Cheeseburger Meatloaf

Ok, I know what you all are thinking..."WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!?!?" HAHA I know it doesn't look very eye appealing from the outside, but trust me when I tell you that this meatloaf was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!! I was craving some comfort food last week, because I think that is what happens to you when you come off an all you can eat-full of comfort food trip!! So I thought I would look for a meatloaf recipe that was somewhat healthy, but didn't have a lot of luck (nothing really struck my fancy) and then I got this idea to try a "Cheeseburger" Meatloaf!!! (And of coarse the husband had to go and ruin it by asking if we could have fries with it!!! LOL)

I remember as a kid my mom would always smother her meatloaf with ketchup and I never really liked it, but I got to thinking what if it was smothered in cheese!! Because everything is better with cheese on it!!! And then I got this bright idea to put the cheese inside...jelly roll style!!! Thanks to all my pumpkin roll experience, the idea of having cheese inside sounded really really good! I knew I had all the ingredients at home, so off I went to experiment in my kitchen, and I was NOT disappointed!!! I hope you give it a try, it was so delicious!

Actually I don't think that this meatloaf is really all that unhealthy...loose the fries and it probably isn't too bad for you!

Cheeseburger Meatloaf

(recipe from Liesl's Kitchen)

1 lb of lean ground beef or turkey

1/2 of a small onion finely chopped

1 minced garlic clove

1/3 cup reduced fat wheat Ritz crackers (ground in food processor)

1 egg white

dash of red pepper flakes

dash of salt

fresh cracked pepper

1 to 1 1/2 cups sharp cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl combine beef, onion, garlic, crackers, egg white, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Use hands (because that is the best tool you have in your kitchen!!) and combine all ingredients until mixed well and it starts to form a ball.

Lay a sheet of wax paper on a flat surface. Put meatloaf in the middle and spread out with you hands till it forms a rectangular shape. I baked mine in a loaf pan so make sure that the width isn't too big for your loaf pan. Sprinkle a generous amount of cheese over top of meatloaf. Roll up jelly roll style (starting carefully at one end folding about an inch over and then gently rolling till you get to the end). Make sure you grease your loaf pan and place the meatloaf in seam side down.

Bake, covered with foil, at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes. After 45 minutes is up uncover and sprinkle more cheese on top. Place back in the over for about another 10 to 15 minutes or until cheese is nice and melty.

**Look at all that yummy cheesy goodness!**