Meat Loaf - not your mothers kind. It's whats for lunch in the new year!

One of the hardest things I've found to do when eating clean/paleo is having food ready to eat.  Because you are not eating "processed" foods, the ability to pop something in the microwave and eat 3 minutes later is nearly impossible without some pre-planed meal prep time invested.

Meat Loaf.  Yes I said meatloaf.  But not the kind your mother use to make.  Loaded in breadcrumbs and smothered in ketchup.  Yuck.

I have found meatloaf to be an easy meal to make and then have for a quick reheat meal in the days after.  I also found making it in my jumbo muffin pan worked even better and it didn't take as long to cook!  Winning!!


I followed this recipe but as always had to change a few things.  I noted them below.
http://www.everydaymaven.com/2013/paleo-meatloaf/

First off, I did not use the hard boiled eggs as suggested in the recipe. I didn't  have any ready and it really didn't interest me to have eggs in the middle of my meatloaf.  Just saying.

MEATLOAF:

• 4 small cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
• ½ cup finely chopped flat leaf parsley
• 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 T Worcestershire sauce 
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano (I used an Italian seasoning mix instead of just oregano)
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• ¾ teaspoon ground black pepper
• ⅔ cup almond meal
• 2 large eggs, beaten  (next one I'll use three)
• 1½ pounds lean ground beef  (I had 1lb of ground elk and 1lb of ground sirloin)
• 1 carrot, finely chopped - I added this ingredient because I had some in the fridge.

I did use my food processor as it suggested.  Way quicker and everything was small enough, it made the meatloaf blend together well.  Once I had it all mixed together and mushed with my hands, I rolled into large balls that fit into my jumbo muffin pan.  It made six perfect little meatloafs.

I did not take the time to make the tomato/ghee topping in the recipe either, but the next one I might give it a try.

We had this for lunch not only today, but I took it to work Monday and Tuesday. It heats up great in the microwave!  Good portable, quick meal.