It always makes me laugh to see my eight-year-old get excited about mama’s meatloaf. Someone forgot to tell him that it wasn’t cool to like meatloaf!  He even requests that I pack the leftovers in his lunch box the next day.  There’s a bunch of different ways to make a good meatloaf.  I think it’s more about how you assemble it than anything else.  Traditional meatloaf mix is 1/3 ground beef, 1/3 ground pork and 1/3 ground veal.  That’s good but you can make up your own mixture, just be sure you have enough fat in the mix to keep it moist.  If you use 100% ground beef, I recommend 80/20 meat.  You can also drape a piece of bacon over the top of the baking loaf to infuse some moisture.    You should mix up all your ingredients BEFORE you add the meat so as not to over-mix the meatloaf.  I like to form several small loaves to speed up dinner prep time, just be sure you make the loaf as “rectangular” as possible and flatten the top with a little concave dip in the middle to keep juices in and ensure even cooking.    You don’t want any skinny little ends to over-cook.  Cook it to an internal temp of 155 degrees but no longer.  Here are a few combos to get you going:

For meatloaf mix:
2 lbs. ground beef
1 pkg. onion soup mix
1/2 cup barbecue sauce mixed with 1/4 cup milk
2 pieces torn up sandwich bread or  1 1/2 cups soft bread crumbs
1 egg
1 can mushrooms, drained
-Form into six mini loaves

Sauces:   pour over meatloaf prior to baking or halfway through
1/3 cup barbecue sauce and 1/4 cup mustard mixed together
OR  Bottled Chili Sauce
OR
1 cup dark corn syrup, 1/2 cup barbecue sauce, 6 Tbsp A-1 Sauce, 4 Tbsp. spicy brown mustard.  Mix together in saucepan and stir over medium heat.  Bring to a boil and then remove from heat.

-Bake at 350 for 40 minutes or until internal temp reaches 155 degrees.