Paula Deen's Basic Meatloaf

Adapted: Paula Deen's Southern Cooking Bible

So, I have spoken about my love for Paula Deen. She is my guru and my sensei. I don't buy alot of cookbooks, Paula's included, so I really felt that this one was my one size fits all from her.  I am also constantly on her website Pauladeen.com. I find her recipes are very easy lightened up by some of the most intermediate cooks. If not, simply watch Bobby on Cooking Channel..he has a show dedicated to it now!!

One thing I have not talked about is my husband's, Pat, love of meatloaf. He could eat meatloaf once a week and be the happiest little camper. Me, I am not a lover of meatloaf and since I am the chef of the family...I WIN!!

I figured I would treat him to her basic meatloaf though, as a really easy and whipped up dinner. This recipe is so simple it isn't even funny. I have even done prep the night before, put it all together before leaving for work and thrown it into the oven right after coming home from work. Finishing the rest of the meal while the meatloaf cook. The most tedious part of this dinner is chopping the onion and green pepper.

While I can say this isn't Paula's best meatloaf (I am saving that recipe for later), this is an easy going one which can be used for week night meals. I have served it with mashed potatoes, boxed scalloped potatoes and, of course, green beans. It is delightfully unpretentious!

This meatloaf is so wonderful that I did meatloaf sandwiches the next day and they stood up beautifully!

One other important point, Paula lists this recipe with only 1 pound of ground beef. When I used that amount, I felt the meatloaf came out a bit too moist. I ended up bumping it up to about 1 1/3 pounds and it was perfect. OK, I lied..another important point...I like my veggies chopped large and it is visible in the picture. If you don't, simply chop them a bit finer!

So, here we go!:

Ingredients:

Meatloaf

1 1/3 lbs LEAN ground beef
1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 cup canned diced tomatoes with liquid
1/2 cup quick cooking oats
2 t. Paula Deen House Seasoning~REVAMPED

Topping:

1/3 cup ketchup
2 T. light brown sugar
1 T. yellow mustard

Directions:

Meatloaf/topping

1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2) In a large bowl, combine the beef, onion, bell pepper, egg, canned tomatoes, oats, and PD seasoning mix.

3) With clean hands, mix until just blended
4) Place in a baking dish, shaping the meat into an 8x3 inch loaf.
5) Mix toppings until blended and spread over loaf

6) Bake about 1 hour. I will normally pull some of the grease, if there is alot to avoid "drenching" the meatloaf.