It’s always important to have “go to” recipes…this has been one of my personal favorites for the last year…my family has loved it and I count no fewer than 4 times that I made it to take to friends that needed a meal in times of distress or illness.  When I would mention that I was bringing meatloaf…the responses although grateful, carried a  tone that must have been attributed to memories of dried out meat loafs of the past.

I guarantee you will love this recipe…it’s quick…it’s easy…has only a few ingredients and although it seems a bit crazy…I think you will add it to your own list of “go to” recipes for the winter…

Cranberry Upside-Down Meat Loaf

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup of whole berry cranberry sauce*

2 lb. extra-lean ground beef

3/4 cup non-fat half and half ( or you can use regular or even milk)**

3/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs

1/2 cup egg substitute ( I use 2 eggs)

1 tsp. onion powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray 9×5 loaf pan with cooking spray.  Sprinkle sugar in bottom of loaf pan; mash cranberry sauce and spread over sugar.  Combine, beef, half and half, bread crumbs, eggs or egg substitute and onion powder in large bowl; mix thoroughly and shape into loaf.  Place in pan.  Bake 50-60 minutes until meat is cooked through.  Remove from oven and let stand for 5-10 minutes; invert onto platter carefully before serving.  Spoon any sauce over the loaf.

*The first time I made this recipe, I accidentally used the whole can of cranberries…it makes a lot of sauce and my family likes to use it on top of rice…so suit yourself.

**If you use milk instead of half and half…you may need to use less liquid due to the difference in thickness.

Well, I can already smell my meat loaf cooking now…this time I made two…because leftovers are delightful!!!

Happy Eating!

Helen

****Special thanks to The Busy Mom’s Make It Quick Cookbook by Jyl Steinback