Cheese Stuffed Meatloaf - What's For Lunch

It's been a while since I've shared a food post, but trust me, I've continued snapping away photos of our culinary creations. The past couple days with the fallish temps have had me drooling over the mere thought of mashed potatoes and gravy, cornbread and chili, sweet potato fries and fresh baked bread with melted butter.... I could go on. Once we have the heels from about four or five loaves of bread piling up in the bread box, it's time for either meatballs or meatloaf, and it's been a while since I've made meatloaf. I decided to whip one up for dinner.

I didn't use a recipe, so all measurements are "to taste". We are garlic lovers around here, and my recipe is heavy on garlic, so it may need to be toned down for the more sensitive palates! For smaller families you may want to cut the recipe in half, since this is meant to feed four ravenous boys, with leftovers!

Cheese Stuffed Meatloaf

• 4 lbs. ground meat (I used 2 lbs. venison & 2 lbs. beef
• 4 eggs
• 2-3 cups bread crumbs
• 2 Tbsp. onion powder (normally I'd use a packet of Lipton onion soup mix and less salt, but we were out)
• 2 Tbsp. garlic powder
• 4 cloves of garlic, sliced thin
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. pepper
• 2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 1 Tbsp. basil
• 2 tsp. oregano
• 2 tsp. thyme
• 4 cups shredded cojack and/or cheddar cheese
• Ketchup
• Foil to line pan!

Mix all ingredients except cheese well in a large bowl. The best tool for this is your hands.

Once mixed, divide meat mixture in half. On a foil-lined baking sheet, spread meat mixture out in an oval bowl shape, keeping it at least 1/2" thick.

Sprinkle cheese evenly over the oval.

Place remaining meat over the cheese, pressing the sides together and firmly forming it so no cheese leaks out.

Squirt a generous amount of ketchup over the loaf.

Bake at 350° for about 45 minutes.

It won the approval even of my pickiest eater!