Yummy Gluten-free Turkey Meatloaf Muffins recipe

I made this meal for a friend recently who just had a baby.  She said it was the best meatloaf her and her husband had ever had!!  What a high compliment!

The funny thing is, I wanted to make it gluten-free for her, and dairy and egg-free for us because of my son's sensitivities.  So I had two lbs of turkey and two bowls :)

Here is the recipe for the one I gave her:

Yummy Gluten-free Turkey Meatloaf Muffins recipe

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1-2 carrots, trimmed, finely chopped
• 2 celery stalks, trimmed, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 roasted red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh basil
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• ¼ teaspoon fresh ground pepper
• 1 pound ground turkey or lean ground grass-fed beef
• 1 cup gluten-free crackers, ground finely in a food processor
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  1 tablespoon Dijon mustard (from Aldi-see attached image)
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• 1 egg, beaten
• bacon slices, cut into small pieces

Ketchup sauce:

big squirt of ketchup

small squirt of mustard

1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce

Chop the onion, carrot and celery in a food processor to a fine mince for easier preparation. You want to end up with about 3 cups of vegetables.

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Heat oil in a skillet on medium heat. (I had just browned some turkey and didn't clean the pan of drippings) Add chopped onion, carrots, celery, garlic, and red pepper.  Saute until vegetables are soft, about 5-6 minutes. Cool.
3. Combine cooked vegetables, salt, pepper, ground meat, ground crackers, mustard, beaten egg, dried and fresh spices into a bowl. Mix well.
4. Lightly oil muffin tin. Divide meatloaf mixture among 12 muffin cups. Add bacon on top in a criss-cross pattern.  Don't forget a cookie sheet under for drips like I did the first time :) Bake for 25-30 minutes or until cooked through. Remove from pan. Brush a little ketchup sauce on top, if desired.

adapted from http://jeanetteshealthyliving.com/2013/12/gluten-free-barbecue-meatloaf-muffins.html

Changes I made to the recipe for our family:

-instead of those crackers, I added 1 cup of bread crumbs/rice cake, crumbled in the food processor (1 slice of dairy/egg-free bread, 2 rice cakes)

-instead of 1 egg, I added 1/2 cup of almond milk.

-instead of the gluten-free mustard, I used grey poupon mustard.