Yummy Mummy Meatloaves

Tomorrow is Halloween and with the possibility of a Zombie WOD at our gym, Seminole Crossfit, and a trip down the sidewalk to our local German restaurant for brats and sauerkraut to celebrate, I thought I'd better come up with a little scary treat today.  We love meatloaf around here...I never add the fillers although I guess that is the point of it.  Stretching the budget is always a good idea, but I don't like the breadcrumbs and what not.  Neither did my mom and she flatly refused to make it.  My grandma, on the other hand, made lots of meatloaf in her day.  She just didn't add the fillers and I loved it!  I always knew Grandma was ahead of her time...or in the case of things that are Paleo, I guess it's good to be behind the times.

I've see a few Paleo recipes that use cauliflower, celery, carrots and onions or maybe almond flour as fillers.   Pick one of those if you like, but  I do find that this one is simple to make and holds together really well.  We also like to play with spices around here, but you can leave one or all of them out if they are not to your liking.  You can dress up any meatloaf recipe to look like mummies and I'll show you how.  All kinds of things are possible with bacon!  Even spooky stuff.

Here is my Paleo version of classic meatloaf:

2 pounds grassfed ground beef
2 eggs
2 onions, sauteed or caramelized (cooked on low for about an hour)
1 can tomato paste, 6 ounces (recommend Muir Glen)
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
2 teaspoons salt (or less, according to your taste)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  In a large bowl, whisk together the egg and tomato paste, then add in the spices.  Mix well.  Add in the ground beef, along with the onions and mix thoroughly.  (Best tool for that  I know of for this is a pair of clean hands.)   Divide the mixture in half and place on a foil or parchment lined baking sheet; form each into an oval.

For the mummy faces:

8-10 strips of bacon
2 kalamata olive, sliced in half lengthwise
2 mushrooms, sliced in half lengthwise or 2 sliced parsnip 'coins'
6 very thin strips of yellow bell pepper for eyelashes
12 or so pieces of chopped onion
red bell pepper cut in shape of lips

Wrap the bacon around the loaf 'heads', placing one strip along each mummy face.  Arrange the eyes so that the olive pieces sit inside the mushroom or parsnip coins to resemble the pupils. (If you use mushrooms, don't cook them because they will burn.  Just add them in when meatloaves are done.)  Stick the 'eyelashes' for the girl mummy into one set of mushrooms or place them under the olives on top of the parsnip coins.  For the guy mummy, arrange the onion pieces to look like teeth. For the girl mummy, place the lips below the bacon wrap on her face.  

Here's a look at my gruesome couple before they went into the oven:

Bake for about an hour; the internal temperature should be 160 degrees.  Let the loaves rest for a few minutes and cut into slices.

If you dare!!!!  (Insert maniacal laughter here.)  

Happy Hauntings!

Take good care, k. 

PS  I am serving the mummies with roasted parsnips and carrots.  I think the orange and off white color combo will look and taste great.