Bbbbbbrrrrrr!!!! It’s been downright CHILLY here lately! Which, of course, got me thinking….chili. It’s not quite “pot of chili time” yet, so after finding a sole can of Hunt’s Dinner Starters Seasoned Tomatoes for Chili, I decided to think of a unique way to stretch it out, and come up with a fun way to use it! 😀
My hubby had been hinting, and not so subtly, about wanting meatloaf, but I just wasn’t in the mood for that – – or was I? 😉
I decided to go with it, but rock it out instead. 😉 And I’m so glad I did!! 😀
This is the can that started me thinking!
I had no idea of what the sauce was actually going to look or taste like, but I figured that there’s only one way to find out and cross that bridge when I got there. I was VERY pleasantly surprised at how rich, thick and chunky it was! I was NOT expecting it to look like this at all. Like most canned chili sauces I have had, I was preparing myself for it to be more like a plain tomato sauce and probably runny with no flavor. It was thankfully just the opposite!! I could EASILY see this being used as a quickie-chili on winter days when you just need something simple and easy, especially when cold and flu season strikes!
I needed a binder for my meatloaf, and keeping with the theme had me finally using up some bags of chips from the pantry! I used Fritos Chili-Cheese flavored, but you could use Doritos or even barbecued for a different route if you’d like. Just use whatever you personally enjoy.
The finely crushed corn chips worked wonderfully as a binder, and I had a lot of fun adding a few extras to make a super delicious and party-style meatloaf! Definitely took the blahs out of meatloaf, that’s for sure! 😉
I decided to do a spiral, rolled meatlof instead of just plain regular, I mean, if I’ve come this far I might as well go for it all, right?
So I topped it with a HEALTHY amount of cheese, foreseeing that at least part would most likely leak out during baking anyways. And yes, some did in fact. But not as much as I thought would. 😉 Just expect this. 😉
Rolling it up is really pretty easy if you take your time and use foil to guide and help roll.
Just make sure you seal the ends and long side REALLY well. And smooth the cracks, too.
Then coat it with more of the chili sauce and top with some of the chunks of tomatoes! Add a nice sprinkling of coarse ground black pepper and it’s ready to pop into the oven! Easy!!
After baking, top it with more cheese and some brightly colored pepper rings if you’d like!
Bake until melted, top with some green onions, and let rest while you bake up some easy green beans using up the last of the chili sauce and cheese!
Both dishes came out picture-perfect and tasted phenomenal!
We had a third dish with this, but that one I’ll post separately. 😉 But these two really came out delicious, and all stemming from one little can! Now THAT’S what I call a can, a pan and a plan!! 😀 😉 The meatloaf was a cross between tasting like chili and tacos, and the green beans were just plain awesome!! So if you’re hankering for meatloaf but want something a little bit more fun, this one ought to do it! 😉 And the kiddos will will really enjoy this, too! 😉
Hope you’re enjoying the start of the fall season! Have a wonderful day and I’ll see you all next week! 😀 ~Kelly
Spiral Chili-Cheese Meatloaf (*plus Chili-Cheese Green Beans)
Ingredients
For Topping:
For Chili-Cheese Green Beans:
Instructions
Didi @Dishin with Didi
Monday 22nd of September 2014
I literally drooled Kelly!! I am so making this, but first mission to locate that sauce, lol
I love the spiral!! ♥