Meatloaf

[Kchurchill5]

Cooked brown rice or mashed pintos are great in meatloaf. I love to use cooked rice because it almost becomes mush - but also adds flavor.

Beans are great mashed, adds flavor, protein and wonderful. I often mix that with turkey. And if you puree, lots of veggies, like carrots, parsnips, onions, celery and peppers, it is very moist. Add egg or egg substitute with the turkey and beans or rice and you can make a very little amount of meat, go a long way.

[HeatherFeather]

I like to add things to my meatloaf to stretch it too. I usually save up stray bread loaf ends, slightly stale crackers, croutons, etc - anything like that can be ground up quickly in the food processor and used as a filler in meatloaf.

I have also used cooked veggies to make a layered meatloaf. You can use less meat this way and use up leftover cooked veggies at the same time. Just put a layer of your meat mixture down in your pan first, top with a layer of the cooked veggies (I pulse them together or chop finely and sautee first) and then another layer of meat on top.

[Kchurchill5]

I love the idea of layered heather. Yep, you can really stretch out the cost, and it is usually even better than the original recipe.

[Marion_in_Savannah]

Never thought of using rice in meatloaf, but I'm about to! Once when I was out of bread crumbs I used oatmeal (quick cooking, NOT instant) instead, and it actually made a better meatloaf, at least to our taste.

[Kchurchill5]

Never thought of using rice in meatloaf, but I'm about to! Once when I was out of bread crumbs I used oatmeal (quick cooking, NOT instant) instead, and it actually made a better meatloaf, at least to our taste.

My friend uses quick cooking barley. I haven't tried it, but she said it is delicious.

[klutzy]

I always use oatmeal, and I often add shredded vegies. Never thought of doing the layered thing, that sounds interesting. Beans might be good too. To me, meatloaf seems like a very expensive dish, since I add quite a few things to the meat but don't seem to get more servings. In fact, I like it so much I tend to eat more than if I just ate a hamburger! But if I were to do things like save up stale bread and add beans, that might satisfy my frugal nature. It's probably things like that that account for meatloaf's reputation for being cheap.

[Dissie]

Shredded veggies are wonderful in meatloaf. Use shredded cabbage, cut up small and saute that with an onion in butter and add to meatloaf to stretch it. You add great flavor, vitamins and also help make it go farther!