Turkey Meat Loaf

 

You know how I said awhile back, I was letting my husband choose the flavors for dinner.  Well, this time he chose even though I had a plan.  So much for my plan.  I ws really craving chili.  He decided he wanted meat loaf.  I am a believer that you need fresh beef (or turkey) to make meat loaf.  Thawing out frozen ground whatever, never seems to work as well.   Meat loaf was really not in my head, my plan, or my fridge.  So because I am a good wife, sometimes, I allow him to have his way.  This meant a trip to the store.  Although I love shopping, when you are trying to stick to a budget and use coupons and still spend almost a weeks pay between  3 separate stores, you get a little depressed.   Did I absolutely HAVE to have everything I bought?  No.  However, it will save me a trip to the store later and I got some good deals, so why pass them up.  Usually I spend more when I have others accompany me to the store.  This time I was all by my lonesome and I still bought a BUNCH!  My trunk was full and so was my back seat.  Why did I buy so much?  Oh yea, I did the unthinkable.  I went to the store hungry.  I hadn't eaten a single thing and it was after noon.  Don't do that.  Let my mistake be a lesson to you!  Don't go shopping (for food) hungry!  I dn't buy "bad stuff", just too much stuff period.  I could tell my husband was real happy with me when I came home and said I needed help carrying in the groceries because there is a lot!

Well, it's Super Bowl Sunday, and my husband is yelling at the t.v. as I'm typing.  Does your husband do that?  Do they really think the players can hear all the people at home yelling at their t.v.'s?  I mean the only football my husband watches is the Super Bowl.  You would think, after hearing his hollering, that he would be a coach on the field, or maybe he was a owner of the team.  Seriously, this is the last game of the season and it's the first one he has watched.  He's acting like me, when I watch chopped.  I yell at the t.v.  Remind them not to forget the basket items.  Or I try to tell them what they are doing wrong.  I love it when the judges eat the food and agree with me.  I didn't get to eat it, but I knew.  Oh yea!  Anyway, getting back to the dish at hand.  This is another I "eyeball" every time I make it.  Normally I use ground beef, like I did for my husbands version, but for me it was lean ground turkey (93% lean) and a small amount of lean ground pork.  I tried to measure out everything for his too, but I asked them if it tasted "normal" and my daughter said something tasted different, but it was still good.  Maybe the different was that I used a little spag sauce I had left in the jar in the fridge, instead of ketchup.  Or maybe it was instead of sprinkling in stuff as I go until it "looks good", I actually tried to measure out ingredients and hoped it looked right.  Either way, they ate it.  I ate mine.  Mine was healthy compared to theirs.  And, mine was good too!  So without further delay, here's my recipe!

 

Turkey Meat Loaf

 

1 pkg 19.2 oz Lean ground turkey (93%lean)

8 oz ground lean pork

1/2 cup mixed red and green pepper chopped

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup oats (not instant)

2 TBS thick Worcestershire sauce

1 TBS minced garlic

3 TBS spaghetti sauce (I used Ragu light basil)

1/2 tsp EACH dried basil, dried oregano, dried thyme, season salt, and black pepper

1/4 quinoa (uncooked)

1 egg white

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  I have a pan that has separators for 8 mini loaves and that is what I used.  Mix all the ingredients gently in a large bowl until combined.  Dived between the mini loaf pans or you can bake in a larger pan.  Bake for 40 minutes, or until center is done.  You can use a meat thermometer to check the internal temp if you like.  It should read 180 degrees.  Let rest a few minutes before serving. 

 

I made a side dish of fresh trimmed green beans, that I simmered for just a few minutes in some water, dried lavender, lemon juice, and dried shallots.  They were Delicious too.

My minnie loaf pan.  This recipe serves 8, and each has approximately  238 calories, 11.5 grams of fat, and 23 grams of protein.  I used the spark people recipe calculator, but not all of my ingredients, by brand, were in their system.  I just went with what was.  So these are pretty close to being on target, I did drizzle a little ketchup on top, that was not calculated in.