Turkey Meatloaf

A healthy twist on a classic dinner staple.

Heyoo! Ah I haven’t been feeling the best lately, trying to take time to relax and enjoy puppy snuggles. 🙂 Plus it’s given me time to work on the blog! Last night I showed my parents the progress I’ve made and they were impressed. Of course they were impressed, I’m pretty sure they still don’t know what a blog is, but it boosted my ego and made me feel good. A girls gotta start somewhere.

When I showed my dad the meatloaf photos, I was like “do you think it looks appetizing?” and he plainly says, “no.” HAHAHA! He said it looked too white. Then I told him it is ground turkey. [sigh]

He is a meat and potatoes kind of guy. As most male Iowans over 50 who grew up on a farm are. When I lived with my parents for a year and half after graduating college, I made almost every meal for them. I made up the meal plan for the week, did all the grocery shopping (with their money, of course) and made dinner Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday nights. They had it made! And sadly at the time they didn’t appreciate it as much as they do now that I’m gone. I guess that’s how life works, isn’t it.

I made some interesting stuff back then. Some recipes my dad chose not to eat and others he was pleasantly surprised. I either got a “yeah… let’s not make that one again.” or “hmmm, this is actually pretty good.” I don’t know why he had to add the “actually” in there. My mom would always make little critiques, like “next time you should do this or add that.” I should also add that I never followed a recipe (as most bloggers don’t). I would see the title, the picture and some of the main ingredients and then make it up as I went. That’s kind of what sparked the idea of starting a blog.

Anyway to this masterpiece of meatloaf. Growing up my mom made meatloaf all the time. It’s one of my dad’s favorites (anything with red meat!) I liked it, but ever since I’ve changed my eating habits, I pretty much stay clear.

This summer I saw a lightened up version of meatloaf with ground turkey and had to try it! I liked it so much that I decided to make up my own version and share it with you all! I had to test it numerous times. Nick usually tells me the truth if he likes a recipe. He’ll try to give me suggestions even though he doesn’t know what he’s talking about (for pete’s sake, he asked if we were going to add chipotle seasoning to spaghetti once. 😂😂😂) He wasn’t a huge fan of the first couple tries, but by the third we found ourselves a winner.

Since we are in the middle of winter and everyone’s craving those hot hearty dishes, I thought it was the perfect recipe to add to the blog. Now let’s talk about the ingredients.This isn’t any old turkey meatloaf recipe. I say that because the sauce is probably like nothing you’ve had before. Liquid Aminos and Ketchup (and a little brown sugar)! WHHHAAAAT?! Yes.

I tested the sauce quite a few times. So I can tell you, it’s good! I left out the brown sugar the first few times and it just wasn’t quite there. The brown sugar makes it (don’t worry there’s not much).

Note: if you have a big loaf pan (like me), you could probably double the batch and the throw half in the freezer. It reheats perfectly, and I know, because I just had it last night. If you don’t double the recipe and have a large loaf pan, you can fold tin foil and place in the middle and use it as wall. I should have taken a picture, but all you do is place the meatloaf in the pan and flatten one side, place the tin foil up against the side and it’ll bake just fine.

I can’t wait for you to try the recipe! Let me know what you think or other versions you’ve tried and loved.

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