One of the most challenging parts of cooking is choosing the menu. We can easily get in a rut and serve the same-old, same-old stuff. Case in point.
I had thawed a pound of hamburger not knowing what I would do with it. I could always make a couple patties and toss them on a grill or mix it into some sort of Mexican or Italian dish, but that usually ends up with more carbs than my bathroom scales allow.
I decided to do Mini Cheddar Meat Loaves – a change of pace, not so many carbs, and they turned out well. Here’s how.
In a large bowl, combine 2 lightly beaten eggs with 2/3 Quick Cooking Quaker Oats, ½ C of ketchup and 2 T dried minced onion. Crumble in the 1 pound of lean hamburger (90% lean or better) and mix well. I had never used quick oats as a filler for meat loaf before, but they worked well, added flavor and kept things together nicely.
You can use ordinary muffin tins, but I have a set of larger ones – about twice the size as a standard, and I used them.
Fill the cups about ¾ full and pop them in a 400 oven for about 15 minutes (20 minutes with the larger cups). Remove from the oven, sprinkle with sharp cheddar cheese and ketchup (1 T of each). Pop back in the oven for 5 more minutes (thermometer should hit 160), let them cool a bit and enjoy. A fun dish to serve and easy to make.
Mini Cheddar Meat Loaves
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2/3 cup quick-cooking oats
1/3 C ketchup
2 tablespoon dried minced onion
1 pound lean ground beef (90% lean)
(Topping)
1/3 C ketchup
8 tablespoons shredded cheddar cheese
