Quick and Easy Meatloaf

Mom's Quick and Easy Meatloaf

I had such sweet memories while cooking today. I actually had two different memories. Years ago, mom and I were trying to figure out what to make for dinner. Dad was out of town for annual guard training, mom did not have a drivers license and dad was due to return the next day. So needless to say, "our cupboards were bare." Mom said, "Monica go look in the kitchen and see what we can fix for dinner." I looked and returned to mom with a horrified look on my face, I said, "I don't see anything." With a smile, she said, "Don't worry, you can ALWAYS find something to cook." She started moving things around in the freezer and pulled out, what looked like a small ball of aluminum foil. She then gathered two old potatoes that had a  couple bad places on them and a small wedge of what once was a big head of cabbage. She smiled and said with pride, "Look here. We'll have meatloaf, mashed potatoes and fried cabbage tonight. I looked at her with big eyes and said, "Oh no, I had peanut butter and crackers for lunch so we don't have any crackers for the meatloaf. With the wave of her hand, she dismissed my concern and said, "Not to worry....We have a few oats in the cabinet." Then I said, "But we're out of canned milk and I had the last of the regular milk with the peanut butter crackers."....Still smiling, she winked and said, "Don't worry, I'll show you a couple of tricks." I didn't realize that mom was preparing me for "life". She "went to town" showing me her tricks. First trick was to put the meat in a sink of cold water to thaw. Well, this baffled me because I thought it should be hot water but mom explained that conduction transfers heat faster. I still don't know what that means. All I know is, it's safer and the meat thawed in time to cook dinner! When it came time to mash the potatoes I watched her next trick....she poured some of the potato water into a measuring cup before draining the potatoes. She said that the potato water is better to use to get a creamy consistency because the starch from the potatoes makes the water thicker. Also, the potato water doesn't dilute the flavor like plain water would. We had a "meal fit for a king" that night and I had a sense of pride that we made something from, what seemed like, nothing!

My second memory was of all the many times that I put mom's positive attitude toward empty cupboards to good use. There were many times while raising five children that her teachings made it possible for me to put a wonderful meal on the table. And I must say, I knew it was a success when I saw the sweet little smiling faces looking at me with satisfied tummys!



Mom's Quick and Easy Meatloaf



Ingredients

• 2 pounds ground beef
• 1 egg
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 cup cracker crumbs
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 heeping cup ketchup
• 1 heeping tablespoon prepared mustard

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. In a large bowl, combine the beef, egg, onion, mustard, ketchup, salt, pepper and cracker crumbs  and place in a lightly greased 5x9 inch loaf pan, OR form into a loaf and place in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking dish.
3. Mix well and form into a loaf. Place in baking dish and coat top of meatloaf with ketchup.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 1 hour.