Not Yo Mamma's Meatloaf

So I had some potatoes earlier this week that were starting to grow ears... and I thought to myself "what can I make to go with smashed 'tatoes?" I cooked up a few chicken breasts simmered in Cream of Chicken soup and we were good to go... except I made way too many of those mashed po-ta-toes in an attempt to avoid being "the average family [who] throws away $269 worth of produce each year" (throw back to my Tupperware days). You might ask yourself, what is way too many? I am so glad you asked!

A few nights later, I whipped up a ground beef/cream of mushroom soup recipe I loved as a kid (thanks Angie!) to go with reheated (yup, you guessed it) smashed 'tatoes. Not only did I feed my whole family but my Mom also stopped by and had dinner too. ...and yet - we STILL had 'tatoes left! Determined to not waste food and to no longer stare at the container of leftover leftover's in the fridge I searched the Internet for a great recipe which included (yup) ~ smooshed taters.

Today I made Mashed Potato Meatloaf, which brings me to the whole reason for this post. I am not a huge meatloaf fan, at all, but I had all the right ingredients and it was the best one (i.e. easiest) to evict the leftovers for good. It turned out so great that I want to share it with the world - even my kids liked it and that sure is saying something. So, should you have left over mashed potatoes, give this recipe a whirl and let me know what you think.

Mashed Potato Meat Loaf
2 - 3 cups mashed potatoes
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
1/2 cup chopped green pepper (I did not have these on hand so I omitted this)
1/3 cup chopped onion
3/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
1 can (11-1/2 oz) picante V8 juice (I also didn't have this so I used juice from a can of chopped tomatoes and saved the tomatoes for a later time)
1/4 cup ketchup

In a large bowl, combine the egg, oats, green pepper, onion, pepper and salt. Crumble beef over mixture and mix well. On a piece of waxed paper, pat beef mixture in to a 12-in. x 8.in rectangle. Spoon mashed potatoes lengthwise down the center third to within 1 in. of edges. Bring long sides over potatoes to meet in center; seal seam and edges.

Place seam side up in a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 30 minutes; drain. Pour V8 juice over loaf. Top with ketchup. Bake 18-22 minutes longer or until meat is no longer pink and a meat thermometer reads 160 degrees. Let stand for 5 minutes before slicing. Yield: 4-6 servings.