Mouth Watering Meat Loaf

For reasons I will never understand, meatloaf is one of those dishes that I absolutely had to figure out. It was almost like some sort of code I had to crack. Granted, a good meatloaf is all a matter of personal taste, but after many years of searching and experimenting, I think I may have finally cracked the code. Even my mother gave this recipe the thumbs up. (And she's a tough critic!)

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 50-55 minutes

Preheat Oven: 350 degrees

Ingredients

1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. ketchup (+ 1 tbsp.)
1 lb. lean ground beef

2 eggs

1 tsp. salt
1 small onion, chopped (or 1/3 of a large vidalia onion, chopped)
1 med. size green pepper, chopped

1/2 c. frozen spinach (thawed and drained)
1 c. whole wheat bread crumbs
1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/4 tsp. dried thyme

canola oil

Directions

Chop the onion and pepper into small pieces. Cook the onion, pepper, and spinach in a skillet over medium heat (with 1 tbsp. canola oil) for about 10-12 minutes. Add 1 tbsp. of ketchup to the skillet, and blend. Remove from heat. Place 2-3 slices of wheat bread (or enough to make 1 cup bread crumbs) into a blender or food processor. In a large bowl, mix together the beef, eggs, salt, bread crumbs, garlic powder, and thyme. Add the vegetables to the beef mixture and blend well. In a 5x9 loaf pan, grease the bottom and sides of the pan with canola oil. Press a layer of brown sugar on the bottom of the pan. Spread ketchup over the top of the brown sugar. Shape the beef mixture into a loaf and place on top of the ketchup/brown sugar. Bake for 50-55 minutes. Serves 6-8.