Cheese Loaded Turkey Meatloaf

One of my new favorite things is to sneak ground turkey in the place of hamburger. My husband can't tell the difference and I feel like we are eating healthier** and spending less money.  A win-win in my book. Plus I love his shocked face when I tell him he just ate turkey.

While I get most of my recipes from Pinterest, occasionally I venture into allrecipes.com. I love that there are hundreds of reviews and different ways of preparing a particular dish. I ALWAYS read the comments because they tell you a lot.

I started off with this recipe and changed it to fit my needs and the advice of the commenters.

Cheese Loaded Turkey Meatloaf:

• 1 c. milk
• 1 c. italian bread crumbs ***
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 cloves of garlic minced
• 1/2 an onion diced
• 2 lbs. ground turkey
• 2 dashes of worchestcheir sauce
• 1/2 lb. colby jack cheese in small cubes
• Ketchup/BBQ sauce for the top

Pour the milk over the breadcrumbs. Let it sit for a minute. This helps your breadcrumbs stay moist and tender.

Preheat oven to 400*

Place everything but the cheese in a large mixing bowl. Mix well with your hands. 

Fold in the cheese and shape the mixture into 2 loaf pans.

Pour BBQ or ketchup on top. I tried both and found the BBQ tasted better. 

Place in oven for an hour. 

Make sure your loaf reaches an internal temperature of 165*.

Enjoy.

** The large amount of cheese in this recipe doesn't exactly make it healthy. But we are a work in progress.

*** I did not have italian breadcrumbs on hand so I found this recipe online to make them at home. Super easy and delicious.  

Italian Bread Crumbs:

• 1 cup plain breadcrumbs
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder I didn't have this either. The onions in the meatloaf seemed adequate for flavor.
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon dried basil      

Mix all ingredients together.