Lazy Food Prep : Mini Meatloaves

Every weekend, I do food prep for my partner. I admit, sometimes I do feel a tinge of laziness and wished that I did not have to cook for him.

I have been prepping his lunches since 2016 and I will continue to do so, not out of a sense of duty but out of love. chewah! heh..heh...

There are weekends when I am all raring to go and I cook up a storm - I prep 3 or 4 weeks worth of food. When that happens, some weekends I can actually take a break because there is enough stock in the freezer.

To make food prep less taxing, I like to spread out the work by choosing one recipe that can be cooked in the oven, another on the stove and the last one in the rice cooker. That way, I can move lots faster and save time.

One of the dishes that I can prep very easily in the oven is meatloaf. I make these in one-serving portions in small glass containers. They are a breeze to do and taste very good too.

The base is minced meat and I like to add minced onions, garlic powder, soya sauce, sesame oil and pepper as seasoning.

Then I add other stuff like carrots, mushrooms, celery, corn and sometimes, mashed potatoes. To bind the mixture together, I add an egg and some tapioca flour.

For this batch, I added shredded carrots, finely chopped celery, sliced canned button mushrooms and fresh corn. 

I portion out the meat mixture into small glasslock containers and bake them in the oven for about 25 minutes until the tops are slightly browned.

I find these mini meatloaves to be very versatile (you can change up the seasonings and fillings) and so easy to put together and bake. 

Corn, Carrots and Mushroom Mini Meatloaves

Recipe source : PH

Ingredients :

- 480g minced pork

- 2 tbsp light soya sauce

- 1 tsp sesame oil

- 1/2 tsp pepper

- 1/2 red onion, finely minced

- 1/2 tsp garlic powder

- 1 egg

- 2 tbsp tapioca flour (or cornflour)

- 1 small carrot, cut into small cubes

- 1/2 rib celery, cut into small cubes

- 1/2 cup fresh corn

- 6 button mushrooms, sliced (I used canned mushrooms)

Method :

1. In a mixing bowl, add all the above ingredients except the sliced mushrooms.

2. Use your hand to combine the mixture and mix until you achieve a sticky consistency.

3. Divide the mixture among 3 or 4 small glasslock containers and add on the sliced mushrooms (I half fill the containers and then add the mushrooms. Then I add the remaining filling ie the mushrooms are buried in the meat mixture).

4. Bake in preheated oven at 180C for about 25 minutes or until the top of the meatloaves and browned.

5. Remove from oven and let cool completely before storing in the freezer.