Nacho Mama's Meatloaf

Hey Kids!

Nacho Mama's Meatloaf? Haha get it! not-ya-mama's! I crack myself up, I really do. Anyways, today we're kicking up the traditional meatloaf a little bit and doing a cheesy, southwest style meatloaf. As usual, I'm using ground turkey, but if you prefer ground beef, go ahead and swap that bad larry in. I'm serving it with some of my barbecue sauce, the recipe I posted earlier.

Now a lot of the recipes I post, I always include that Jon gave the stamp of approval. It probably seems like Jon is giving out his stamp of approval like crazy. I promise, there are a bunch of recipes that I had to make three or four times before getting Jon's stamp of approval. He is an incredibly picky eater, like a kid. He hates veggies and anything that could make the dish healthier. One of the first times I made a turkey meatloaf, he refused to eat it. He claimed he had tried one before and he would never try it again. So, I decided the only way to get him to eat it was the "what they don't know won't hurt them" theory. I started out by making the meatloaf with 1/4 turkey and 3/4 beef, then I made the next one 1/2 and 1/2 and then one 3/4 turkey, 1/4 beef. I figured the only thing that would give it away was the color so if I slowly progressed to the lighter ground turkey, I may get away with it. Sure enough, I made it full turkey and he commented "This is the best meatloaf you've ever made! What did you do different?". I explained my trickery and let him know on top of that, I had added onions, which he also "hates". He was shocked, and it was awesome! Haha

So, meatloaf can get boring if you do the same meatloaf seasoning served with ketchup, so I decided to experiment a bit after reading some online recipes. My inspiration for this style actually came from Desperate Housewives. If you guys are fans of the show, you might remember the episode where they focused on the handyman Eli Scruggs. He passed away and all the ladies look back on their memories with him. Well, in the segment where Bree thinks back about Eli, they talk about her Chipotle Meatloaf recipe. Now of course, they don't show on the show what is in the meatloaf, so I just let my imagination run with it. I hope I did the amazing Bree Van de Kamp justice with this one I came up with!

Nacho Mama's Meatloaf

1.5 lbs ground turkey
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 onion, chopped fine
1 carrot, peeled and grated
3 cloves garlic, grated or finely minced
1/2 tsp celery salt
1/2 tsp house seasoning
1/2 cup cheddar cheese soup (I used the Campbell's kind)
1/4 cup milk
1 egg
1/2 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
3/4 cup cracker crumbs (I used saltines, ritz crackers also are delish)
1 cup corn kernels

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Over medium heat, saute the onion, carrot and garlic in the butter and oil. *I used a hand grater to grate the garlic and carrot to make sure it wasn't too chunky for the meatloaf*. Add celery salt and house seasoning to onion, carrots and garlic. Only allow to sweat out for a couple minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together cheddar soup and milk until smooth. Beat in egg. Add in paprika, chili powder and Worcestershire. Fold in cracker crumbs and corn. Using your hands, add ground meat to mixture, making sure the mixture is fully incorporated to meat without over mixing.

Prepare a baking dish with a light coat of olive oil. Form loaf in bottom of baking dish. Cook for 1 hour. At the 50 minute mark, add barbecue sauce over meatloaf to cook for the last ten minutes.

I hope you all enjoy this meatloaf! Please send your comments, pictures or suggestions to cookingwithcait.@gmail.com