Mini Meatloaf Muffins

I used a simple meatloaf recipe and packed it into mini muffin cups. I spiced the meat up with sauteed onions, garlic, mushrooms and fresh parsley so I could add less salt, and also used a GLUTEN-FREE "bread" crumb to bind it. Then I piped a dollop of mashed potatoes on top of each mini muffin and added a sprinkle of parsley. Tyler poured a little BBQ sauce on each one of his, and we paired it with a little avocado, tomato and cucumber salad.

Prep. time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 35 minutes

Servings: 4-6

Ingredients:
1 lb. of ground turkey
2 eggs
2/3 cup of gluten free panko or GF bread crumb
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 8 oz. pkg. of mushrooms chopped
1/3 cup onions chopped
1 Tbs. garlic minced
2 Tbs. chopped fresh parsley
1 tsp. dried parsley
3 cups of mashed potatoes
cooking spray
salt
lemon pepper

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Peel, dice and boil your potatoes. Saute onions, garlic, and mushrooms, in olive oil. Set that aside to let it cool down and grab a large mixing bowl. Combine the meat, eggs, about a 1/2 tsp(approx.) of lemon pepper, and when the onion mushroom mixture is cooled add that the parsley and bread crumbs. Mix by hand lighting incorporating all the ingredients, but be careful not to over mix or the meat will become tough when it's cooked.

Spray your muffin tin and roll approx. a Tbs. worth of the meat mixture and plop one into each mini muffin spot. You can lightly pressed down to create the "muffin shape." Once your oven is done preheating place the muffin tin in, uncovered, and set the timer for 20 minutes.

Drain your potatoes and whip them until they're creamy. Add a little salt and pepper. I used a sandwich bag to pipe the potatoes onto the finished mini muffins. Fill a sandwich bag to the tip of one side and cut the tip off, about the size of a dime. Set the potatoes to the side until the meat loaf muffins are finished.

When the muffins are done they should slide out pretty easy, arrange them on a tray or large plate, take your mashed potatoes and slowly in a circular motion pipe them into a little mound on top. I garnished each one with a sprinkle of dried parsley, but you could also spoon a glaze of BBQ sauce like my boyfriend did!

These are a fun little idea to mix up dinner night, for a party, or BBQ.