Meatloaf Muffins

I married a wonderful guy. He is patient, helpful and very loving to both Little Miss and I. Josh is also from Iowa. He is a "meat and potato" guy, through and through. When we first started dating, vegetables and salads rarely made an appearance on his plate. I am a "fish and salad" kind of girl. So what happens when a "meat and potato" guy married a "fish and salad" girl? A lot of compromise. At this point in our marriage we have both compromised, but I have to admit the scales have probably been more in my favor than his. He now orders side salads and has discovered that he actually likes edamame and broccoli. I can make a vegetarian dinner and he eats it without question. 

My beef dishes I've cooked over the past 5 years have included this: Spaghetti and meatballs, Spaghetti and meat sauce, ground beef and taco seasoning, and the occasional crockpot roast. Yup, that's it. Now it's my turn to compromise. Partly because I need to branch out and partly we ordered half a cow and it's in our deep freezer. So after browsing recipes I remember one time I attempted to make meatloaf. Josh liked it, I didn't, so I abandoned it for the last couple years. It just seemed so...mushy. I decided to give it another go- this time in cute "muffin" form! They bake a lot faster and I personally like the crust that comes with doing them individually in a muffin tin. This gives it more texture.

Here is my new and improved meatloaf recipe-

Meatloaf Muffins
1 lb ground beef
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
2 eggs 
1/2 large onion (or 1 small) 
1/4 cup finely chopped carrots. Finely chopped because my little one can pick out vegetable with the best of them! This time she only picked out one piece of carrot :) 
1 tablespoon Worcestershire 
2 garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a muffin tin
2. Finely chop onions and carrots 
3. In a medium bowl combine vegetable and all other ingredients. Mix well by hand. This is a lesson I've learned with my meatballs (which is one beef recipe that I have mastered). I've done it with a mixer and with a spoon, but it's just not the same! Mixing it by hand gets the best and most thoroughly integrated.
4. Put about ¼ cup of the mixture into each cell of the muffin tin
5. Make the sauce - equal parts brown sugar and ketchup. You can add less ketchup for a less sweet sauce, but Josh loves the sauce this way. 
6. Top each "muffin" with 1 tablespoon of sauce
7. Place in preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes. 

There it is! served it with potato pancakes and carrots - my "meat and potato" meal. This was such a pleaser for my family! Even my little picky-eater had seconds. This will definitely go into our regular dinner rotation.