Low-Cost Recipes

1-1 1/2 lbs hamburger
1 16 oz jar chunky spaghetti sauce
2 eggs
1 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1 package (16 oz) Mozzarella or Italian blend shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 350f
 In a mixing bowl, lightly beat the eggs. Add bread crumbs and 1/2 cup of spaghetti sauce. Mix thoroughly. Add meat to mixture and combine.
 Lay out a long piece of cling wrap, foil, or wax paper. On one end, place your loaf pan. Use this as a guide and roll out the meat mixture into a thin layer (max thickness of 1/2") that's as wide as the pan is long.
Spread 1 cup of sauce on top of the meat, leaving about an inch at the furthest edge (on the side that is as wide as the pan) clear of sauce. Sprinkle 3/4 of the bag of cheese on top of the sauce. Roll up the meat like a swiss roll, starting at the sauced end and ending at the empty end of the meat. Pinch the end closed, and place in loaf pan sealed side down.
 Bake for roughly 1 hour, checking for doneness. (Your mileage may vary, depending on your oven.)
When no longer pink in the center, remove from the oven, and spread the last 1/2 cup of sauce on top, followed by the last 1/4 of the package of cheese. Return to the oven for 5-10 minutes, until cheese is melted and bubbly.
 Serve with plain pasta (little to no sauce) and maybe broccoli or the "Florentine blend" of steamed vegetables.

 Note from daughter: My mom looks at me funny and blatantly says "No." when I offer to make this for her. She has never eaten it, but she says it sounds too weird for her. Honestly, it tastes like if a meatloaf and a meatball stuffed full of cheese had a food baby.
Since my immediate family won't eat it, I have references of a sort from friends, former significant others, and coworkers. My former roommates and an ex boyfriend would beg me to make this, and didn't understand why I didn't make it more often. A former coworker paid me $20 per meatloaf I made for him (maybe once a month) because, despite only having 5 ingredients, he insisted that I made it better than he ever could. Another coworker asked for the recipe, and reported that it passed the finicky toddler test. I figure if a 4 year old who won't eat anything but chicken nuggets wants more, it's got to be good.

1-1.5 lbs ground beef (can substitute the "Meatloaf Mix" of ground beef and pork some grocery stores sell)
2 eggs
1 cup plain bread crumbs
1/2-1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce (to taste)
1/2-1 teaspoon A-1 steak sauce (to taste)
1 tablespoon ketchup
1/2 cup ketchup

Preheat oven to 350f.
In a mixing bowl, crack and lightly beat 2 eggs. Add in the sauces and tablespoon of ketchup, and mix thoroughly. Gradually add bread crumbs until fully combined. Add in meat/meat mixture, and work together fully, avoiding clumps of bread crumb mixture.
Spray loaf pan lightly with cooking spray to prevent sticking (an important step if you use a draining loaf pan, like the Perfect Meatloaf Pan). Gently mold meat mixture into a loaf like shape that's an even thickness along it's length.
Bake for 1 hour. Check the loaf for doneness. Continue baking until no pink can be seen. Pull out of oven, and apply an even coat of the remaining ketchup on the top. Return to oven for another 5-10 minutes, or until ketchup turns into a glaze like substance and darkens.
Remove and serve. Feeds roughly 4 people, depending on how thick you cut the slices, and if people want seconds.

 Note from daughter: Out of my two meatloaf recipes, this is the one my mom likes. She looked at me funny when I pulled out the tin of bread crumbs, since she normally uses oats or bits of bread heels she's frozen, etc., but she actually liked this!