Meatloaf and Roasted Root Veggies.

First off, roasted root vegetables.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. 

Clean and dice up your choice of veggies - I had purple potatoes, parsnips, carrots, and a sweet potato. You could include any other type of potato, onion, turnip, or rutabaga too.

Toss the veggies with a little oil that can handle high heat (safflower, sunflower, canola), salt, pepper, and your choice of spices - garlic, thyme, rosemary, etc. For this recipe, I added thyme and a wee bit of garlic powder.

Roast the veggies for 45-50 minutes until tender, giving them a toss halfway through. *The veggies have a tendency to stick. It helps to put a bit of oil in the baking dish and heat it in the oven prior to putting the veggies in to bake.

Now on to meatloaf. I have to be honest, I don't ever measure my ingredients so I'm not really sure of the exact measurements. I hope you can eyeball ingredients too! (Next recipe, I'll start measuring as I go so I can give you a more reliable recipe).

You will need (approx.):

1 lb. ground meat of choice (beef, bison, venison, turkey, chicken, etc.)

1 egg

1 tablespoon worchestire sauce

1/2 c. (or so) rolled oats 

1/4 c. tomato sauce

Spices - salt, pepper, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, minced onion (if you don't have fresh onion), etc.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Place all of the ingredients in a mixing bowl.

Stir the ingredients together. It's important to not over work the meat, so I recommend incorporating everything together with your hands. 

Once you've incorporated the ingredients, you might need to add a little more oats or tomato sauce depending on if it seems a little too moist or too dry.

Grease a loaf pan and pour the meat in the pan.

Lightly press the meat into the pan.

Top with a little ketchup and/or tomato sauce. I use both.

Spread the ketchup and tomato sauce over the top.

Bake the meatloaf for about 40-45 minutes, until it is golden brown and a meat thermometer reads 160 degrees.

Now this is another recipe where you can add all sorts of different ingredients. For example: veggies (shredded carrots or zucchini, onion, bell peppers, spinach, mushrooms, etc.), shredded/crumbled cheese (cheddar, provolone, feta, etc), or even wrapped in bacon/pancetta. Also, if you don't have oats, you could substitute bread crumbs or, like my grandmother, corn flakes.

Enjoy!