Recently I had my parents over for our first Sunday dinner in a very long time and to celebrate I made my mom’s meatloaf. One of the best Sunday’s I’ve had in a while.

This meatloaf is my childhood. It’s one of those dishes that reminds me of growing up. The ultimate comfort food. On a cold day or when it’s been a long week, all I want is my mom’s meatloaf! I am sure you have one of those too. 

This post is in collaboration with Illinois Farm Families.

This was the very first time making my mom’s recipe and although it wasn’t just like hers, I came pretty close! I used Sumner Point Beef and the beef was delicious! I think recipes like meatloaf absolutely require good quality beef, otherwise it can turn out dry and bland! 

About Sumner Point Beef

Sumner Point Beef is a seven-generation family-run cattle farm in west central Illinois. The farm is managed by Krystal Jungmann and her family, her brother Scott and his family and their father Greg. They provide high-quality beef to their community, which allows them to share what they do on their farm and the sustainable practices they use to raise their cattle, including maintaining healthy soils to grow the corn they feed their cattle. 

Sumner Point Beef is one of 70,000+ farm families in Illinois. Krystal and her family are part of Illinois Farm Families, farmers who volunteer their time to talk with consumers about what happens on their farms.  

By partnering with Illinois Farm Families, I learned a lot about farming practices and about our food and where it comes from. Very interesting things!

Some things that stood out to me are:

• 96%of today’s Illinois farms are family-owned.

• Beef is extremely rich in a variety of vitamins and minerals such as Vitamin B12, calcium, potassium, zinc. Additionally, a 3-oz serving of beef provides half (25g) of the daily value of protein. 

• Sustainability is a large part of today’s farming. Thanks to innovative farming practices, farmers like Sumner Point Beef produce the same amount of beef with 33% fewer cattle compared to 50 years ago. In fact, beef farmers contribute to one of the lowest carbon footprints in the world at 2% of U.S. greenhouse gases.

Sumner Point Beef is a direct to consumer, farm-to-plate farm and their beef boxes are available to purchase on their website. 

Visit Illinois Farm Families or follow their Instagram, Facebook or YouTube to learn more about your food and the Illinois farmers who grow and raise it. Below is the recipe. Enjoy! 

Mom’s Meatloaf Recipe

Ingredients:

• ½ pound ground beef
• 1/2 cup, 2% milk
• 1 egg
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 1 cup dried breadcrumbs
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons prepared mustard
• ⅓ cup ketchup

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. In a large bowl, combine the beef, egg, peppers, onions, milk, breadcrumbs and seasonings.

3. Place in a lightly greased 9×5-inch loaf pan

4. In a separate small bowl, combine the brown sugar, mustard and ketchup. Mix well and pour over the meatloaf.

5.Bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour.

6. Check to make sure the meat is fully cooked. Drain excess fat if needed.  

You can check out thechicagogoodlife or on Instagram for more!

Until next time,

Christine