Mini Meatloaf with Stove Top Stuffing

Hawaiʻi has officially shut down as a way to try and "flatten the curve" of this COVID-19 pandemic in our islands. The university has shut down for the last 6 weeks of the semester, public  K-12 schools have shut down until the end of April. Restaurants and bars have closed their doors or offer only takeout. This is the time to look in our pantry and cook what we have. For Big Spazz, who is used to going to the grocery store every day and buying according to what he wants to eat, this is a paradigm shift for him. However, this is where I thrive. It helps me to stem his hoarding tendencies and I feel better when we don't waste food by just ignoring items in our three freezers and two full size refrigerators.

In the past 10 days that we have been at home, we have cooked and eaten things that tasted a bit freezer burned or were stale, but at least we are going through them. Fresh is always better, but since we are quarantined, this is the challenge - what can we make from our pantry, fridge and freezer?

Ingredients:

• 1 lb hamburger, or other ground meat
• 1 box Stove Top stuffing mix
• 2 eggs
• 1 c water
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tsp. onion powder
• 1 T. Worchestershire sauce
• salt and pepper 
• mild cheese (optional)
• shredded cheddar (optional)
• Fried onion crisps (optional)

Sauce ingredients

• 1/2 c ketchup
• 1/2 c leftover barbeque sauce
• 1 T brown sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350º and spray muffin tin with nonstick spray (this makes a dozen)
2. Mix hamburger, seasoning, eggs and Stove Top stuffing mix in a bowl with your hands. Don't squeeze it too tight. 
3. Fill muffin tins halfway up, add chunks of mild cheese like Babybell or mozzarella (optional) and add the rest of the hamburger mix. 
4. Combine sauce mix is another bowl and evenly spread on the hamburger mix.
5. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, add cheddar and cook for an additional 5 minutes. 
6. Serve with fried onion crisps

*Note: the Stove Top box had a use by date of 2017 (this is March, 2020), but they seal their bags very well so it was fine. Everything was in our pantry, refrigerator or freezer.