Oh Soy you didn't!!

I made my meatlof with soy milk in it and no one noticed!! Hee hee hee!! (snicker snicker).

Really, I was in the middle of making a meatloaf and I realized that I had no milk in the house other than soy milk. I took a chance and added the soy milk and it came out great, and no one could tell the difference at all! I will never tell. ;)

Another way to change up meatloaf if you are trying to be healthy is use ground turkey instead of ground beef. My hubby has dietary restrictions and he is not supposed to eat red meat. Instead of being a supportive wife, I was actually kind of peeved that an entire protein type was now off limits to me. Having all of my beef recipes totally removed from circulation, quel disaster! But I rose to the occasion and learned to modify a lot of our favorite meals to include a white meat or better yet, to be meat-free.

One saving grace has been ground turkey. It's easy to sub ground turkey in place of ground beef or ground chuck, and you really can hardly tell the difference. I use ground turkey now in meatloaf, meatballs, meat lasagna, meat manicotti, chili, and pretty much any recipe where I used to use ground beef.

I don't usually tell my family when I secretly sub out these ingriendients. If they don't know what's in it, the chances are better they will like it. Somtimes just saying the word "soy" or "healthy" can diminish appetites and it's really not neccesary, so I just don't tell!

Anyway, meatloaf is pretty much a staple in our house, it's one of those few meals that I can serve and 4 out of 4 family members like it. 10 minutes to mix, 75 minutes to cook, and unanimous appeal - what more could I really strive for with my cooking! Here is my meatloaf recipe, from my original Betty Crocker cookbook.

1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef (or ground turkey)

1 cup milk (or soy milk)

1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp chopped fresh or 1/4 tsp dried sage leaves

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground mustard

1/4 tsp pepper

1 clove garlic, finely chopped, or 1/8 tsp garlic powder

1 large egg

3 slices bread, torn or 1/2 cup dried bread crumbs

1 small onion, chopped (1/4 cup)

1/2 cup ketchup, chili sauce, or barbeque sauce

1) Heat oven to 350 degrees

2) Mix all ingredients except ketchup. Spread micture in an ungreased loaf pan, spread ketchup over top.

3) Bake uncovered for 1 hout to 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a meat thermometer inserted in the center of the loaf reads 160 degrees. Beef should no longer be pink in color and juices should run clear. Drain meatloaf.

4) Let stand 5 minutes, remove from pan.