Gorgonzola Stuffed Mini-Meatloaves

Yesterday, I pulled some ground beef our of the freezer to defrost and asked Hubby if he wanted meatloaf or taco soup for dinner the next day.  He replied "Um, meatloaf.  Have you ever met me?"  Touche, the man tends to shrink from anything labeled "soup" but I keep trying to shove it down his throat.  Not literally.  Yet.

I had some Gorgonzola and spinach hanging in the fridge waiting to be used so I thought I would use that as a starting point and here's what I came up with.

For Meatloaves:

1 lb lean ground beef (I like longhorn or sirloin)
1/2 small onion, chopped
Handful of button mushrooms, wiped clean and chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 T extra virgin olive oil
1 egg, slightly beaten
6 whole wheat saltines, finely crushed.  Or 1/2 C bread crumbs.
2-4 T Worcestershire sauce
Black pepper, cumin, herbs de Provence
4 oz. Gorgonzola or other blue cheese, cut into 4 1 oz each pieces.  Or the equivalent amount of crumbled blue cheese.

Pre-heat a small skillet with olive oil.  Saute veggies until tender-crisp, then set aside to cool.  Meanwhile add remaining ingredients in a large bowl, except for cheese.  Add cooled veggies and mix until well incorporated.  Form a mound of meat in the bottom of the bowl and score it with the side of your hands to make 4 equal-ish wedges of meat mixture (a Rachael Ray trick).  Scoop out a wedge and form it into a patty, like you are making a burger.  Add the piece of cheese in the center and fold up the meat around it, like you are making an empanada.  Carefully form the meat around the cheese until the cheese is completely covered inside the meat.  Form into a football-ish shape and put in a glass baking dish that has been sprayed with non-stick spray.  Repeat with the remaining meat mixture.  Bake at 375 for 30-45 minutes, until meatloaves are browned and cooked through.

Spinach and Grape Salad:

This one's tricky so pay attention...combine fresh spinach leaves, halved grapes, pecans if you have them, and dressing of choice.  Look the other way while your kids eat only the grapes.  Actually my daughter ate all of her spinach, and her brother's.  My little rabbit girl!

I also served this with Knorr Stroganoff noodles.  Yes, sodium-filled, processed, dehydrated, packaged food.  They're yummy and go great with meatloaf!  The spinach cancels it out, right?