck, Turkey, Chicken, Deer...We've used them all)
1 c. Quick Oats
3/4 c. Canned Sloppy Joe Sauce (save the left over sauce for topping)
1/2 Onion Chopped
1/2 Bell Pepper Chopped
1 Egg slightly beaten


Mix all of the ingredients together, and consider the following options.

**Quickest:
Preheat oven to 400. Divide the meatloaf into muffin tins that have been coated with cooking spray. Add a teaspoon (or so) of the remaining sloppy joe sauce to the top of each. I normally wind up with 12 small portions. Bake for 25 minutes, or until the middles are no longer pink.

**Traditional
Preheat oven to 400. Form a loaf shape and place the loaf on a baking sheet or loaf pan that has been coated with cooking spray. Bake for 40 minutes, and remove from the oven. Cover with remaining sloppy joe sauce and replace in oven for 20 minutes, or until the center is no longer pink.

**Healthiest
Use your pressure cooker! Did you know that you can prepare a decent meatloaf inside using a sling of aluminum foil? Prepare a circular shaped meatloaf. Make a rectangle out of foil that is two sheets thick and about equal to the width of your cooker. I achieve this by folding a long piece in half. Add 1/2 c. of water to the base of the pressure cooker. I put a roasting rack in the bottom of my cooker and place the foil sling on top. Insert meatloaf, heat to high pressure and wait 30 minutes.

Let's talk texture...
Basically, you've just steam cooked a meatloaf. If you are a fan of crunchy edges or deep brown color, this won't be your favorite. The perk? The meatloaf will be ridded of a good deal of fat during this cooking process. Want to firm it up? 10 minutes on a baking sheet under the broiler should do (Or longer if desired...watch to prevent burning.) This method should work for most any meatloaf recipe.

How to lighten it up...
Sometimes, recipes can be even better knowing that they have been lightened up to contain fewer calories. For this particular recipe, my suggestion to you is to use lean ground turkey and sub 2 egg whites for 1 egg. While the calorie difference is only a slight difference, you can rest easy in the fact that you can have one more bite in the end. Ha!