I'm makin' Waffles!!!!

My wonderful husband got me a waffle maker for the holidays. Heaven!!! The first time I used it, it brought me back to being a kid and how on Sundays my dad would make waffles for us all for brunch. And yes, I still put on way too much fruit, "butter" (in my case Earth Balance spread) and syrup, because really, if you Haven't filled each and every square, you're doing it wrong. Having said that, I have a confession to make: part of why I wanted the waffle maker was because of a specific recipe in "Cooking for Isaiah" that I really wanted to try. Meatloaf sandwiches on sun-dried tomato waffle bread. It was soooooooo worth it! By the time you've put it together, it's about the size of a too-big hamburger, and while it is a lot of ooey goey goodness, it didn't seem to fall apart in the same way that a regular 'bread' sandwich would have. The meatloaf is super moist, too, and worth making all on it's own. So, as I promised my friend L-A, here's the recipe!

Meatloaf Sandwiches on Sun-Dried Tomato Waffle bread

Meatloaf

• 2 Tbsp extra-virgin Olive Oil
• 1 sm onion, chopped
• 1 carrot, grated
• 1 clove garlic, smushed in whatever way you want
• 2 lbs/1 kg ground beef
• 3/4 C Ketchup
• 2 lg eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 cup rice cereal crumbs (I use Nature's Path, as they are GF)
  
• 1 Tbsp choped fresh parsley
• 1 Tbsp chopped fresh oregano
• Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 5X9 loaf pan. In a skillet, heat the olive oil over med heat; add the onion and carrot and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook about 1 min then let cool. (Note: I added mushrooms to this step, because we happen to like mushrooms.) In a medium bowl, combine the beef, 1/2 cup of the ketchup, eggs, cereal crumbs, onion mix, parsley, oregano 2 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper. (Note: I also cheated as I didn't have the fresh herbs that night and replaced all the herbs and spices with about 3 Tbsp of Mama Mia Spagetti seasoning mix.) Transfer to the prepared loaf pan, rounding the top, and cover with the remaining 1/4 cup of ketchup. Bake until cooked through, about 1 hour. Let it set for about 10 minutes (or longer, which works better!) and cut into 1/2 inch slices.

Waffle Bread

• 2 cups Silvana's Pancake mix
• 1/2 cup drained chopped oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 lg eggs, room temp, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1.5 cups ''milk'' (I use almond milk, but soy, rice, hemp, whatever you use will work)
• Italian seasoning blend
  

In a large bowl, whisk together the pancake mix, sun-dried tomatoes, salt and Italian seasoning blend (Note: she says to just sprinkle it on the top of the batter right before baking, but that makes a god-awful mess, trust me on this). In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil and milk. Add to the pancake mix mixture and stir until just combined. Preheat a waffle iron to medium-high heat. (I use a 5 setting on mine) Grease with nonstick cooking spray and fill your waffle iron to specifications; my waffle iron is full at 3/4 of a cup, so that's what I do, making sure to spread to the edges. Cook till waffle light says you're done (about 5 minutes) and repeat with remaining batter.

Serve the meatloaf on the waffle bread with tomato, lettuce and mayo. Sit back and joygasm =)