Steal of the Week: Italian Meatloaf

I had "meatloaf" on the menu for tonight because I scored a great deal on meatloaf mix in the meat section at the grocery store. The meatloaf mix includes veal, pork and beef and one package is about 1.25 pounds. However, I wasn't interested in the traditional meatloaf and I also was short on time to worry about making a meatloaf tonight. So....in search of ideas I went and I found a recipe on the Lipton Onion Soup box for meatloaf and it said to go to their website for slow cooker instructions.

So to www.recipesecrets.com I went and found the recipe for the traditional meatloaf using the onion soup mix. then I came across this recipe for what they call Pizza Meatloaf . I thought why not combine the two? So, in lieu of the chopped onion, garlic and salt, I just used the onion soup mix. I also have never eaten Ragu in my life so I substituted for the Bertoli tomato and basil spaghetti sauce we love and decided to call it Italian meatloaf.

The verdict? The 11-year old said I am never allowed to make any other kind of meatloaf and hubby had two helpings. Consider it added to the menu rotation!

Note: Lipton's tip to add the foil strips was an excellent idea! I also sprayed my crockpot with cooking spray because the sauce did get sticky when cooking with the meat.