Mom's Meatloaf
- 3 pounds ground beef
- 1/2 small box Saltines or similar crackers
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup milk
- 2 large green peppers, chopped
- 2 medium-sized onions, chopped
- 8 ounces button mushrooms, sliced thick
- 1 28-ounce can chopped tomatoes
- 1 32-ounce jar prepared tomato sauce
- A few teaspoons of butter or olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- Put ground meat in a large bowl.
- With your fist, push a bowl shape in the middle of the ground meat.
- Take a handful of crackers and crumble them by hand into the bowl shape in the beef.
- Beat the eggs and add them on top of the crackers, then pour in the milk.
- Season with a few shakes of salt and pepper and mix everything together with your hands.
- Saute peppers and onions in a small pan with about a teaspoon of butter or olive oil until just tender, about five minutes.
- Add about a third of this to the meatloaf mixture and set the rest aside for the gravy.
- In a separate bowl or plate, crush a generous handful or so of the crackers.
- Form two large or three small loaves out of the meatloaf mixture and roll each in crushed crackers to coat.
- Melt about a teaspoon of butter in a large, deep pan and brown meatloaves over medium heat for about ten minutes.
- Flip each loaf with a long spatula to brown the other side, covering with lid both times.
- While loaves are browning on the second side, saute sliced mushrooms in a small pan in a teaspoon of butter or olive oil for about five minutes.
- In a medium-sized pot, combine a large can of diced tomatoes, a jar of your favorite prepared spaghetti sauce, the mushrooms, and the rest of the sauteed peppers and onions.
- Stir and let simmer for a few minutes, then add to meatloaves.
- Cover pan, turn heat down to low, and let loaves cook through, about an hour.
- Serve with blanched green beans and white rice.
ground beef, crackers, eggs, milk, green peppers, onions, button mushrooms, tomatoes, tomato sauce, butter, salt
Taken from www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/moms-meatloaf-358340 (may not work)