First time making meatloaf.....?!

Some people pre cook their veggies but I don't. You can use celery although I don't usually. Just cut the veggies good and small.

You need bread crumbs in a meat loaf and also an egg per pound fo ground beef...okay I agree I will give my meatloaf "method" I think that meat loaf is one of those things that you really just need a method for not a real recipe.

Your meat loaf wont be dry as long as you have a decent amount of fat. 80/20 or 85/15 ground beef is best. Those numbers are the percentage of beef to fat.

I also like to put my meatloaf on a cooling rack on a baking tray with edges or roasting pan etc so that the fat drips off and the meat loaf isn't sitting in the fat.

Here is what I also add to my meat loaf sorry I don't have anything exact cuz I do it to feel. You want to end up with a nice firm feel to the meat loaf. And you want it to hold a shape nicely. I also use the same basic ingredients to make meat balls but when I do meat balls I chop the veggies up smaller.

Sausage- sometimes
Lean hamburger
Green bell peppers (reds also if I have them)
Onions
Mushrooms
Green Onions
Eggs
Ketchup
Mustard
B-B-Q sauce-sometimes
teriyaki-more for meat balls
Worcestershire sauce
Dry ingredients of some kinds such as oatmeal, dried out bread, slightly crushed Plain cheerios etc...

It's probably easier to give you my recipe

I use onion, but I shred it, and I do use some kind of binder, but not too much. Too much binder and overcooking turns what should be moist and luscious meatloaf into a brick

Tom’s Meatloaf

The combination of the lean ground beef and the milk replicates veal.

Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
1/2 cup crushed Ritz crackers
1 cup shredded Vidalia onion
2 teaspoons Lawry’s Seasoned Salt
2 large eggs, beaten
1/4 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
3/4 cup milk
3 to 4 slices bacon, cut in half

Heat oven to 350?

Stir the ground beef, crushed crackers, and onion mix in a large bowl until well combined. Whisk the eggs, ketchup, and Worcestershire sauce in a separate bowl until smooth. Mix the eggs mixture and the milk into the meat mixture until everything is thoroughly combined (the mixture will be soft and loose). Transfer mixture to a 9 x 5 loaf pan.

Cover the top of the meatloaf with the halved bacon along the short side from one end to the other.

Bake in preheated oven until the meatloaf reaches 160? on an instant read thermometer inserted into the center of the meatloaf, 45 to 60 minutes.

I use finely diced onion, celery, & very finely shredded carrot. I use the vegetable peeler to cut very very thin slices. The carrot adds a bit of sweetness to the loaf. I use a mix of 2/3 beef & 1/3 pork. I never use green pepper as the flavor tends to overpower every thing else. Bread crumbs, kracker crumbs, whatever- you need a binder. Also 1 egg per pound of meat. Cook @ 350 for about an hour for a normal sized loaf. Check out the recipe on Liptons onion soup. Thats a really good place to start.

This is a recipe for Old Fashioned Meatloaf if you want step-by-step instructions: http://wp.me/p1l2Zx-jW

Enjoy, it's one of my favorite comfort foods!