Cowboy Meatloaf

Every day this week has felt like it should be the day ahead. All day Tuesday I thought it was Wednesday. Each morning I wake up disappointed that it's the day it is. This week is crawling. I don't know what it is it, but every minute that goes by feels like 10. Maybe I'm feeling impatient about the whole buying a house thing? Who knows...

Anyways. When I got home from work, it was around 2:25 and I figured I'd start dinner around 4:30. We are going to visit our friends who just welcomed a baby into the world. Welcome baby Jake! I wanted something quick and easy. Well, 4:00 rolled around and I felt like I had been waiting 4 hours to start dinner. I decided I'd just start it at 4 and it would be ready for when Dan got home from work. Early dinners never hurt anyone, right?

Well it was even quicker than I thought. It's 4:17 as I start this post, and dinner is in the oven and will be ready in the next 20 minutes or so. Dinner before 5?

Again, this is a Pinterest find. I'm always looking for meaty things to eat that Dan will enjoy, which means no veggies other than corn, carrots or broccoli, no Mexican-style dishes (although this ones got a little heat), and no "weird stuff". Weird stuff would be quinoa, spaghetti squash, things with weird textures, green vegetables, mushrooms, etc. If I have picky eaters for kids someday I will not be pleased....

This recipe seemed pretty simple, I especially liked how I didn't have to brown the ground beef first. I originally thought of this as more like a shepherd's pie, but the meat it pressed into the dish like a meatloaf. Hopefully it's tasty, I actually don't like standard meatloaf.. I'll update this further once I actually eat it...

Update: It's delicious! I couldn't find the garlic mashed potatoes, so I just added in some minced and powdered garlic to them. They were perfect!

Cowboy Meatloaf
from Key Ingredient

1 lb. lean ground beef
1 small onion, minced
1 egg
1/3 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
1/4 barbecue sauce
2 tsp. chili powder
1 pkg. Ore Ida Steam n Mash Garlic Seasoned Potatoes
2/3 cup evaporated milk (more if needed)
1 tbsp. butter
1 cup cooked and crumbled bacon
1 cup Mexican style shredded cheese

1. Preheat oven to 375 and grease a 9x9 baking dish.
2. Mix together the beef, onion, egg, breadcrumbs, barbecue sauce and chili powder.
3. Press into the baking dish and bake for 25 minutes.
4. In the meantime, cook the potatoes according to the package.
5. Mash with the milk and butter, adding more milk if you want to thin them out a bit (I added another 1/4 cup)
6. Remove beef from oven when done and switch to broil with the rack 6-8 inches away from the broiler.
7. Cover with mashed potatoes, then sprinkle with bacon and cheese.
8. Broil for 3-5 minutes until cheese is browned.

 

 

Also, as I mentioned before, we are heading over to meet baby Jake. I'd also like to give a shout out to baby Ben, who also came into this world a little under a week ago!