Come At Me When You Make 10,000 Meatloaves

This was a constant argument with me and my mother growing up. I love my mom to death, but growing up the meals we had were quite repetitive. As a child, that was not capable of cooking, it was either I eat or starve. As I started to cook and having different foods at my friends, the repetitiveness got to me. Except for classic recipes.

Classics are always the classics. Who can refuse a classic dish? Think of some. Pot Roast. Grilled Cheese. Spaghetti and Meatballs. Mashed Potatoes. Corn on the Cob. Broccoli and cheese sauce. Maybe even a meatloaf.

Unlike other children growing up, some kids(like me) were suckers for homemade meatloaf. Maybe it was the spices, maybe it was the fact that they were carnivores from a young age. The idea of the classic meatloaf with asparagus and mashed potatoes. Kinda resembles the American dream right? Everything people aspire to, even though today it is not all the same. Like this meatloaf recipe.

Here are the ingredients you need to make this classic:

• 2 tablespoons of butter

• 1 cup grated yellow onion

• 3 minced garlic cloves

• 1/3 cup of tomato sauce

• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

• 1 tablespoon of hot sauce

• 1 egg

• 1 pound of lean ground beef

• 1/3 cup of finely grated medium cheddar cheese

• 2/3 cup of panko bread crumbs

• 1 teaspoon dried parsley

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

• 1 teaspoon black pepper

#classicsdiehard. Making this recipe brought me back to my childhood and how my mother made meatloaf nearly all the time. I mean you got the protein, carbs, and some vegetables in there. Hits the groups from all angles right?

Our Ratings

My Rating: For cooking, easily a 10 out of 10. Simple steps, simple ingredients and you form it into an oblong cylinder. It does not have to look pretty, and you can easily do

something else for an hour while the food bakes. Perfect recipe for the multitasker. As for as taste, I give that a 10 out of 10. For all of the 10,000 times I had meatloaf, I have never had the dish with any added hot sauce. I used Tapatio and that ingredient was the game changer. For future meatloaves, I recommend using a hot sauce to add more of a kick.

Shayne’s Rating: He rates this meal a 10 out of 10. It was really good. He loves meatloaf, and has yet to find a recipe that he has not liked. If you are a meatloaf lover like him, you really cannot go wrong with this recipe.

Our Financials

I did my shopping at Walmart and Sam’s Club. This is what makes me happy about making items at home; reusing ingredients to save money. When I have the time, I buy my meats in bulk at Sam’s Club. Chicken. Beef. Turkey. Salmon. I get huge portions for the amount I pay.

Here is the breakdown cost of ingredients for Meatloaf:

• Butter- $2.98 from Walmart

• Grated yellow onion- $2.58 from Walmart

• Garlic cloves- already bought the minced garlic

• Tomato sauce- $1.38 from Walmart

• Balsamic vinegar- already had balsamic vinegar

• Hot sauce- already had hot sauce

• Egg- 60 eggs for $5.99

• Lean ground beef- $15.65 from Sam’s Club

• Finely grated medium cheddar cheese- $7.14 for 32 ounces from Walmart

• Panko bread crumbs- $1.24 from Walmart

• Dried parsley- already had the parsley

• Kosher salt- already had the salt

• Black pepper- already had the pepper

The total cost to make this meatloaf was $36.96.

However I got at least two pounds of ground beef from Sam’s Club. You only need a pound for the meat loaf so technically, it was $29.96 if you go for one pound instead of two pound. If you want to meal prep, I would definitely recommend this recipe. By meal prepping, you are saving money for the future because you do not have to buy more meat.

Those Millennial Cash Back Earnings

Here is how I struck when scanning receipts into my handy cash back applications:

While using the Ibotta application, I actually struck some luck today. I earned 10 cents back for any item on a receipt from Walmart. Ibotta has not had that offer for a while so a happy Monday surprise for me! Unfortunately, Sam’s Club did not have any cash back for me. However, that can be the name of the game.

Fetch Rewards was somewhat scoring me today. I earned 75 points from two receipts. I earned 50 points from Walmart and and 25 points for Sam’s Club. Better than other receipts I have scanned in.

For walking into Walmart, I got 10 kicks for just walking in to the store. Shopkick typically does not have the products I shop for, I earn kicks by walking to the store. Though, there is an option to scan promoted items to earn more kicks. An option I don’t utilize, however this will help you later! Sam’s Club you have to buy or scan items. The locations do not offer Walk-In Kicks. Cannot always get them all.

For my penny rewards from Coinout, from four receipts I earned eight cents. I earned two cents for two Walmart receipts and two two cents for Sam’s Club receipts. Slowly climbing up the money ladder!

Outcomes and Recommendations

Now that you got an American classic at your fingertips, it is time you take your multitasking, cooking, money saving self to the kitchen! You have enough for seven to eight

servings of meatloaf. In fact, you can also buy some slices of cheese and have meatloaf sandwiches for the next day! The American Dream is to be resourceful right?