Jack's Italian Meatloaf

While I am on the subject of comfort food, let's talk about one of the traditional, all-time American favorites: meatloaf. I did some research and found this discussion on the origin of meatloaf. My father-in-law makes one of the best. It is never dry. It tastes just like a meatball, hence the "Italian" designation- in fact, he says you can use the same recipe to make meatballs. He made it last night since TLMM, who refuses to eat ground beef except in the form of actual meatballs or in cabbage rolls (go figure!), is out of town working on a trial.

Two pounds lean ground beef or ground sirloin (a combo of ground pork, beef and veal would also work in this recipe)
1 cup plain bread crumbs
1 cup milk
1 egg
1 tablespoon parsley flakes
1 teaspoon salt
dash black pepper
dash garlic powder
dash onion powder
One 15-ounce can tomato sauce



Mix ingredients thoroughly- except for tomato sauce. Form into loaf and put in pyrex loaf pan or metal bread pan. Spray pan with Pam first. Score top of loaf with knife and pour tomato sauce over loaf. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 2 hours.

...meatloaf! It's moist as can be, and the sauce tastes like the sauce that cabbage rolls make- mmm-mmm! I sauteed some onion and yellow squash, Jack baked some Idaho potatoes and dinner was served.

A cozy, homestyle meal. You can jazz this basic recipe up any way you like- add chopped onion, some hot red pepper flakes--it's up to you. My sister uses cornflake crumbs instead of bread crumbs, adds hot sauce and cooks it uncovered. Jack's recipe was delicious- thank you, Jack, for dinner and thank you, Marilyn, for giving him the idea. It's so nice to come home to dinner in the oven, you're spoiling me and I like it...and the eggs.