Salsa Meatloaf Bites

We really don't eat meatloaf a lot in this house. I'm not sure why. I couldn't even remember the last time I made it.  Blockette couldn't remember EVER eating it.

That's probably why she freaked out, in a bad way, when I told her I was making salsa meatloaf bites from Semi Homemade Mom.

She'd been reading this series, Dear Dumb Diary, from the Library.  Apparently, there is something mentioned about meatloaf in the book and how disgusting it was.  Or maybe it was made from weird things.  I don't know, and I don't think I really want to know.  Somethings are better left in the dark.  (ie tales of school cafeteria mystery meat)

Boy was Blockette surprised when she tried the meatloaf.  It was actually good!

As you can see in the above picture, I served them with these super quick and easy cornbread muffins.  (Incidentally, as a side note, if you're going to make those cornbread muffins, don't use paper liners.  I thought I'd be tricky and save some clean up time, but the paper stuck to the muffins something terrible.)

It was strangely amusing to eat a meal that consisted of similarly shaped food.

Blockette said they would be better if they weren't covered in Salsa.  She doesn't like salsa for some reason so don't pay any attention to her.  I thought the salsa combo was awesome.

What I didn't like was this:



Baking the meatloaf in the muffin tins caused the grease from the meat to just pool up around the meat.  I attempted to soak up some of the fat with a paper towel.  Just looking at all that grease grosses me out.

Of course Mrblocko predicted this would happen.  He suggested just baking them on a cookie sheet, but I thought that if they were in the muffin tin, they might crisp up a bit more where they came in contact with the pan.  No such luck.  Next time I make these I'll bake them on a sheet pan, meatball style.  That way I can get rid of the fat as they are cooking.

Salsa Meatloaf Bites makes 12 mini meatloaves by Semi Homemade Mom 1lb lean ground beef  2 T dried, minced onion (I grated 1/2 of a very small onion)
1 egg  16 buttery crackers l(I used a store brand generic Club cracker)  2 c shredded cheddar cheese, divided (I used Mexican with jalapeno)
1 c chunky salsa, divided
Crush crackers. Mix meat, onion, egg, 1 c cheese, and 1/2 c salsa in large bowl. Add cracker crumbs and mix with hands to combine. Press meat mixture evenly among 12 muffin cups (or divide into 12 meatballs and place on foil lined rimmed baking sheet). Bake 400F for 25 min, test to be sure meat is at least 160F. Top each meatloaf with a spoonful of remaining salsa and sprinkling of cheese. Bake 5 min til cheese melts.