Killer Meatloaf

I can probably count on one hand the amount of times I've prepared meatloaf for my family, at least up until now. Now, not only do I have a freezer full of beef, but I also have what my family likes to call a "killer" meatloaf recipe.

For clarification, the Maurer family definition of "killer": a meal that is beyond good; a ranking of 6 stars out of 5; a recipe that everyone gobbles up joyfully.

This recipe came about as a combination of two other meatloaf recipes that I'd come across. One was from one of my all-time favorite paleo blogs, EverydayPaleo. The other was a recipe that Deb posted in the forums over at EPLifeFit. Both had some great ideas so I took what we thought we'd like, scaled down to size for our family, and this is what I got! Thanks ladies for the foundation of two great recipes  that I could build on!

Before Baking

"Killer" Meatloaf

12 oz package of pork sausage (however spicy you like it, we get mild Italian)
1.5 # ground beef (our half cow is packaged in 1.5# for the ground beef, so this is convenient for us)
2 eggs
tomato paste to taste. (I use half to full 6oz can)
1/2 red onion, diced fine
couple handfuls of smashed up pork rinds
seasoning to taste: garlic powder, sea salt, dry basil, red pepper flakes
bacon, 1/2 to 1 package

Preheat oven to 350.
Mix all ingredients by hand in a large bowl.
Form into a loaf in a large glass pan. I used a 9x13 pyrex.
Weave bacon over the top of the meatloaf. Depending on how much bacon you like and how well you weave it, you'll use anywhere from 1/2 to 1 full package.
Bake 1 hour and check temp. Needs to be 170 in middle, continue cooking til done. Mine takes about 1.5 hours. I like to broil it for about 5 minutes at the end to crisp up the bacon a little more.

The after baking deliciousness.

Please let me know if you try it and what you think! :)

Bumping it Up

I worked out today, and although I thought it would kill me, it seems I am still alive.

I had some one-on-one time with the floor afterwards, but I made it through the whole shebang.

My heavy lift today was squat. Since I don't have the correct squat rack for back squats, I do goblet squats instead. Last time I did them, I got in 3 sets of 5 at 40#. 

So, I started with that, which looks like this:

I pick up that puppy, hold it with both hands close to my body like a goblet, and squat. To put that into perspective, Kera weighs about 40#.

So, after warming up with a smaller dumbbell, I used the 40. 

Three reps=cake (Paleo cake of course) so I did what any self-respecting heavy-lifting gal would do, and I bumped it up.

How about 45#??

Which looks like that. 

So, could I do the three reps with that much weight?

You betcha. It wasn't quite cake, but it was awesome. 

After that I did burpees til I screamed and fell on the floor for a while. Even after a post-workout snack I was exhausted and feeling like I should take a nap--the workout exhausted me that much, but now that I've eaten an additional four slices of bacon (while prepping it for a salad) I feel like a new woman!

I seriously cannot wait til my one rep max workouts, they are coming up soon!