Meat Loaf is a classic favorite meal that can be for dinner or lunch or whenever. Everyone has their Mom’s Meat Loaf recipe. Some get stuffed, others are filled with cut veggies, some are made with oats, bread, panko, or crackers. 

Meat Loaf gets better with time. You need to keep it warm or put it into a cooler but, it will be ready when you are. Meat Loaf is great when made ahead of time. Now you just need to heat it up.

I baked a huge Meat Loaf at home and let it cool. Once room temperature, I sliced it into ½ inch slices and sealed it into a few zip lock bags. Before sealing the deal, I got as much air as I could out of the bags. 

We were fishing late into the summer evening on the Bighorn River. Our day was a long one, but the fish would not let us leave. We were camping at the Cottonwood Camp in our trucks and tents. It was after 10;30 pm when we got back to camp. 

Everyone was hangry! Since I was the “Cookie”, I told the boys to grab a brew and go take a shower. There were no arguments. My next job was to boil a pot of water. I added the meat loaf zip lock bags and let them sous vide/boil, while the tired crew was recuperating.

I also opened a can of Campbells Sausage Gravy and heated it up. I opened a Bag of weeds, salad. A quick dressing was made using mayo, sour cream, lemon juice, salt and pepper and Bleu Cheese crumbles. Next, I sliced up a loaf of French Bread. I tossed the ends into a small fry pan with butter and toasted them up for croutons. Some shredded cheese would finish the job. This was not about cooking from scratch, it was more about putting a tasty hot meal down, so my crew didn’t scratch and pound me.  

For dessert I needed something quick. The campfire that I had started had some nice coals s o I pulled out the Dutch Oven. A can of peaches, a yellow cake mix, and some Blueberries went into the Dutch Oven. I covered the Dutch Oven with coals. All of this while I was still in my chest waders! 

By this time, the crew was starting to come back. They were happy, clean, and less smelly. I put the meal down low and headed to the shower. I am a quick get ready for a date guy. In about 20 minutes, I was back at the campsite. My crew relaxed around the campfire sipping some brews. Time to serve up the meal!

Let’s just say that everyone ended up Fat and Happy! The Peach and berry cobbler was topped with some canned whip cream. 

Here is my Montana Meat Loaf recipe!

• 2 lbs. of ground meat. Wild game works great. You can also mix some sausage or other meats together. Gound beef works fine. A fatty grind will make a softer or oilier loaf. Wild game works  well. 
• 2 large eggs
• 1/3 cup of milk. I have used powdered creamer, with water in a pinch. Canned or instant milk works fine too.
• 1 sleeve of Ritz Crackers, crushed. Regular crackers will work but the Ritz flavor is tasty. Once I even used oyster crackers. You can add some oats or breadcrumbs if you prefer a tighter texture. A fattier grind will produce more oil. It’s a good idea to add more binder to hold it together. 
• ½ cup of diced peppers and onion. 
• Salt, pepper, garlic powder
• Finely chop some peppers and onions. 
• 1 ½ cups of shredded cheese.

Mix everything together with yer, hopefully clean, hands. I have used clean gutting gloves in the past. 

I have added some chopped tomatoes, shredded carrots, and Worcestershire Sauce in the past. You kinda use what you have. 

You can press the loaf into a pan or make a mound. Use foil or parchment if baking over a fire in a Dutch Oven. 

Bake at 350 degrees until the meat loaf is 160 degrees in the middle. Now cook for 15 minutes more. Let the loaf rest at least 10-15 minutes and serve. Overnight meatloaf sets up nicely for leftovers. 

To make a topping, mix some yellow mustard, ketchup, and brown sugar. You can also lay some bacon on top. Every crew has a different taste, and every camp has different ingredients. A Dijon or other style mustard will also work. Simple yellow mustard has a good taste in this recipe. 

Let the meat loaf sit a bit after it’s heated up. It will cut better 10 minutes after out of the oven. The bagged and sliced meat loaf is ready to go. Cover the hot slices with the sausage gravy. 

Left over mmeat loaf makes great sandwiches the next day. 

Make sure that you pull yer serving hands out of the way when serving. Hangry Campers are ravenous!

Accept the loud belches from yer fat and full crew!

Montana Grant