Mouthwatering Meatloaf

Sometimes as a Celiac it feels as though you can't be "naughty" in the kitchen anymore... that all the bad things are off limits, or that you have to modify the recipe so much that it is unrecognizable as being sinful and satisfying. Well this meatloaf proves that you can eat gluten free while enjoying a truly satisfying comfort food. I found the original recipe on allrecipes.com (http://allrecipes.com/recipe/bbq-oatmeal-meatloaf/detail.aspx) and modified it to suit my gf daughter's needs. It is simple to make, moist, and mouthwatering. What more can you ask for?!... it makes two loaves so that you can freeze the second for a rushed mealtime or surprise dinner guest, and it freezes well! Woohooo!!!

GF BBQ Oatmeal Meatloaf *

*(this recipe assumes you are tolerant of oats)

Ingredients

• 2 pounds ground beef
• 3/4 pound mild sage-flavored (Gluten Free) breakfast sausage 
• 1 medium/large onion, chopped
• 2 medium/large carrots, shredded
• 5 tablespoons dry onion soup mix (I used Safeway brand- 1 envelope- but read your labels!)
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups barbeque sauce (I used CattleBoyz- it is labelled gf and has good tang- but use your favorite gf bbq sauce)
• 1 cup Only Oats quick rolled oats, or more if desired
• 6 slices bacon, divided  

Note: I omitted the breakfast sausage since I didn't have any on hand and just increased the amount of ground meat- then added about a half teaspoon of dried sage to replace the sage flavor in the sausage. I also used half ground beef and half ground deer with success. Feel free to try a ground beef and pork combo too!

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. Mix the ground beef, sausage(if using), onion, carrots, gf onion soup mix, brown sugar, eggs, and gf barbeque sauce together in a large mixing bowl until thoroughly combined. Stir in enough gf oats to make the mixture hold together- you can use up to 2 cups of oats. Divide the mixture in half, and spoon into two 9x5-inch loaf pans*. Place 3 strips of bacon the long way onto each loaf. *(If you only have one loaf pan like me, use a 9x9 square pan for one of the loaves and add more bacon to cover the top.)
3. Bake in the preheated oven until the meatloaf is no longer pink in the middle and the juices run clear, about 1 hour.

Freezing

To freeze the second loaf, put in the fridge overnight to cool completely. It will come out easily with a spatula when cold and the can be placed in a large ziploc freezer bag. Remove all the air to help protect against freezer burn. To reheat, pop frozen loaf into loaf pan again and thaw. Just before placing in oven I brushed bbq sauce over the top to prevent the top from drying out. Reheat in a 350'F oven till hot- about 30min.