mmmmeatloaf!

I don't think I have ever had meatloaf. Maybe when I was younger, I was offered a piece but most likely the gray coloured meat would have turned me off so much I may have stuck out my tongue. Apparently I was a very picky child and I didn't really eat much meat. My father who was a cattle farmer at that time should have figured out my future veggie path at that point. Luckily, I didn't grow up with meatloaf. So, why am I talking about meatloaf you may be asking yourself? I promise, there is a point to my story.

Last week, I had a few days off work and I wanted to go to one of my favorite hang outs; Mcnally's Bookstore in Grant Park Mall. One reason was to look for a new cookbook and another reason was to try a brie grilled cheese that I read up on the Prairie Ink Cafe menu. It was going to be a perfect morning. The reason why I wanted to pick up a new cookbook is because I noticed that I have a very heavy set vegan theme going through my cookbooks. That is not necessarily a bad thing but when I want actual milk or cheese the ratio doesn't always work out when I decide not to use almond milk or Daiya cheese. I found the cookbook "more peas, thank you" and I was sold. The author is also a fellow blogger who found her way to be a vegetarian... I think. Her recipeas (haha! get it? she uses this pun often) are more vegan set I find but she does offer the ratio for using milk vs soy milk for example  Then, when I was flipping through the book it landed on a meatloaf recipe that looked AMAZING. The consistency is based on black beans, oat flour, flaxseed, various italian seasonings, liquid smoke, vegan Worcestershire sauce, mustard and of course, ketchup. She suggested organic ketchup and since I never use or eat ketchup I didn't feel like spending the extra $3 at Sobey's for a product that has been manipulated every which way that I really don't think the "organic" factor holds up. For this recipe I needed to pick up some flaxseed and it's not exactly cheap for something I am not entirely sure how often I will use. I know that it's good for me so maybe this will push me to experiment more with this ingredient. It was something like $9 at Costco for a 900g bag. Really, it's not bad, but it's not something I use often which brings me to my next fairly expensive (for me) ingredient; Worcestershire sauce. Finding Worcestershire sauce is not difficult but to find a vegan kind (the only vegetarian option) is difficult and pricey. I found my bottle of Wizards Organic Gluten Free- Vegan Worcestershire sauce (jeez!) at Vita Health on Osborne and that was the only option. I kid you not. I think I originally bought it for 1 tablespoon over a year ago and this is the second time i've used it. The price of this wonder stuff is $7 for 251ml. Yikes! Next is the liquid smoke which I use a couple times a week. Go to any Safeway and they will have mesquite or hickory flavour ( I use hickory most often) and it's only $3!

Unfortunately, I cannot share the recipe (sad face!) but here is a look at some of the ingredients:

And... here is the mmmmeatloaf! Look at all that ketchup!