It’s Paleo Week at Gluten-Free Cat. I’ve been going back to the meat dishes of my childhood. My first jump back into time was to Spaghetti and Meatballs, but the spicy, paleo, gluten-free, raw foods-influenced kind. Ha!
Today I’m sharing a special family recipe. Grandma’s Meatloaf. The gluten-free version. This wasn’t any old dry meatloaf. (I choked down many of those in my younger years.) Grandma’s meatloaf was moist, tender, and tasted of sweet apples. The smell of it cooking sends me back to my dad’s kitchen with Kafka the Siamese cat peering down at me from his perch on the refrigerator and Star Trek playing on the little black and white tv that Dad rolled into the kitchen for my viewing pleasure.
Happy childhood memories visiting my dad.
This is a simple meatloaf that you can make in one large loaf pan or 4 mini loaf pans. I like these from Williams Sonoma. (Yay for gift cards!) But these
Grandma’s Apple Meatloaf
by Heather and Grandma
Ingredients:
- 2 lbs. ground beef
- 1/4 c. diced onion
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 c. almond flour
- 1 c. unsweetened applesauce
- 1 tsp. sage
- 1 tsp. oregano
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. pepper
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl.
3. Press meat into a loaf pan or 4 mini loaf pans. Cover with foil. Place loaf pans on a jelly roll pan to catch the juices, and place the pan in the oven.
4. Bake for 1 hour, but remove the foil for the last 10-15 minutes to brown the top.
5. Serve with a side of Star Trek.
Serves 6-8
Readers, dish!
- What is one of your favorite childhood meals?
- Share a special food related memory.
- Have you ever had moist meatloaf?
- Gluten-Free Wednesdays hosted by Linda of The Gluten-Free Homemaker
- Real Food Wednesdays hosted by Kelly the Kitchen Kop
- Allergy Free Wednesdays hosted by Tessa the Domestic Diva , Amber of The Tasty Alternative, and friends.
- Keep it Real Thursdays hosted by France of Beyond the Peel
- Gluten-Free Monday hosted by Heidi of One Creative Mommy
- Fat Tuesday hosted by Jill of Real Food Forager
- Slightly Indulgent Tuesday hosted by Amy of Simply Sugar and Gluten-Free
Hi Heather,
Oh I love this recipe! What a creative use of applesauce…I would have never thought of that. I am going to try this next time make a loaf (or patties). We don’t eat red meat, but I’m sure this would taste great with ground turkey!
Have a great rest of your week.
Hugs,
–Amber
P.S. I love that you are sharing these great Paleo recipes. How have you been feeling? We all have such different chemistry. I too would prefer a plant-based diet (and my blood type says I would do best on a vegetarian diet). I was a vegetarian for many years (and ate way too much soy) but started eating meat again after I was diagnosed with CD. Overall I too feel better with meat protein…especially chicken. And have come to find out that those of us with CD require up to 30% more protein than the average person.
I’ve heard of grape jelly in meat loaf, but never apples. I can’t wait to try it! Thanks for linking this recipe to Gluten Free Monday on OneCreativeMommy.com. Pinning!
The power of our sense of smell to trigger memories is amazing, isn’t it. Sounds wonderful Heather.
I’m cooking this right now to serve with mashed potatoes and veggies this weekend – I have a feeling my boys are going to love the apple twist instead of my typical tomato/BBQ sauce flavor. Thanks for the recipe!