Mini Italian Meat Loaves

This morning I woke up craving meatloaf.  Tonight I made meatloaf.  Simple as that.

After work I reached down in the cupboard for a loaf pan and grabbed the muffin tins by mistake.  But...ah...what about mini meat loaves I thought?

Yes, perfect.

Each time I make meatloaf I dump in different ingredients.  The premise stays the same (egg, some sort of breadcrumb/crushed cereal/oatmeal, seasonings, etc.), but more often than not each loaf has a different flavor.  Tonight I went to Italy.  As we all know I love Italian food.

Mini Italian Meat Loaves
1 lb. ground turkey or beef
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese
1/4 c. Italian style breadcrumbs
1 egg
1/2 c. marinara or spaghetti sauce
1 t. pepper
1 t. salt

Stir together all ingredients until just combined.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Spray 6 regular sized muffin tins with cooking spray.  Form meat into large balls and place in tins (they will make 6).  Spread additional marinara/spaghetti sauce on top.

Bake for 40 minutes.  Remove from muffin tin and let cool 5 minutes before eating.  This will prevent a burnt tongue and lip (I didn't listen to my own advice).

Oh, and of course serve with baked garlic fries.  That's a given.

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So tomorrow is Thursday, which essentially is my Friday (yep, only work 3 days a week!), which always makes the night seem so much better.  Even though I love my job.  I start looking forward to the long weekend - which this weekend includes a trip to the rents, a lunch at Newton's Paradise Cafe with some old friends and co-workers, and a visit to the dentist.  Ugh.

I like everything but that last one.

I know one person in my life who loves the dentist (who I will be seeing this weekend, hopefully).  She's crazy.  Does anyone really love the dentist???