Urbnspice Ultimate Recipe Series
My daughters were both very involved in soccer during their childhood (continuously, for seventeen years), sometimes seven days a week during soccer season. Needless to say, we were very busy parents, often delivering one daughter to a field before driving to the other side of the city for our other daughter’s practice or game. As a working Mom, I needed to be extremely organized with meal prep for breakfast, snacks, lunches and dinners. I developed strategies to make my busy week simpler with a freezer reserve of homemade meals, a repertoire of slow-cooker recipes and a selection of make-ahead meals prepared over the weekend. One of our family favourites was this Unbeatable Meat Loaf.

We often had what we called ‘oven-meals’ on Sunday and meatloaf was a favourite comfort food of the kids. The addition of scalloped or lemon potatoes, roasted butternut squash and an apple crisp made this oven meal wholesome and healthy for two very hungry, fit and growing girls. Meatloaf is an excellent quick and easy make-ahead dish, which also keeps the budget in mind.
Meatloaf can be popped into the oven immediately after mixing together, or prepared up until topping (see Method) and refrigerated until the next day. This recipe makes two family-sized free-form meatloaves – one to have now and one to freeze for later. If you can resist eating it all, there should be leftovers for meatloaf sandwiches!
…