Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf

6 Servings (and maybe more)

 All right, this is a recipe where you DON’T look at the potential cholesterol effect.  You just make it every once and awhile and enjoy.  I do have another recipe that I’ll pass on that’s almost cholesterol free, however, this one is so good—anytime of the day—that I thought I would share it with you—as it was shared with me.

Ingredients:

1. 1 – 1/2 Lb. ground beef (I used some local lean beef)
2. 1- 1/2 C.  canned drained chopped tomatoes (or fresh if the tomatoes are tasty)
3. 1/4 C. herbed stuffing mix—1/2 of it crushed in a plastic bag
4. 1 carrot, coarsely shredded (I used my peeler and left the strips whole)
5. 3 garlic cloves, crushed
6. 2 Tbsp. chopped parsley (dry is OK but fresh is better)
7. 1 egg, beaten
8. 1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
9. S&P to your taste
10. 1 or 2 heaping tablespoons of shredded Mexican Mix cheese or just cheddar
11. 4 slices bacon (or you can squeeze in one more if you wish.  I used the thick kind. )

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 375.
2. In a 8 ½ X 4 ½ loaf pan (any kind because you won’t be baking in this—it’s just to shape the loaf)

Lined with plastic wrap, place your bacon slices side ways (not long ways) with the bacon sides hanging over the dish.

1. In a good sized bowl, mix all of your ingredients well. I used my hands.
2. Place the above contents in your loaf pan on top of the bacon slices and when pressed in, fold the bacon edges on top.
3. Turn over your loaf pan on your desired roasting or baking dish; remove the plastic wrap and place in preheated oven.
4. Cook for one hour basting once or twice during that time.
5. After the hour, increase the heat to 450 for 10 minutes longer.

I visualize that this can be served on a pretty platter surrounded by mashed potatoes and maybe peas; however, the Worcestershire in it made me think a bit Asian and I got out my Yakisoba noodles.  This is how I did them:

1. While the meatloaf was cooking at the very end, I removed about 1 to 2 Tblsp. of the meatloaf juice and put it in a wok.  I stir fried the noodles along with 1 Tblsp. of soy sauce for about 5 minutes.  I then added to the noodles some Brussels sprouts that I had roasted in the oven with a bit of olive oil, lemon juice and sesame seeds for the last 15 minutes of the meatloaf baking to the noodles.

I placed the meatloaf on a nice platter and surrounded it with the noodles and sprouts.  It turned out very pretty and was delicious!!!!