Mini Meatloaf

Being a vegetarian with two meat-eaters in the family can pose what I call "restaurant syndrome". Many times I cook or throw together three separate meals. Silly, I know. But I do what I have to do. My almost 3-year old toddler has become quite the picky eater and even though I'm a vegetarian, I dislike most vegetables. Thank goodness for my husband, who will eat almost anything I put in front of him. But, all of this non-allergy related mealtime madness gets us all to bed with food in our bellies.

Dinnertime hasn't yet evolved into a formal family mealtime. It does happen, it's sporadic. This is something I want in the future, but for right now I cannot get into the swing of eating at 6 PM. I prefer to eat later, after my son is in bed. Eating dinner is more enjoyable this way but then I guess we dedicate time to two dinner times. Justin's dinnertime is sometimes shared by just me or my husband or both of us. Someone is always keeping sure Justin isn't blowing bubbles out of his glass or swinging around his fork.

Tonight for instance, Justin and Jason are having dinner together. I made mini-meatloafs that can be easily frozen and reheated on the nights that I work. I also love the portion-control that the muffin tin provides. Jason and Justin both really like them and they're so easy to make. Jason's having them with broccoli. He's the only one in the house who will eat broccoli but he would never steam it for himself, since that's "too much work". Justin is having the meatloaf with baked beans. Jason won't eat baked beans...and so the restaurant syndrome is in half-effect. Full-effect examples will appear at some point...maybe tomorrow! So, I eat neither mini-meatloaf nor broccoli and so I'm eating something else whenever I get hungry.

I'm beginning to think I'm making life more complicated then it needs to be. Proper planning would eliminate some of my "restaurant syndrome". But, alas, that's for another better planned evening.


Mini-Meatloaf...Kraft Food Website
http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/marvelous-mini-meatloaves-75574.aspx

I make our meatloaf with all organic ingredients. I used real organic ground beef, since my family eats only a small amount of red meat. I use the "BBQ" version of the recipe with Arrowhead Organic stuffing mix. In 2008 I was only able to find this brand around the holidays, so last year I stocked up on about 5 bags of it to get me through the year. I have since seen it in Wegmans, but I got all of mine on sale and it won't expire until 2011.