Cooking for Kids and Meatloaf recipe

Long before Jessica Seinfeld published her book and before my children were pros at eating veggies, I used to add chopped cooked vegetables to dishes like meatloaf and meatballs. Here's a recipe for a healthy delicious dinner. You just need to plan ahead a bit (maybe start at 4:00 if you want to eat at 5:30).

Meatloaf w/secret veggies

To a food processor*, add:
2 peeled carrots, cut in 4 lengths
1 small onion, peeled and cut in quarters
1 zucchini squash, cut in 4 lengths
½ lb cleaned white mushrooms
2 cloves of garlic

*if you don't have a food processor, chop very finely

Chop vegetables to a mince. Add olive oil to a large sauté pan and heat to medium. Add veggies and season with salt and pepper. Cook until softened. Remove from heat. While the veggies cool, mix in a bowl:

1- 1 ½ lb of ground turkey meat (can also use chicken, pork or beef or any combination)
1-2 eggs
about 1 cup of plain bread crumbs
½ cup of ketchup
1-2 Tbl yellow mustard
1 Tbl soy sauce
*optional: 1 package of chopped spinach, thawed and drained (of you can buy bags of frozen chopped spinach and just add 1 cup)

Add the slightly cooled veggies to the meat mixture. If mixture is not stiff, add more breadcrumbs. Form into rectangle in 13 x 9 inch pan. Top with more ketchup. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 30-45 minutes. Remember: taking the internal temperature is the best way to determine whether your meat is cooked. Temperature should be 165 degrees.

I like to serve with traditional mashed potatoes, more ketchup and possibly another veggie on the side.