Meatloaf "Muffins"

We had another delicious weeknight dinner with this play on meatloaf (so much more practical!). Instead of serving them with potato wedges and green beans like the photo below, I opted for mashed potatoes and boiled carrots. Think they wouldn't fill you up? Two is a serving size, and Ryan went for three: His seams were busting. And best of all, it's light (under 300 calories/serving). Sorry, I forgot to take my own "finished product" photo this time, but I've included the recipe below.

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 cup finely chopped onion
• 1/2 cup finely chopped carrot
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup ketchup, divided
• 1 1/2 pounds ground beef, extra lean (raw)
• 1 cup finely crushed fat-free saltine crackers (about 20)
• 2 tablespoons prepared mustard
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 large eggs
• Cooking spray

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chopped onion, chopped carrot, dried oregano, and minced garlic; sauté 2 minutes. Cool.
3. Combine onion mixture, 1/2 cup ketchup, and the remaining ingredients except cooking spray in a large bowl.
4. Spoon the meat mixture into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Top each with 2 teaspoons ketchup. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until a thermometer registers 160°. Let stand for 5 minutes.

Recipe and photo courtesy of myrecipes.com. 

I used prepared breadcrumbs instead of saltines, and minced garlic (from the jar) to speed things along. I think mashed potatoes were the way to go with this. Taking a half-and-half bite of the meatloaf and mashed potatoes together was perfection! I'll definitely be making this again.