Meatloaf

Since I am staying home this summer, I actually have time to cook.  I've been pulling out favorites that I haven't made in a while, and I'm finding new ones.  It's been fun to take the time in the kitchen.  I hope that I can make this carry over into the school year.  Anyway, I decided to pull out my mom's meatloaf recipe.  As some of you know, my mom was an excellent cook.  She made it quite often because my dad loved it.  I think I got tired of it when I was a kid, because I wasn't too fond of it.  Now, oh man! I know why Dad loved it so.  (He's in Heaven right now saying, "No kidding, Shell!" haha)

The reason I'm posting it is because my youngest is a very picky eater.  If she had her way she would eat ramen noodles, corn dogs, mac & cheese, cheeseburgers and apples the rest of her life.  When I made this, I also made mashed potatoes and corn to go with it.  Usually she devours the taters first, then picks at everything else.  NOT this time!  She exclaimed after supper that she ate the meatloaf first then the taters.  She said she loved it, even more than the potatoes.  Success!!

I was talking to my sister the other day and her oldest is the same.  She begged for Fridays to be meatloaf days.  I think my mom would be very pleased that her granddaughters love her cooking.  It's one of the ways we keep them real and alive for our girls.

Here's the recipe:

1 1/2 lbs. lean ground beef

3/4 c. uncooked oats
1/4 c. chopped onion (I usually use a sprinkle of onion flakes)
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 c. ketchup
1 egg, beaten (I just throw it in)

Combine all ingredients thoroughly with fingers--press firmly into ungreased loaf pan.  Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 15 min.

Enjoy!

A Daughter's Prayer...from a Dear Friend and Tina Fey

"First, Lord: No tattoos. May neither Chinese symbol for truth nor Winnie-the-Pooh holding the FSU logo stain her tender haunches. May she be Beautiful but not Damaged, for it’s the Damage that draws the creepy soccer coach’s eye, not the Beauty. When the Crystal Meth is offered, may she remember the parents who cut her grapes in half... Guide her, protect her when crossing the street, stepping onto boats, swimming in the ocean, swimming in pools, walking near pools, standing on the subway platform, crossing 86th Street, stepping off of boats, using mall restrooms, getting on and off escalators, driving on country roads while arguing, leaning on large windows, walking in parking lots, riding Ferris wheels, roller-coasters, log flumes, or anything called 'Hell Drop,''Tower of Torture,' or 'The Death Spiral Rock ‘N Zero G Roll featuring Aerosmith,' and standing on any kind of balcony ever, anywhere, at any age... Grant her a Rough Patch from twelve to seventeen. Let her draw horses and be interested in Barbies for much too long, For childhood is short... O Lord, break the Internet forever, that she may be spared the misspelled invective of her peers... And when she one day turns on me and calls me a B in front of Hollister, Give me the strength, Lord, to yank her directly into a cab in front of her friends, For I will not have that Sh%^&t. I will not have it. And should she choose to be a Mother one day, be my eyes, Lord, that I may see her, lying on a blanket on the floor at 4:50 A.M., all-at-once exhausted, bored, and in love with the little creature whose poop is leaking up its back. 'My mother did this for me once,' she will realize as she cleans feces off her baby’s neck. 'My mother did this for me.' And the delayed gratitude will wash over her as it does each generation and she will make a Mental Note to call me. And she will forget. But I’ll know, because I peeped it with Your God eyes. Amen." - from BossyPants, by Tina Fey

LOVE IT!

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