Individual Meat Loaves - Barefoot Bloggers

Well it's that time again, time for another challenge from the Barefoot Bloggers. For our first March recipe, Ina Garten's Individual Meat Loaves was selected by community member Tonya, blogger of What's on My Plate. 

Meatloaf is one of those traditional recipes that people either seem to love or hate. I don't think I ever had meatloaf until just a few months ago. I can't remember my mom ever making the dish. By the time I was old enough to remember, our family had shrunken from having six people around the dinner table, including a teenage boy, to having only three since my older siblings were all off at college by the time I was three years old. My dad traveled for his career, so dinner was often just me and my mom. Not a big enough crowd to crank out a big loaf of meat for.

When I purchased my beloved Pioneer Woman cookbook, I finally decided to try meatloaf for the first time. The name of the dish kind of turned me off but I thought it would be an easy crowd pleaser. The Pioneer Woman's recipe was really delicious and everyone had multiple servings. I also found a true love for left over meatloaf sandwiches - holy yum! Putting some between two slices of garlic bread, amazing! Just sayin...

So anyway, back to the Barefoot Contessa's recipe.

The recipe was easy enough to make and was rather tasty. The texture of this recipe was really nice. Not too sticky or, on the flip side, dry and crumbly - it had a great moisture and texture balance. Ethan really got a kick out of the little, individual loaves.

*Gasp - I forgot to take any pictures of the final project. Blogger fail!! But who doesn't know what meatloaf looks like??

I will probably stick with my Pioneer Woman recipe but this was a fun one to give a try. I'll definitely make the individual loaf sizes again. It was such a convenience for wrapping up the leftovers and will make it easy to grab an individual portion to reheat for lunch. Leftover meatloaf sandwiches...here I come!!