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
Oh that looks yummy. Thanks for posting. I’m going to have to try this one!
P.S. I have a little something for you at my site 🙂
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Ah Helen, it’s really dangerous to publish a cookbook’s title in one of you blogposts – especially if this goes along with such a yummy recipe – thanks a lot for sharing! I am a TOTAL cookbook addict. Luckily most US cookbooks are not too perfect for me in Germany (other measurements and some ingredients that are simply not available here), this way I might be able to resist hitting the Amazon button NOW and purchasing the book.
Have a blessed Sunday!
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I hope you like it Susan…and my goodness you were up late or should I say early…I hope you can catch a nap today…
Heading over your way…now!
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Oh…I love cookbooks too…it can be so easy to buy and buy and then not make many recipes…if you are like me…my one requirement now is that the cookbook must be filled with photos…I don’t like ones that are just the recipes…I need a visual clue even if my finished product looks nothing like the picture…
Have a wonderful day…
Helen
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This sounds wonderful, Helen, and I love cranberry sauce. I’d really like to try this for next week’s dinner menu.
P.S. Thanks to a comment of yours, I went and bought a bag of Trader Joe’s Tortilla Chips with an Identity Crisis and the whole family agrees that they are goooood. 🙂
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