One thing I love doing is making a recipe my own. Whether it was one of my mom’s or grandma’s or a childhood favorite, I love re-creating it to make it healthier for me to enjoy now! I feel that a lot of times, just because we are eating a certain way (I refuse to say diet, because I am not on a diet, it is my choice of eating and frankly, it is not a diet to me!), we limit ourselves to foods. That should not be the problem! Why don’t we just re-create the healthier, better versions!
This weekend, I was hungry for my late Grandma Sharon’s meatloaf, so I re-created it a healthier, clean version that I will enjoy this week as my lunch! It has no brown sugar topping or unhealthy processed grains. It does have, some nutritious vegtables and proteins to keep you feeling full throughout the day (it would be a great meal to take out to the field for those hardworking farmers of ours!).
It turned out wonderful, and I am excited to share it with you!
Sorry, I didn’t take a lot of pictures, when I was meal prepping on Saturday. This is one of those recipes, I just threw together, so I’ll do my best to explain everything to you!
What You’ll Need:
- 1/3 cup, canned mushrooms, chopped finely
- 1 red or green pepper, chopped finely
- 2 pounds of lean ground beef, or you could even use 1/2 lean beef and 1/2 ground turkey
- 1 can of organic, no salt added tomato sauce
- 2 organic eggs
- 1 cup of Sharp Cheddar Shredded Cheese
- 1/8 – 1/4 cup of organic mustard
- 3/4 of a sleeve of whole wheat saltines
- 2 Teaspoons garlic powder
- 2 Teaspoons onion powder
- 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
- Pepper to taste
- Extra Mustard and Ketchup for topping (Yes, I know Ketchup is not exactly “clean” or 21 Day Fix approved, but I drizzled a little on top and it was worth the small cheat! I probably used a couple of Tablespoons all in all of Ketchup for the entire loaf, not bad!)
What To Do:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the meat of your choice, mushrooms, pepper, mustard, tomato sauce, cheese, eggs, crackers, garlic and onion powder, Worcestershire Sauce and pepper. Mix well until all ingredients are combined.
In a large baking dish, (I got mine as a wedding gift from my uncle and aunt off my gift registry from Sur la Table, here is the 2.75 Quart Blanc Round Cocotte), combine the above ingredients. Using your hands, make into a loaf. Then, drizzle the Ketchup and Mustard on top to desire. Place in preheated oven and cook for about one and a half hours or until done. Enjoy!
I like serving mine with a few saltine crackers on the side, almost like a dip! It is so yummy and makes great left-overs! For the 21 Day Fix, one cup of meatloaf would equal 1/2 purple (tomato sauce), 2 reds, 3/4 green, 1/2 yellow, and 1/2 blue.
On a side note, if you haven’t heard of Sur la Table, it is a great kitchen shop to visit! They have EVERYTHING from linens to bakeware and cookware, to spices! Things that would make excellent gifts for Mom! Right now, they have 20% off one item and free shipping! The promo code to enter at checkout is MAKEHERDAY15.
Happy Monday!