I grew up thinking my mama made the best meatloaf. Â She didn’t measure; she just dumped and added ingredients until they looked right. Â One day in exasperation, I stood beside her and measured before I allowed her to dump so I could get her recipe. Â Some time later, she put her recipe into her hand-written notebook.
When hamburger is on sale, I buy it in bulk. Â Then I come home and mix up two or three of these meatloaves. Â I put one in the oven that day and the rest in the freezer in a zip-lock bag that has the mixture smashed pretty flat and labeled. Â When I’m going to have a busy day, I get that bag out of the freezer in the morning and let it thaw. Â By late afternoon, it’s ready to go into the oven and I’ve not spent any time in the kitchen.
I came home from town the other day knowing I’d be having a late lunch when I got home.  All the way home, I was thinking about that one last piece of meatloaf with some mashed potatoes and browned butter.  It was going to be my lunch.  Yet when I got  home and started rifling through the refrigerator, I couldn’t find that container.  So I checked the sink.
Yep.  There it was, completely empty.  Dave had come in mid-morning and cleaned it up.  You  know what a disappointment it is when you’ve been looking forward to sinking your teeth into that favorite dish only to find it already gone?  Yep.  I had a huge dose of that.
To make this recipe, you’ll need hamburger, milk, eggs, oatmeal, tomato juice, and crushed corn flakes. Â If you like onion or other seasonings, add them to suit your fancy. Â Just mix it all together and put it into a pan.
This photo shows homemade mashed potatoes with browned butter on the top. Â That was also one of my mama’s specialties. Â You can serve this with scalloped potatoes or with creamy, cheesy macaroni or with baked macaroni. I also like to serve this meatloaf with home fried potatoes.

My Mama's Meatloaf
Ingredients
- 3 lb. ground hamburger
- 2 cups milk
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup oatmeal
- 2 cups tomato juice
- 1 cup crushed cornflakes
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Onion peppers or garlic to taste (optional - and this is not in her recipe)
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients together.
- Put into a 9 x 12-inch pan.
- Cover top with ketchup.
- Bake at 250 for 2 hours OR at 350 for 1+ hour.
- You can top with ketchup after the first hour.
- SUNDAY MORNING baking times:
- Heat in oven at 350 until it begins to cook.
- Turn off oven and set time-bake for 11 o'clock at a temperature of 250.
- It will be ready to serve at 1PM after church