Hearty Meatloaf Burgers!

As you know if you have read my blog for very long, I have a big family and I have 4 young men... and they eat... a lot. The girls eat too, but not like those guys do. One son lives on his own, but when he comes to visit, he eats a lot still. :)

Anyway, I try to stretch the budget and yet still make tasty filling meals that are nutritious.

 I bought some 93% lean ground hamburger for $2 off a package and I bought 2 packages. It was still a bit more than I wanted to pay, but time has been so short, that I bought it while already in one store.

 I decided to stretch that more expensive meat. I also needed to get a meal on quickly as we had been busy and supper was late. I was so glad I had found that meat on sale and had it to use for supper!

The nice thing about stretching the hamburger is that I can make more meatloaf burgers with the same amount of meat and they still taste good.

Another thing about me is that I tend to experiment.... a lot.  Usually, that turns out to be a good thing. There are a couple of things we remember with laughter, but usually they turn out great.  :)

I put many of the usual meatloaf ingredients... like eggs, onions,peppers, oatmeal, etc, but since this was 93% lean (I never buy this! It's too expensive!), I wanted to put some oils in it... some fats. I thought about olive oil, but decided to go with something else.  Hmmm... what could I use?

What I came up with was Italian Dressing... it had oils and also lots of great flavor, so I thought I'd try it. I wouldn't tell the family what was in it until I knew if they liked it or not.  :)

I cooked them with some seasoned salt on top and ground herbs and ground pepper. After the first side was done, I flipped them and put barbeque sauce on top and kept cooking them a bit slowly with the lid on. They sure smelled good.

 The family came to eat with comments of "What are you making? It smells good!" That was a good sign.

They started eating their burgers, but didn't comment. Uh oh, I wondered if I had gone too far in my experimenting. I do use Italian dressing as a marinade for chicken, so I thought it would be ok here too, but maybe not. You can read about the marinades here if you like:

Strange Marinades For Chicken!


The guys finished their burgers and started asking for seconds.... and then they started saying, "These are so good!" After everyone expressed approval, I told them of my "secret ingredient".  Some weren't too excited (especially the son who does not like Italian dressing!), but all agreed these were really good... and they wanted me to remember how to make them so I could do it again.  (Sometimes that part is a bit of a problem as I put this and that in. :)

These were a terrific hit at my house. Everyone liked them. We had a few left over since I had been able to stretch it so far, so I put each one in a bun and wrapped them individually for lunches. However, the guys wanted them for a snack the next day... and ate them cold out of the refrigerator and still loved them!

Yes, I will be making them again, but won't use 93% lean... unless it is cheaper than the regular hamburger.  :) 

                        Hearty Meatloaf Burgers!

 2 pounds hamburger 
 4 eggs
 1 cup frozen onions and peppers
 1/4 cup mustard
 1/2 cup ketchup
 1/2 cup Italian dressing
 3/4 cup quick cook oatmeal

     Mix well. Grease frying pan and spoon burger mix into pan, forming burgers with the spoon. Sprinkle with seasoned salt (any kind) and pepper. Cook medium heat till one side of the burger is done.  Flip each burger. Pour BBQ sauce on each burger and spread it with spoon. Continue to cook with lid on, watching that they don't burn.  Serve plain or on a bun. 

Thank you for visiting my blog today.  If you try these, I hope you like them as much as we did.  Have a great week.  :)






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