Little Turkey Meatloaves

Lately I have been trying to eat foods that are better for me.  I have recently been diagnosed as a diabetic and my doctor wants me to battle it through diet and exercise.  I was not surprised by the diagnosis and I am looking at it as the chance to really clean up my habits.  I had been making some small steps toward better health but I have been making "two steps forward, one step back" style progress.

So tonight I was driving home and thinking about what was in my refrigerator and freezer that I could make for dinner.  I had just bought some frozen sweet potato fries, and I was thinking about something that would go with those as a side dish.  It's a cold, snowy, blustery day, and I was in the mood for some comfort food.

Honestly I don't know how "healthy" these turkey meatloaves are, but I loaded them with vegetables for flavor and moisture.

Here's the recipe:

1 pound ground turkey
1 medium egg
1/2 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup or so of chopped mushrooms (I used regular button mushrooms)
1/2 cup of onions and peppers, chopped (I had a frozen blend that contained green, red, and yellow peppers with onions)
1/2 can of diced tomatoes, drained
1/4 cup spinach, chopped (I used fresh baby spinach but you could use frozen if you thawed and drained it.)
chopped garlic to taste (I think I used about a teaspoon of chopped garlic from a jar)
shredded cheese (I used Kroger's shredded queso quesadilla cheese)
barbecue sauce to spread on top of the mini loaves (if desired)

I meant to add some seasoning, but I forgot.  You could add some salt-free seasoning, or some Italian seasoning, or salt and pepper to taste.  I didn't miss it.

Preheat your oven to 400.

Mix all of the ingredients together, except for the cheese and barbecue sauce.

You will need a muffin tin (I used my large muffin tin that makes 6 muffins).  You are going to fill the miniature loaves with cheese, so put part of the meat mixture into the muffin tins, making sure that it lines the tins with a little depression in the middle.  Add the cheese and then cover the cheese with more of the meat mixture.

Bake at 400 for about 25 minutes.  The mini loaves did not get a "crust" on the edges, which I had hoped for, but I was hungry and they were fully cooked.  Probably they could have gone another 5 minutes to get that crusty edge.  After that, then baste some of the barbecue sauce on top of each mini loaf and return to the oven for a few minutes.

I didn't put BBQ sauce on all of them, and I tried a bit of the "with" and a bit of the "without".  Both were good...I suppose you could use any kind of sauce on top if you like.