I have a love-hate relationship with meatloaf. I love the creativity I put into it. I love that it *almost* always turns out great. I love that my family loves it. I hate the time it takes. I hate digging my hands into the cold ground beef. Yuck.

Meatloaf is something I make when there appears to be several small things of leftovers in the fridge. I know. You're thinking "leftovers?" Yep. My meatloaf is never the same, ever. I simply can not replicate it because whatever is in the fridge is what goes into it. It is the best way I've found to use up leftovers.

I start with crackers in the food processor. Being a gluten free household, bread is just too valuable to put into meatloaf. I've also used tortilla chips in the past. Once that has been ground up, in go the veggies. Whatever we have. My latest batch include some squash, cheese, onion, carrots and a potato and a half. My kids don't even blink anymore, they know to expect veggies in the meat. They spend dinner trying to guess what went into it! (Note: celery does not go through the food processor very well, might be best to chop.)

Always salt, pepper and garlic. Always a bit of Tamari. Then it's time to mix the sauce. One can of tomato sauce with honey mixed in. The sweetness of the honey makes it great. Sauce mixed into the meat makes it come out moist instead of dry. I only put some in, saving some for the top and some for the plates.

So, what's in your meatloaf?