Kayln's Meatloaf (p1)

Once again Kayln ( of Kalyn's Kitchen blog) is awesome! She created a phase 1 South beach friendly Meatloaf that has loads of flavor and is really easy to make. When growing up I HATED meatloaf but now that I'm older I have acquired a taste for it and this one is very yummy. My picky teen even liked it!!!!! If fact she wanted to know just what that smell was when she walked in the door as she headed straight for the kitchen. :D She ate hers with some ketchup but my entire family enjoyed this. Thanks Again Kayln!!! For the original recipe go to Kayln's site, as I have listed below how I made it. Its really not too different but I didn't note all the suggestions or other possibilities that Kayln posted on her blog. Besides go visit her blog as I'm sure you'll find something really yummy there you'd also like to try....after all, Kalyn's Kitchen was named Best Food Blog - Theme in the 2006 Food Blog Awards (CONGRATS Kayln, its well deserved!!!). :D

Kayln's Meatloaf with Tomatoes, Fennel, and Flax Seed Meal
(Makes two meat loaves, about 8-10 servings)

2 lbs. lean ground beef (I didn't have a lean so I just drained off the fat once during baking)
1 pkg. (19.5 oz.) Turkey Sausage
2 T dried chopped onion
1 T garlic powder
1 T dried basil
1 T dried parsley
1/2 cup flax seed meal
1/2 tsp salt
1 T ground fennel
1 cup finely chopped slow roasted tomatoes
(or use sun-dried tomatoes - rinse with hot water if oil packed)
2 eggs slightly beaten

Preheat oven to 375 F. Remove ground beef and turkey sausage links from refrigerator and let come to room temperature. In bowl, combine dried onion, garlic powder, dried basil, dried parsley, flax seed meal, salt, and ground fennel. (She states that she purposely used dried herbs since she wasn't adding much binder to the meatloaf and didn't want added moisture.)

Squeeze turkey sausage out of casings into large mixing bowl. Break ground beef into pieces and place in same bowl. Add dried herb/flax seed meal mixture and eggs to meat mixture and use your hands to combine well. Try to mix the meat enough to get spices and eggs evenly distributed without over mixing.

Shape meat into two loaves. (Kayln prefers to bake meatloaf on a roasting rack, so any fat can drip out and it browns the meatloaf well on three sides.) I just baked mine in a baking dish and after about 30 to 40 min' drained our the drippings and still got a good brown all over).

Total baking time is going to an hour or so. Cutting one meat loaf open is the still the best way to see if the inside is done. But remember this contains turkey and needs to be fairly well done. ENJOY!