GMA Recipe: Stretched Meat Loaf

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Stretched Meat Loaf
From Beverly Mills and Alicia Ross
Tuesday, January 10, 2006

In the book, "Cheap.Fast.Good!," Beverly Mills and Alicia Ross show readers how to save money while making quick, delicious meals. Packed with over 250 quick and easy recipes, this is the definitive guide to not only cooking smart but shopping smart, too. This is the book you'll want to own if you want to save money in the kitchen.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, $107.70 is the absolute bottom line for a family of four to spend per week and still get a nutritionally balanced diet. This might not sound hard until you consider that's only $14.29 per day -- for four people. Mills and Ross undertook the challenge of feeding their own families of four on $100 a week. Their experiment will show you that this is difficult yet possible, given a little creativity.

The bottom line is you don't have to sacrifice delicious meals while trying to stick to a budget. And here's the proof!

Stretched Meat Loaf

Prep time 15 minutes
Ingredients

2 large eggs

1/2 cup tomato juice or tomato-vegetable juice, such as V8

1/4 cup ketchup

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 cup packaged or homemade dry bread crumbs

1/2 cup quick-cooking (not instant) oats

6 cloves fresh garlic, or 2 tablespoons bottled minced garlic

1/2 cup fresh parsley leaves, or 2 tablespoons dried parsley (optional)

1 medium-size carrot

2 ribs celery

1/2 medium-size green bell pepper

1 large onion

1 pound lean ground beef (see Note), defrosted if frozen

Cooking oil spray

Mustard-Brown Sugar Topping or Ketchup Topping

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

2. Break the eggs into a large mixing bowl. Add the tomato juice, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and black pepper. Stir well. Stir in the bread crumbs and oats. Set aside.

3. Peel the garlic cloves, if using fresh. Turn on a food processor and drop the garlic cloves, one at a time, through the feed tube. Process until finely minced. Then drop the fresh parsley leaves (if using) through the feed tube and finely mince.

4. Peel the carrot and cut it into roughly two-inch pieces. Cut the celery into roughly two-inch pieces. Core and seed the bell pepper half and cut it into roughly two-inch pieces. Add the carrot, celery, and bell pepper pieces to the processor bowl and pulse until the vegetables are cut into very small pieces (but not soupy). Transfer the vegetable mixture to the mixing bowl, along with the bottled minced garlic and dried parsley (if using).

5. Peel and quarter the onion and place the quarters in the processor bowl. Pulse until the onion is cut into very small pieces (but not soupy). Add the onions to the mixing bowl and stir to mix well.

6. Add the beef to the bowl and, using your hands, thoroughly combine the meat with the vegetable mixture.

7. Spray a large loaf pan (about 10 x 6 x 3 inches) with cooking oil spray. Spread the meat mixture evenly in the pan. Use the back of a spoon to spread the topping of choice evenly over the meat. Bake, uncovered, until cooked through, about one hour and 10 minutes. Let rest at room temperature for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Note: Because the fat is not drained off in this recipe, we suggest using ground beef that is at least 85 percent lean.

Serves 8

Mustard-Brown Sugar Topping

2 tablespoons light or dark brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup prepared mustard

Stir the brown sugar and mustard together in a small bowl until smooth.

Ketchup Topping

1/4 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

Pour the ketchup in a small bowl and add the vinegar. Stir until well blended.

Recipe copyright © 2006, Cheap.Fast.Good! by Beverly Mills and Alicia Ross