A few months ago my grandmother (whom I love dearly) found The Perfect Brownie Pan knockoff at a local discount store.

Personally I think it was a hint for me to make her favorite gluten free blondies. Now if you have been following Mom on the Run for a while you know that baking is not my forte. I find little joy in baking. When I ponder my resistance to baking I realize my distaste stems from the fact that baking requires precise measurements. I am more of a little of this and a lot of that until it meets my flavor satisfaction. I dabble in baking from time to time and surprise myself with what I can create, but usually it leads to an angry Mom.  It is a runny joke in my house that if I am baking that I must be feeling ill.

The other night I was running late and my dinner plans became a little frazzled. I had taken out ground beef to make meatloaf because I had leftover pasta and rice. I was going to make a 2 for meal; Italian meatloaf to compliment the leftover pasta and Cajun meatloaf to mix with the rice. Love it or hate it, meatloaf is a quick meal that satisfies my whole family. One dilemma with the meatloaf tonight, I really did not have time on my side to cook a meatloaf. While rustling through my pans my perfect brownie pan fell into my hands and my brownie meatloaf became a reality. Now my meatloaf would take less time to cook and already be portion controlled. DOUBLE KITHCHEN BONUS!

For the Italian Meatloaf, I used my Mom on the Run Meatball Recipe. It is simple but tasty. When the meatloaf was almost cooked through I topped each meatloaf with a little leftover prepared tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese. For some reason I did not snap any pics of these. Goes to show you I was in a rush. Since I used the brownie pan for these loaves I improvised and use a muffin tin for my other recipe.

Mom on the Run’s Cajun Mini Meatloaf

Ingredients (I used dairy, soy, and gluten free ingredients):

1 pound of ground protein (I used lean free range beef)

1/2 cup of gluten free bread crumbs

1 tsp of Cajun seasoning

1 tbsp Olive Oil

1 medium onion chopped

1 medium green pepper chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 of Dairy Free Cheese (I used Daiya Pepperjack)

1/3 cup of Wild Thymes New Orleans Creole Marinade (Found at Whole Foods)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Add oil to medium nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion, pepper, and garlic to pan; cook 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; cool 5 minutes.

Combine onion mixture, breadcrumbs, and Cajun Seasoning in a large bowl; stir well to combine.

Shape meat mixture into each muffin tin coated with cooking spray.

Spread Creole Marinade evenly over top of meat loaf muffin; bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until a meat thermometer registers 165°.

Both meatloaves came out wonderful. My kids thought I was a kitchen genius. For some reason they eat better when it dishes come in small size portions. Daijia commented that things taste better when they look cute. Whatever the case maybe mini meatloaf night was a success.

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