Meatloaf Muffins with Barbecue Sauce

I'm back on the meal planning wagon and I have to say, it's so nice.  My nights run so much smoother when I know what we're having for dinner and all the ingredients are already at home.  Last night, hubs was home early so we were able to cook together. We talked about our days as we cooked, enjoyed guacamole while it was all in the oven with a glass of wine as the baby sat quietly in her highchair and ate {rare}.  It was a perfect night. 

 For dinner I chose this mini meatloaf recipe from Rachael Ray.  I've never put celery and peppers into my meatloaf and thought it looked really good.  The recipe calls for onions as well but I left those out because hubs doesn't like it unless it's sautéed.  Something I would do differently next time is use a brush for the sauce on top.  I just spooned it over and thought it would spread a little. As you can tell from the pictures, that didn't happen.  I used a large scoop to put the mixture in the muffin pans and next time I need to push the mixture down and fill it all the way.  That would give them more of a muffin shape instead of the oversized meatball look I have going here.  We will be enjoying these again tonight for dinner since we had so many leftover.  I'm sure they would also freeze well. 

 I'm looking forward to making these again.  Enjoy!

Meatloaf Muffins with Barbecue Sauce 

Courtesy of Rachael Ray 

Ingredients:

1 2/3 to 1 3/4 pounds ground sirloin
1 medium onion, cut into chunks
2 ribs celery from the heart of the stalk, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 green bell pepper
1 large egg plus a splash of milk, beaten
1 cup plain bread crumbs
2 tablespoons grill seasoning (recommended: Montreal Steak Seasoning by McCormick)
1 cup smoky barbecue sauce
1/2 cup tomato salsa
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Vegetable oil or extra-virgin olive oil
Micro-way-cool Bacon and Green Beans, recipe follows
Smashed potatoes and cream cheese, recipe follows

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
Put ground beef into a big bowl. Put onion and celery into a food processor. Cut the bell pepper in half, rip out the seeds and throw them into your garbage bowl. Cut the pepper into a few pieces and add to the food processor. Pulse the processor blades to finely chop the vegetables into very small pieces then add them to the meat bowl. Add egg, beaten with milk, bread crumbs and grill seasoning to the bowl. Next, mix together the smoky barbecue sauce, the salsa and the Worcestershire sauce. Pour half the sauce mixture into the bowl with the meatloaf mix. Mix the meatloaf together with your hands. Wash up. Brush a 12-muffin tin (1/2-cup each) with vegetable oil or extra-virgin olive oil. Use an ice cream scoop to help you fill meat into a each tin. Top each meat loaf with a spoonful of extra sauce. Bake about 20 minutes. Cut open 1 muffin to test that the middle is cooked through.

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/meatloaf-muffins-with-barbecue-sauce-recipe/index.html?oc=linkback