Meatloaf for Sandwichs

There are as many meatloaf recipes as there are cooks, probably more because I seldom make mine exactly alike but the basics are the same regardless of wether your using ground beef or ground turkey, sausage or bacon. I was in the mood for a meatloaf sandwich so I started pulling ingrediants to see what I could come up with. Follow along if you'd like

A couple of months back I was given 50lbs of ground beef, yes FIFTY pounds! Its definately not premium meat something along the lines of 60/40 but it was free so... I broke it up into approx 2lb packs and froze it, thats where I started and while I was digging out the ground meat I came upon some hot italian sausage also in the freezer, popped them in a bowl of water to thaw, a couple of almost past use green peppers and a red onion, a couple eggs, some oatmeal and bread, various spices, sauces and milk

 There's a cooking term fro what I'm making in this step but I can't recall what it is, it lookis like a glass full of...welll... yea.. but I'll call it yuck, in a glass, bowl or other container put about 1 and a half cups of oatmeal, rip up a piece of bread and add about a half cup of milk and 2 eggs, mix it up and allow to soak while you do the next steps.. sorry about the 3rd pic, I guess my camera thought it looked like yuck as well

dice up your peppers and onions, add in some garlic , I had some left over spinach, you can add carrots, celery or any veggies you like

I often use a package of spicey breakfast sausage , this time I have hot italian sausage links, slice the links and peel the meat from its casing, get it in the bowl with the veggies, then add your ground meat, your oatmeal and eggs mix, any seasonings your going to use and mix completely

Ok remember when I said this wasn't the best ground beef? Well we need a way to get the grease away while cooking AND not make a mess of my oven, luckily I have a perforated baking tray (YES its clean! or as clean as it gets without a wirewheel) I covered the tray with tinfoil and using my repurposed awl/icepick (icepicks run around $5, the awl was .75) poked some holes .

Also remember this is about a meatloaf for SANDWICHS not your average small loaf for dinner that takes 2 slices to fill a piece of bread. Start forming your loaf and if you like create a well in the top to add some cheese, then cover with more meat, top it all off with bbq sauce

Your probably thinking.. "He's crazy how can poking holes in the bottom to let grease out keep the oven clean"  ah grasshopper I may indeed be crazy but Im not stupid !  Place a large baking dish under your meatloaf pan and fill it half way with water, okay one not so good side effect of the steam was the bottom of the loaf never browned but thats a small price to pay. Place in a preheated 350f oven for 90 minutes or so, I know thats longer than a usual meatloaf but this thing is HUGE  and because of the steam bath its not going to dy out.  The eagle eyed may see my cast iron frying pans that I left in the oven, it doesn't hurt the pans and helps provide regular heat with a flucuating electric stove

Once the meatloaf is done to your liking, take it out and allow to sit for 10-15 minutes before slicing or unless you cant wait like me, let it cool then place in the refrigerator for later, even after 10minutes the cheese in the middle was still molten so be careful ! MAke your sandwich and enjoy or of course you could add a baked potato and make it a meal