Your Weekly Frugal Recipe - Meatloaf

 Meatloaf

The Food Stamp Way

Skills	Prep	Cook
Casserole dish
What do these meters mean?

     Raise your hand if the last thing you think of when it comes to gourmet cooking is meatloaf. Now put your hand down, no one can see you.  The thing with meatloaf is that it's a basic staple that can be changed into several different things.  In fact my next few beef recipes (there is a pattern to these recipes) will be based off the meatloaf recipe that will be here and we'll transform it into meatballs, stuffed peppers and more!

Equipment you'll need
knife, cutting board, mixing bowl, casserole dish, cooling rack (optional)

Serves 8

Ingredient	Amount	Cost
Ground beef	2 lb	$2.99
Pork sausage	1 lb	$3.48
Eggs	2	$0.15*
Bread crumbs	1/2 c	$0.13*
Onion	1/2	$0.25*
Green onions	3	$0.31*
Garlic	1 clove	$0.07*
Crushed tomatoes	1, sm can	$0.66
Total		$7.79
* Based on price per package divided by amount used.

Price per plate =$0.97  Notes about ingredients:

If you don't eat pork, use 3 pounds of ground beef or find some chicken sausage.

1/2 tsp of minced garlic in oil is the same as 1 clove.  1/8 tsp of garlic power is also the same as a clove.

If you don't have a can of crushed tomatoes you can also cut up 1 or 2 fresh tomatoes to use what's in your kitchen.

Prep Instructions:

Mince your garlic if it isn't already or powder.

Chop your onion.  It should be about 1/2 c.

Slice the green onions thinly.

Instructions:

1.  Preheat your oven to 350º F
2.  Mix all ingredients thoroughly.

(The movie's sped up.  The whole process takes about a minute)
3. Form into a loaf.

4.  Place in a casserole pan on top of a cooling rack, if you have one.

5.  Bake for an hour to an hour and a half or until done in the middle.  That means there's no pink left or a meat thermometer reads 155º F.

6.  Remove the loaf from the grease in the pan, if you baked in a casserole, and slice to serve.

What recipe would you like done the food stamp way? Comments? Questions? Tweet to @cookingcheap