The Kids in my Kitchen: Meatloaf Minis!

"The Kids in my Kitchen" is part of an ongoing series where I blog a recipe the kids and I made together. Why do I think it's important for my kids to be in my kitchen with me? Read this.

Many experts agree that you have a better chance of getting your child to eat something if they have a hand in helping you prepare it. I decided to test that theory today with Jack: Picky Eater Extraordinare. Supper time is a real struggle with Jack, as about all he likes to eat are Hotdogs, French Fries and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches.


Oh, and Kraft Dinner. Of course.



For supper tonight I tried something we had never had before: Mini Meatloaves.
Meafloafs? Meatloaves? hmmm...




My childhood meatloaf memories are not pleasant ones (sorry Mom) so I have never made it in all the years I have lived on my own. I came across this recipe from Kraft Canada
and thought it may just be cute enough to be good. If you scroll down to the bottom of the recipe you will see a couple variations. We made the Italian style Meatloaf Minis.




We used ground beef (we get it by the bag from the butcher so I don't know exactly how much is in a bag, maybe a pound?), Stove Top (we used Turkey, you can use whatever kind you like), pasta sauce (yes, pasta sauce, not salsa, hee hee) Italian Seasoning and Shredded Cheese.

So as I said, I enlisted Jack's help in hopes he would actually be more invested to eat it if he helped make it. First we dumped the package of Stove Top into the ground beef.

Added a cup of water...

And sprinkled in some Italian Seasoning.

Stir to combine well

And then fill muffin pans (that have been sprayed really well)

Create an indentation into the middle of each Meatloaf Mini (hard to see here)

And spoon pasta sauce into each welled area.

Bake in the oven at 375 F for 30 mins

Jack chose to read books while waiting for the next step.

After they have baked for 30 mins...

Sprinkle them with shredded cheese and pop back into the oven for 5 mins.

Done! They pop out of the muffin tins very easily and are just the right size for little tummies.

Plus they have cheese on them which is always a good thing in the eyes of little ones.

For bigger tummies, just add more to the plate.

So now...the test...

He gobbled it up! He kept rubbing his tummy and saying how good they were. And so did his Daddy! Both Daddy and I couldn't believe how well he ate his dinner. The Italian Meatloaf Minis were definitely a hit! I don't know if it was actually because he helped make them that he ate them up so well, but it sure didn't hurt!

Success!

This recipe made us 13 meatloaf minis and we did have some left over. Jeff will likely eat them for lunch this week, but you could also freeze them for later too. They are easy enough to make even for lunch time, and portable enough to take somewhere with you as long as you could reheat them. Their size makes them perfect for kids and the cooking method makes it both quicker and more fun than regular meatloaf.

Next time I think we'll try the BBQ version.

:)