Food.com
This is the meatloaf recipe that I make all the time. It's a combination of the meatloaf my mom always used made at home, my grandma's hamburgers (which she always made with onion soup mix), and the meatloaf recipe on the back of the onion soup mix boxes, along with a few additions of my own. It's named after my late father-in-law, as it was his favorite, and I made it for him often. Since it makes a big loaf, we'd often take leftovers to him, or invite him over for dinner. If he felt I hadn't made it recently enough, he'd drop off a pound of ground beef and ask me to mix up a batch that he could bake for himself. I've never understood the draw of meatloaf sandwiches, but Jerry said this meatloaf made great sandwiches! The real 'secret' ingredient that makes this 'pop' is the sauce on top. My husband thought it was BBQ sauce the first time I made it! He insists that I make extra sauce to add to the meatloaf at the table! This, along with the oatmeal, came from my mom's meatloaf that I learned to mix up at a young age while my parents were doing chores in the barn. It was tough to put measurements on the sauce, because I've always just dumped and tasted, but I made myself measure when I made this last time. The problem is, my photo was taken of reheated leftovers the next day, so it's not quite as good as the fresh meatloaf! Our favorite way to serve this is with mashed potatoes and any green vegetable, whether it be broccoli, peas, or grean beans. A basic brown gravy on the potatoes, bumping into the ketchup sauce on the juicy meatloaf...mmmmm. I think I'm drooling just thinking about it! True comfort food! Preparation time includes 1 hour chill time before baking.
