Pizza Meatloaf

I have to admit that every time I have this dish prepared in my freezer, for some reason I think "I guess we'll have that meatloaf for dinner". Then, I prepare it and we all love it to pieces. I don't know what I have a ho-hum attitude about it. Maybe there's just something about the name meatloaf. The loaf part makes me think of some processed, bland, nastiness.

However, this meatloaf is far from bland and always gets rave reviews around our house. Even my picky eater who dislikes ground beef will eat her helping with little fuss. I usually serve this dish with mashed potatoes and a green veggie. This week we had asparagus (rolled in olive oil and sprinkled with salt & pepper, then roasted in the oven at 375 degrees for about 12-15 minutes). That same pickier eater also devoured the asparagus, claiming "I love these things!" It was a good dinner that night.
One more thing to note: This recipe makes two dinner portions. Half of this recipe feeds our family (2 adults, 3 young children) with 2 portions left over for the next day.

INGREDIENTS

1 envelope onion soup mix
2 lbs lean ground beef
1 lb bulk breakfast sausage
3 eggs
1 small green bell pepper, chopped
1/4 cup water
3/4 cup pasta sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

DIRECTIONS

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix thoroughly. Divide the mixture into two batches. Place each batch in a quart size freezer bag.

To cook, thaw the meat completely. Place in a loaf pan. Top with 1/4 - 1/2 cup pasta sauce. Bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes. Top with 1/2 - 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese and cook 5 additional minutes. Let stand before serving.