Edited 1/8/13:  I never expected my meatloaf recipe to become so popular!  Thank you Finding Joy in My Kitchen!  I love to create in my kitchen, preparing healthy meals on a busy schedule.  I share recipes each Thursday here at Joyful Mom–they are tested on 4 kids and 1 husband!  This Spring I will have 4 kids with soccer games on the weekends, 4 nights of the week will be shuttling them to different practice fields–you get the idea!  My crockpot is my best friend during these times.  Make sure to subscribe to the email and the newsletter so you won’t miss a recipe.

One of the best things about living here is that we are walking distance to the library–the main library not a branch.  As always I have to compare everything new here to my old in Michigan and  my old library that I could walk to did not have the best selection of books . . . but that has nothing to do with meatloaf.  This library has a incredible selection of “New” books–knitting, design, kids books, and cookbooks!  So I stock up almost every week.

In my pursuit of crockpot recipes I went to the cooking section and found scads of books just for the crockpot.  I took as many as I could carry.  (I try not to carry a bag or stroller into the library because I find I check out way too many books–I find an armload is my natural limit).  I came home and looked through all of them and I found a meatloaf recipe.  Our family loves meatloaf so I was excited to try a new recipe.  I followed the recipe to the letter which required buying special ingredients and it was a FAIL.  So annoying.  Since it was just 1 lb of meat by the time everyone decided that they didn’t like it the meatloaf had vanished.

My second try I decided to make my own meatloaf recipe:

• 2lbs of Tallgrass beef or other beef that isn’t pumped full of chemicals
• 1/2 cup caramelized onion
• 1/4 cup minced carrot
• 1/4 cup minced celery
• 1/2 cup oatmeal, or 1/2 cup stove top stuffing with seasonings or 1/4 cup bread crumbs (this is the binder and you can use just about anything)
• 1 egg or maybe 2
• dry seasonings–whatever suits the mood
• maybe a tablespoon of sauce of some kind to fit the mood

Mix that all up.  If it is too crumbly in your hands it won’t stay together during cooking and if it is too wet then it won’t stay together when you cut it.

Make a cradle of foil for your crockpot.  I added the end bits of some celery and a slice of onion as a bed for the meatloaf to add some moisture.  Place the meatloaf in the crockpot.

I cooked on low for 6 hours and it stayed on warm for an hour longer and it tasted great.